When it comes to living up to his father Aga Muhlach’s name, Andres Muhlach takes the pressure in stride. As one of the stars of the upcoming Bagets the musical production, Andres takes on the role of Adie, originally played by his father in the 1984 iconic coming-of-age barkada film.
Although he still considers himself relatively new to acting, Andres assured the press during the Bagets the Musical presscon last November 14 that he and his fellow cast members plan to give justice to the film’s legacy in Pinoy pop culture.
“For all of us naman, the essence of Bagets is the ensemble really of the barkada, the group of friends and the ups and downs that come with their life stories and I think the biggest thing that we want to do really is, as much as possible, we want to portray that barkada feeling, the essence of what an ensemble really is. That is the difference that we as a cast and as a group really can make happen in this play,” he said.
The 24-year-old actor, who officially made his acting debut last year, also shared what preparations he has done for the show, which will run from end of January until March next year. “The preparation really comes with the work you put in outside of the rehearsals. Ako naman parang before this show, I just came from Japan yesterday and I had to learn it on the fly. It was really difficult but you know all of us, we’re all committed talaga to do the best we can to perform the Bagets show and everything,” he added.
Although he is aware of the expectations of longtime fans of the film, Andres said he will proudly do his best with his new blessing as an artist.
“Para sa akin naman kasi, definitely there is pressure to live up and to produce the best performance I can like the original Bagets did in 1984. But above all that really, I see it more as an honor talaga to get the chance to play Adie. Kahit years ago when I was a boy watching Bagets for the first time with my dad and my family, never namin na-imagine na magiging Adie din ako. So parang it’s a full circle moment for me and it’s really an honor and I’m really just as proud to get the chance to say that I’m playing my father’s role at last,” he shared.
READ: Andres Muhlach on playing dad Aga’s role in ‘Bagets’ musical: ‘It’s surreal’
Andres also shared what advice his dad gave him after they rewatched the movie together at home.
“When we watched the movie recently again, parang we realized that the original film in 1984 was almost like a musical because throughout the film there’s a lot of dialogue but mainly throughout the film there’s a lot of music that’s being played. And if you see the sequences, parang it’s blocked like a musical but in film (format). So ang galing talaga that we get to do this live on stage and it’s also a musical. Alam mo, he gave me advice actually. ‘Dad, ano yung puwede ko gawin sa Bagets the musical? Anong mga tips mo?’ Anong sabi niya sa akin? ‘Kaya mo na yan!’ So yun na yun (laughs),” he revealed.
During the presscon, Andres also revealed what he is excited about with his newest role and how he admired what his dad Aga brought to the screen. “What do I like most about my character? I think what I love most about Adie in the film and what I’d like to portray as well in actual live performance is the charisma and the charm that Adie brings. Even when you see the original film, when you see Aga Muhlach on the screen, kahit na tumitingin lang siya sa cam, talagang ang lakas ng charisma, ang lakas ng charm. So hoping ako sana na I get to do that as well on the live performance,” he added.