FELIX 'LEX' ROCO:  LEX  IS  MORE


MANILA, MARCH 3, 2010 (STAR) PEOPLE ASIA - By Denise Roco - He was nearly two hours late. If Felix “Lex” Roco weren’t this writer’s first cousin, a reschedule might have been in the process. Before patience runs dry, Lex shows up. Taking off a thick bonnet, he apologizes that he had a flat tire.

Confessing he is not fond of interviews, he looks like he is eager to get it over with. “I’m working on a film, Sagrada Pamilya by director Joel Lamangan. I’m leading man and Lovi Poe is the leading lady. They’re going to show the movie abroad first. Like Dukot, they showed it first in Montreal” he answers the first question. On what genre he prefers and if comedy is okay, Lex replies, “I like drama. It is difficult to do action. Comedy? Pwede rin (can be) but I’m not funny. Hindi mo naman pwedeng pilitin (You cannot force it)…” His younger identical twin, Dominic is into drama as well, and also likes action.

On being compared to his twin Lex comments, “Always. Pero pareho kami namang magaling (we are both good), we have our own styles. We don’t have any sibling rivalry. But it could have been better if there was competition between us. Mas masaya (It would have been more fun)!”

But the pressure lies when the comparison is made to his dad, award-winning actor, Bembol Roco. “That is the real pressure, because a lot of people know how good Papa is, so they expect us to be as good as him right away.”

This writer assumed that in one way or another, the twins were pushed into showbiz. It all started when Dominic guested on Teysi. “When they called the house for a second guesting for Dom, Papa said that he had a twin. They said to take us both. Nadamay lang ako (I was just strung along),” Lex elaborates. Then he fell at first into the superficial trappings of fame and thought it may be a way to earn money since unfortunately, the twins fell short of three months from finishing high school because of being involved in a fraternity.

This detour has come to be his path because when probed about his other dreams, Lex states in a manner most stern, “I don’t see anything else aside from acting. (I see this) as a really serious career. I want to be known, to be award-winning like my dad.” If this is his goal, these past few years have been fast-paced. He starred together with Dominic in 2004 comedy movie Otso-otso pamela-mela wan and has appeared in ABS-CBN TV series Qpids, Super Inggo and GMA’s Super Twins and Daisy siete. Moving on to films like Shake, Rattle & Roll 9 (Lex will star in the next Shake, Rattle & Roll series), Lex entered the indie scene playing Lucas in the light drama-comedy U.P.C.A.T.

In his upcoming film Sagrada Pamilya, which dares audiences with an unusual and disturbing plot, Lex can’t reveal anything specific but is specific to emphasize it is something he’s never done before. He crumples his eyebrows, realizing an eerie trivia he seems to share with Kenny of the adult-cartoon South Park. Many of his roles require him to perish. Where did he get his method of acting? This 19-year-old surprisingly says, “It’s natural. I just watch people, I watch my dad,” and adds, “It’s not just because my dad is Bembol Reco, that’s why I’m here. I want to create my own name and I don’t want to be known as the son of Bembol Roco. I want to be Felix Roco.”

Collecting caps and bonnets and skating in his free time, Lex is most proud of his work in Engkwentro. “We won two awards in the 66th Venice Film Festival Top Orizzonti Prize (New Horizons) and the prestigious Luigi De Laurentiis (Lion of the Future) award. Then I won an award here while I was in Venice. It was an award from GMA for the indie scene. Dom accepted the award ‘cause I was not here. With Engkwentro, we treated it like a stage play and rehearsed for three months. Me including the team helped with the scriptwriting. Plus I had dialect class. We beat over 67 films, we’re the first Pinoys to get the Luigi De Laurentiis award, and Pepe (Diokno, of age 22) is the youngest director to get the award.”

Lex becomes unrestrained when he talks of his Venetian experience. “In Venice it was all work, we didn’t even get to go around. We put up the posters, distributed the flyers. We had only two days’ accommodation. No service. I had to walk 20 minutes from my hotel to the red carpet in a suit! (After a late night celebration with the cast and crew,) I got lost in Italy, I had to ask help from the police.” Getting to meet Ang Lee of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sprinkled his stay abroad with more excitement along with getting to chat with Colin Firth.

Though Engkwentro is well-received outside the country, Lex frustratingly shares, “Hindi ina-appreciate ang Pinoy ang film dito. (Filipinos don’t appreciate the film here.) Sa premiere, nag-walk ang mga tao. Ang lungkot nga eh. (During the premiere, people walked out. It’s sad.) That’s why we’re doing indies so more Filipinos appreciate films.” It’s ironic how a Filipino has to be crowned with fame abroad to be given attention in his homeland. Coincidentally, Lex’s favorite foreign film City of God by Fernando Meirelles is similar to Engkwentro.

A rocker who is not as discreet as his twin, Lex sports many tattoos. One of them on his back reads “Amo a mi familia,” that translates to “I love my family” in Spanish and another on his left wrist, “Josefina,” the real name of his mother, former model Coco Artadi-Roco.