MANILA -- After a three-year hiatus from the entertainment industry due to the pandemic, Kapamilya heartthrob Enrique Gil is now preparing to make his highly anticipated comeback with his upcoming film project.

For the first time, Gil will be headlining a full-blown comedy movie “I Am Not Big Bird,” a co-production among ABS-CBN Films, Black Sheep and Anima.

• Enrique Gil remains a Kapamilya, inks exclusive contract with ABS-CBN

The film centers on Luis Carpio (Gil), who takes on a journey to Thailand, where a peculiar turn of events unfolds. During his vacation, Luis finds himself unwittingly caught up in a case of mistaken identity when he is confused with Big Bird, a known personality in the adult film industry in Thailand, due to their uncanny resemblance.

“First of all, hindi ako si Big Bird. But at some point, ako rin magiging Big Bird. Basically, Big Bird is a famous porn star in Thailand. My character Luis Carpio travels to Thailand and doon siya pinagkamalan na si Big Bird kasi parang identical twins sila. That’s where the adventure begins,” he said at a press conference.

Written by Lilit Reyes, the movie is inspired by events which actually happened to his friend when they went to Thailand several years ago.

“I was an advertising guy so we always go to an event in Thailand for advertising people. It’s like a big awards night. So, every time I go there, I am with my colleague. When we go to brunch, there’s a swarm of girls from another nation, they swarm around us and we were wondering why,” Reyes narrated.

“It turns out, when we returned the next year, still the same thing, kinukuyog kami. Nagtatago na kami. Hindi dahil sa akin but dahil sa kasama ko. We found out he [looks like] a porn star in one film. Naisip ko, this is a good premise for writing a story. Nagbabiyahe lang kayo tapos biglang may kamukha ka na wala kang kamalay-malay,” he added.

Similarly, “I Am Not Big Bird” will mostly be shot in Thailand and will be set in the early 2000s.

When asked about his approach to preparing for such a role, Gil said: “I don’t know how to prepare for something like this. I am just ready for whatever we’re supposed to do for the film. I’ve always wanted to do a full-blown comedy. When they pitched this, sa title pa lang, ‘Oh my gosh, I need to do something like this.’”

“My dad was a comedian as well. He was always telling me growing up, ‘You know what Quen, whatever happens, kahit nasa work ako, I try to make people happy and make them laugh.’ Laughter is really the best medicine so sabi ko I need to do a comedy. Here it is,” he added.

As he makes this much-anticipated return to the big screen, Gil said he actively engages in the casting process and even refines certain dialogues in the script to enhance the project's appeal.

“But of course I had help with our team here. But yeah, I think it’s also time where some artists can actually get involved. So I think it’s really good and awesome,” he said.

As for the lines in the movie, he continued, “Just some lang, mga konting tweaks lang.”

Directed by Victor Villanueva, the movie also stars Red Ollero, Nikko Natividad and Pepe Herrera. It will open in cinemas nationwide this year, but its producers are also planning to bring it to genre festivals outside the country in 2024.

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