Why London-based Joaquin Pedro Valdes feels jealous of local theater actors
London-based Filipino theater actor Joaquin Pedro Valdes, considered one of the busiest actors on the West End today, said he was lucky enough to have not experienced discrimination at work, so far. The challenge for him when booking a job has always been beating other actors—regardless of their skin color—on the basis of skill and merit.
“Nothing really [overtly racist] has happened,” Valdes told Lifestyle over lunch recently. “In a broad sense, working as an actor is always challenging, especially if you’re a person of color. Since London is very cosmopolitan, it has people migrating into it from all over the world. I think the challenge for me when auditioning is that I’m up against everyone—white, black, Latino, and all of these ethnicities.”
For Valdes, it’s quite fulfilling to know he landed roles based on his skill and uniqueness in storytelling, like his recent acting gigs: “Death Note: The Musical,” Stephen Sondheim’s “Pacific Overtures,” and Stephen Schwartz’s “The Baker’s Wife.”
Competition is ruthless, Valdes observed. He would sometimes feel insecure knowing that some of the actors he worked with studied in prestigious drama schools for years. But then, it was also one of his coactors, Olivier award-winner Clive Rowe, who said he doesn’t really need it.
“‘Because you have your own story. Just be you. Come in fresh. That’s going to be more impactful than if you study. It’s that uniqueness that will bring you forward,’ he said. That really empowered me. I’ve learned to embrace that uniqueness,” Valdes said.
Life abroad
In 2018, Valdes left a successful theater career in Manila to join a touring ensemble of “Miss Saigon” in the United Kingdom. He has since been part of productions like “The King and I,” “Fanny and Stella,” “Heathers: The Musical,” “Vanara The Legend,” “Killing The Cat,” “The Lion King,” “A Song of Songs,” and “Then, Now & Next.”
Relocating to London was tough for him and his wife, lawyer Agee Romero-Valdes. “We went through fire. It really brought us together,” he recalled. They returned to Manila recently for a three-week vacation and got to watch the stage play “Request sa Radyo,” starring Lea Salonga and Dolly de Leon.
He said watching it felt weird because it reminded him of their life abroad. “It was so real. The routine—that’s our life. Every Filipino household has a rice cooker.
You microwave your leftovers, you cook rice,” he pointed out.
Valdes said he was pleased to return to a local theater scene that’s thriving at a level that has never been seen in its history before. He was also able to watch the musical “Bar Boys” when he was here. “Nakakainggit nga! I see all my friends and I’m so proud of them because we’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” the actor told Lifestyle.
While London is now home for Valdes, he still considers himself an overseas Filipino worker. He would also occasionally come across Filipinos who moved their lives to the UK.
In fact, while doing his recent show, “The Baker’s Wife,” a Filipino nurse approached Valdes to say that he has seen the show twice. “He said he was proud that there’s a Filipino in the cast—not only that, the leading man was a Filipino. There’s another nurse whom I met during the COVID-19 lockdowns. They still follow me until now and try to watch my shows. People would come because they know I’m Filipino.”
What’s next
For Valdes, who always says his most recent work is his favorite, “Death Note” will always be at the top of his list on the basis of its logistical scale. This adaptation of a popular Japanese manga series was staged at The London Palladium, which Valdes considers one of the most beautiful theaters in the city.
“Everybody from all over the world flew in to London to watch the show, and they were in costumes. It was kind of surreal,” he beamed.
“Death Note” was especially challenging because Valdes needed to learn the whole show in just two weeks. He said the fact that it was a known piece (“People loved the title”) put so much pressure on his shoulders.
“Also, even if it was branded as a ‘musical concert,’ it was really a fully staged production with sets and costumes, and with an 18-piece orchestra. It was a big deal. The overall stakes of it were very high,” he pointed out.
What’s next for him? At the time of our interview, the actor said he couldn’t talk much about it yet, except that it’s based on a very popular American series and that its musical adaptation was launched on Broadway in 2019. It was later announced that Valdes will be seen in “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical,” which is set to open at London’s The Other Palace on Nov. 22 and will run until Feb. 2.
