How Donny Pangilinan and Kyle Echarri got in fighting form
When Donny Pangilinan agreed to do the action heist series “Roja,” he knew from the get-go that it would be tiring—but not this tiring.
There’s a hostage crisis. There are brutal combats and “life-threatening” stunts. There are weapons to master and tactics to execute. There are high-speed chases on land and on water. All this, of course, while wrestling with the emotional and mental tolls of playing someone filled with rage and resentment.
The set was a pressure cooker. And if he hadn’t done the necessary preparations, he says, he probably would have folded under the heat. “I didn’t expect that this project would demand endurance and so much from my body,” Pangilinan tells Lifestyle Inquirer. “If I weren’t ready, I would probably reach a point where I have to ask for a break every other day.”
His co-star, Kyle Echarri, felt the same pinch. With around three grueling action scenes shot each taping day, endurance is a must. “There will be many times when your body feels beat up just trying to put those sequences together. The challenge is maintaining discipline, physically and mentally,” he says.
Battle scars
The scenes wouldn’t be as hard on their bodies if they only relied on body doubles. But they’re not the type to do anything half-hearted. For the sake of realism, Pangilinan and Echarri insisted on doing the stunts themselves—might as well put their two months of arnis and jiujitsu training to use.
But two months weren’t a whole lot. While their coach, mixed martial artist and action coordinator Erwin Tagle, did his best to equip them with the needed skills, it was still up to them to put in the work. Time in between lock-in taping sessions was spent learning new moves; moments before takes were spent rehearsing them.
And once the cameras are rolling, they get lost in the adrenaline that they don’t realize they have already hurt each other. Come morning, it wasn’t unusual for them to look in the mirror and spot a fresh bruise. “Nagkakasugatan kami…battle scars,” Pangilinan says. “But we know that it’s all part of the job, so we just embrace it.”
Looking back on everything he has experienced so far in his first foray into action, Pangilinan realized that working out isn’t something you just do on and off, or as work demands—it’s a necessity that has to become a permanent part of his routine.
“I didn’t work out often or consistently before. I would hit the gym or go for a run only when I could,” he says. “But now, I’m treating working out as something just as important as the project itself. If I take care of my body, everything else will follow.”
Brothers in arms
On the other hand, Echarri has recently taken up running to boost his stamina—a quality crucial for the long and often unpredictable hours on set.
“I have to work out every day as part of my discipline. Even if I’m not doing an action [scene], I feel like it’s part of my job to make sure my body is ready at all times because we work very abstract hours compared to other people,” he points out.
But while they strive to stay in tip-top condition, they aren’t so strict that they deprive themselves. “No special diets,” Echarri quips. “I love food!
“We eat a lot of protein, but it’s also nice to have ice cream, a piece of chocolate, or a slice of cake once in a while,” Pangilinan adds. “You also have to treat yourself.”
Streaming on iWant starting Nov. 22 and airing on the Kapamilya Channel starting Nov. 24, “Roja” is set at the picturesque La Playa Roja resort, where head chef Liam (Pangilinan) and security team member Olsen (Echarri) see their friendship and brotherhood get torn apart by jealousy and betrayal.
Things unravel when Liam finds out that his father is having an affair with a younger woman—something Olsen has known all along but chose to keep to himself. Little did they know that the woman would become a co-conspirator in a hostage-taking crisis that put everyone in the resort captive.
As hostages are killed one by one, Liam and Olsen are forced to resolve their issues while they race to put an end to the hostile takeover.
Out of their comfort zones
A look at the synopsis makes it clear that “Roja” is a big departure from the usual genres they have done in the past. While Pangilinan and Echarri built their careers primarily on drama and romantic comedy roles, the new show aims to diversify their respective filmographies, and perhaps test their emotional range to see how far they can go as actors.
By giving them shared lead roles—with no obvious romance angle—they get to prove their ability to draw an audience and sustain a mature drama without the comfort of a love team. Thankfully, they say, they can always draw on their years-long friendship to build rapport—or simulate tension—onscreen.
“I enjoy the discipline of having to rely on myself,” says Echarri, whose most popular pairing was with Francine Diaz in the soap opera “Kadenang Ginto.” “I also feel super driven and inspired by the trust given to us to carry a show.”
Meanwhile, it’s Pangilinan’s first major drama series without his perennial screen partner, Belle Mariano, and he admits that the setup needed some getting used to. “Sanay na kami sa isa’t isa, and we already have our way of doing things,” he shares.
But it’s also for this reason that he realized why doing projects outside their highly successful “DonBelle” love team is important to his growth. He gets to try things his fans wouldn’t see him doing in a romcom—like holding a gun or fighting with sticks—and explore emotions he has never tapped into.
“This project really stretched me in different ways I didn’t expect,” Pangilinan says. “Do’n mo makikita na puwede ko pala gawin ‘yon, na kaya ko pala ‘yan. It lets me push myself to the limit or show a side of me I didn’t know I had. I think that’s the beauty of it.”
