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A great actor can move audiences with words, but an exceptional one can do it even in silence. Joshua Garcia proves this in “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay,” where his character, Patrick, leaves us aching not through long and loud speeches, but through the quiet heaviness of unspoken feelings.
It's as if he invites the audience to sit with him and feel the ache of everything unsaid. Marvel at his thespic gift, as he brings us to tears through these scenes from "It's Okay to Not Be Okay."
The first scene that truly revealed his depth as Patrick was when he read Mia (Anne Curtis)'s book, "Ang Batang Tiyanak," which was a haunting tale of a demon child and the mother who gives everything to keep him alive. The boy feels nothing but hunger, hidden away while his mother hunts each night to feed him, until eventually, she offers her own body piece by piece and leaves nothing behind except her love.
What makes this remarkable was not just the creativity of the story itself but how it intertwined with Patrick’s own memory of feeling neglected and longing for his mother’s embrace. By the time the narration ended, Patrick was left shattered, tears streaming down his face. Joshua didn’t need dialogue or theatrics to devastate us. He just read the book, yet we could feel the weight of what he was truly crying for.
His restrained brilliance was also captured in that scene when Patrick turned to Jason (Francis Magundayao) for a drink, finally letting the weight of his grief spill out. He wondered if his late mother Tessie (Meryll Soriano) might have regretted the choices she made, choices that have burdened him with caring for his older brother Matmat (Carlo Aquino), who is on the autism spectrum.
There was something piercing in the way Joshua broke down so softly, his composure unraveling with tears that fell as calmly as his words. Viewers witnessed his heartbreak that felt heavier because it was carried in silence.
In another scene, Patrick’s temper flared when he discovered that Matmat had accepted Mia’s offer to illustrate her books and even signed the contract without his consent. In anger, he ripped the document, prompting Matmat to hit him repeatedly while he simply collapsed to the ground and absorbed the blows. Left alone, Patrick noticed the note on the torn contract and realized that Matmat had asked not for money but for a camping van, which reminded him of Matmat's dream to save up for one so they wouldn’t have to struggle moving from house to house whenever the rainy season begins. Once again, Joshua let his crying do the talking, carrying the weight of all the years Patrick had sacrificed yet still felt misunderstood.
Joshua also ripped our hearts in his conversation with Matmat about 'batchoy.' Here, he hugged Matmat and told his 'manong' that he would treat him to a bowl of batchoy, only for Matmat to reply that it was Patrick’s favorite, not his. Matmat remembered their mom pointing out that Patrick loves it, which was why she would take them to a popular 'batchoy' place in Maravida so often. And through Matmat’s stories, Patrick realized that he, too, was loved by their mother.
The OK Hospital mess hall also became the setting for one of Joshua's most gut-wrenching performances as Patrick, when Matmat confronted him about his secret vacation with Mia. Joshua matched Carlo's usual excellence, his torment unraveling in the desperate embrace of a brother begging to be forgiven.
If these scenes made you cry, there’s even more to look forward to in "It’s Okay to Not Be Okay." Catch it on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live (KOL), A2Z, and TV5 at 8:45 PM, or stream episodes in advance on iWant.