Acclaimed actor John Arcilla adds another feather to his cap Sunday (Manila time) when he won the Best Actor award at the 78th Venice Film Festival for his performance in Erik Matti’s “On the Job: The Missing 8.”
Arcilla, who has already won six acting awards in a distinguished career was previously honored by several award-giving bodies in the Philippines for memorable performances in the films, “Ligaya ang Itawag Mo sa Akin,” “Halaw,” “Supot,” “Birdshot” and in his most famous role to date, “Heneral Luna.”
The actor also received citations and nominations for equally acclaimed films like “Sa North Diversion Road,” “Himpapawid” and “Metro Manila” and had a small but pivotal role in the Hollywood production of “The Bourne Legacy.”
Starting in 2017, Arcilla also became a household name when he was cast in the antagonist role of Renato “Buwitre” Hipolito in the hit TV series, “Ang Probinsyano.”
“On The Job: The Missing 8” expands the story Matti started in his original “On The Job,” a neo-noir political action thriller that had its world premiere at the 2013 Cannes International Film Festival.
“On The Job” went on to become a critical and commercial success. But the clamor for a sequel did not come to fruition until 2016 when Reality Entertainment, the production company headed by Matti and producer Dondon Monteverde, joined forces with Globe Studios and, at the time, the now-defunct streaming service, Hooq, to produce“On The Job: The Missing 8.”
Back then, a slightly different cast was announced and presented to media including Bela Padilla and rising character actor Teroy Guzman as Sisoy, the role Arcilla eventually took over and won the award for.
Arcilla was not present in Venice to personally accept the Coppa Volpi (Volpi Cup) award for his performance. Instead, the actor’s acceptance speech was captured in remote video while Matti accepted the award on his behalf. The video of Arcilla’s speech later shared by fellow cast member Dennis Trillo on Instagram.
The film screened in Venice is an abridged version of the mini-series of the same title that will premiere on the streaming service, HBO Go on September 12.
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