Saludo, Heneral: John Arcilla, A World-Class Filipino Actor

Eccellente! Bringing Pride to the Filipinos with the Volpi Cup

“This Volpi Cup is such a symbol of a milestone in my work as an actor,” said John Arcilla in his acceptance speech. Playing as Narciso “Sisoy” Salas, a partisan radio anchor, Arcilla won as Best Actor at the 78th Venice Film Festival with his stellar performance as a local journalist seeking justice for his colleagues who went missing. Arcilla was the first Filipino and Southeast Asian to win the prestigious Volpi Cup.

“I truly believe that Arcilla is the Al Pacino of the Filipino Cinema,” shared Alberto Barbera, the artistic director of the 78th Venice International Film Festival. Barbera said that Arcilla topped the list of other nominees who are renowned international actors: Benedict Cumberbatch, Antonio Banderas, Oscar Isaac, and Tim Roth. On the Job: The Missing 8 is the entry of the Philippines at the 95th Academy Awards (Oscars). It was also nominated at the 2022 Emmy’s for the Best TV Movie/Mini-series.

A Star Is Born: John Arcilla’s Acting Journey

In his acceptance speech for the Volpi Cup, Arcilla expressed that his family “played significant roles in my journey as an actor as I create characters, as I create and tell stories, they are my biggest inspirations and influences and my biggest fans.”

Arcilla said that when he was small, he used to imagine himself performing onstage. When he was still an infant, his parents took him to the theater to watch a movie. Throughout the entire movie, the young Arcilla remained quiet and gazed at the film. His parents end up watching their son instead of the movie.

In college, he took a BA in Mass Communications, majoring in Screenplay Writing at St. Joseph’s College, Quezon City. As a working scholar, he became an assistant to the school theater coordinator. Arcilla shares, “Here, I had the opportunity to assist in giving Theater Arts workshops to the adopted communities of my alma mater.”

Arcilla also became an acting scholar of the Actors ​Workshop Foundation from 1987–1989 (under ​notable director-actors Laurice Guillen, Johnny ​Delgado, and Leo Martinez). After a rigid audition, Arcilla got the scholarship for ​his impressive acting. His acting scholarship allowed Arcilla to receive acting roles in gag and drama TV shows.

Early Theater Career

Arcilla started with the community-based theater of the Philippine Educational ​Theater Association (PETA). Later, Arcilla joined Dulaang UP through the ​respectable stage director Tony Mabesa. After passing a rigid audition from the Actors ​Company (Tanghalang Pilipino) of the Cultural ​Center of the Philippines (CCP), Arcilla became a ​senior company member (1991), which honed him ​to become a prolific musical theater artist and ​stage actor.

Arcilla worked with Tanghalang Pilipino from the ​fourth to thirteenth season. “In 1991, I officially became one of the pioneers of the ​Actors Company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines ​(CCP) via Tanghalang Pilipino (1991–1997). I did lead roles in straight plays and musicals such as ​Orosman and Zafira, Walang Sugat, and Ryan Cayabyab’s ​Rizal Musical Trilogy,” Arcilla shared.

TV Career ​Breakthrough

​With his training in theater, Arcilla showed versatility as a ​TV actor. Arcilla became a familiar face in the TV household when ​he appeared in a 1990s Purefoods commercial. Arcilla’s ​iconic line was, “Coffee na lang, Dear” (Just coffee, Dear).

In the ​early days of his TV career, Arcilla usually played the role of a loving ​and respectable father to famous teen stars appearing in ​TV series (ABS-CBN and GMA). Arcilla also usually played the onscreen partner to the biggest ​female stars in the 1990s because of his stellar acting and ​charming, moreno looks. Since 2021, Arcilla has been under the management of Star Magic, a ​talent agency owned by ABS-CBN Corporation.

Early Film Appearance

Arcilla’s notable film break was in Sa ‘Yo Lamang ​(1995), where he played Hector, the loving elder ​brother of Andrew (Richard Gomez). The audience noticed Arcilla’s commendable ​acting when he appeared in Raymond Red’s ​short film Anino (Shadow, 2000) as the man in ​black who is a devil’s advocate to a poor church ​photographer (Ronnie Lazaro) struggling in life. Anino won the Palme D’Or for Best Short Film at ​the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.

Notable Works

Arcilla won his first Best Actor Award from the Manila Film Festival (1996) for the film Mulanay: Sa Pusod ng Paraiso (1996), where he played Lino, a helpful boatman yet stone-hearted husband.

In Ligaya Ang Itawag Mo sa Akin, Arcilla played the naive yet sincere farmer Polding, who falls in love with the mesmerizing prostitute, Ligaya. This won Arcilla a Best Supporting Actor Award from the Gawad Urian (1997).

He earned a nomination for Best Supporting ​Actor at the 16th British Independent Film ​Award and Best Supporting Actor at the ​Gawad Urian (2014) for Metro Manila (2013) where he plays Douglas ​Ong, a sneaky senior security officer of a ​security agency.

In the film Heneral Luna (2015), Arcilla played the ​fierce and hot-tempered yet patriotic general who ​fought in the Philippine-American War before his ​assassination. Arcilla earned a Best Actor Award from the Film ​Academy of the Philippines (2016). He also earned ​a nomination for Best Actor at the 10th Asian Film ​Awards.

International Movie Stint

Arcilla played a minor role in Bourne ​Legacy (2012) as Joseph, the nice security ​guard of a pharmaceutical company. Joseph (Arcilla) helps Agent Aaron Cross ​(Jeremy Renner) and biochemist, Dr. Marta ​Shearing (Rachel Weisz) to enter the ​facility based in Manila, Philippines that ​manufactures experimental pills.

Current Projects

Presently, John Arcilla plays Carlos Fiero in Dirty Linen, a grand teleserye of ABS-CBN. Additionally, John Arcilla plays the widowed billionaire Valentin Esposo in Jun Lana‘s Ten Little Mistresses. A murder mystery-cum-comedy, this film is Amazon’s first-ever original Filipino film available on Prime Video.

Multi-awarded, World-class Actor

For Arcilla, “Acting is a noble profession. You make the audience laugh, you make them cry, but most importantly, you impart knowledge; you send them lessons.“⁠

Last February 22, 2023, the Senate of the Philippines passed Resolution No. 490: Honoring John Arcilla for winning the Best Actor Award at the 78th Venice International Film Festival given during its 19th Congress.

With Arcilla’s versatility, playing various roles from a villain to a hero, he is undoubtedly one of the most talented actors in the Philippines. His accolades from various film festivals, including the Venice Film Festival and the Asian Film Awards make John Arcilla a world-class actor.

About the author:

Christine Marie Lim Magpile graduated Cum Laude from the University of Santo Tomas and finished a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education (BSEd) major in History and minor in Religious Education and School Guidance. She has finished her academic requirements for MA in Counseling at De La Salle University. She is currently finishing her MA in Araling Pilipino from the University of the Philippines, Diliman.

In 2018, she was a fellow at the 6th Angono Writers’ Summer Workshop as well as a writer’s fellow of KATAGA (Quezon City Chapter). In 2019, Magpile became a fellow for La Salle Kritika National Workshop on Art and Cultural Criticism. She was also a fellow for Filipino creative nonfiction in the 2008 UST National Writers’ Workshop.

Aside from teaching Social Studies and Filipino, Magpile is also textbook author, creative writer, editor, and translator.