Scene from “I Am Not Big Bird” —PHOTOS COURTESY OF ANIMA STUDIOS

When we do our own thing, we can achieve so much more,” said Enrique Gil of his girlfriend Liza Soberano and their decision to get involved in different projects rather than “getting stuck in a love team.”

As a show of support, Enrique flew to New Orleans while the actress was still filming “Lisa Frankenstein,” to be with her. He also included Liza in the credits of the trailer of his comedy film “I Am Not Big Bird.”
Adjustment is tough, Enrique said, especially since they’re far apart—Liza is in the United States to promote her film while he is in Manila for Victor Villanueva’s “I Am Not Big Bird,” which will be shown nationwide starting Feb. 14. “We’re pretty grown up and mature now compared to when we were younger,” he told Inquirer Entertainment during a media junket organized on Thursday by his home network ABS-CBN.

Enrique is a coproducer of the movie under his own production company called Immerse Entertainment. In fact, he personally picked his costars Pepe Herrera, Nikko Natividad and Red Ollero.

‘All-out type of producer’

When asked how his becoming a producer changed his views on filmmaking in general, Enrique said: “I’m not totally involved in that side of production yet because I wanted to focus on the movie since it’s my comeback. If you’re a producer, you think about the budget and everything. As for me, I always think of what would benefit the movie. Maybe, in future projects, I hope I’d get the chance to learn and understand where they’re coming from in that aspect of producing.”

The actor continued: “I’m an all-out type of producer, especially if I’m part of the cast. I’d give anything, even if it would mean extending shooting days. I’ll just pray that we’ll make up for it at the box office.”

Enrique plays Luis Carpio who gets caught up in a case of mistaken identity because of his uncanny resemblance to a popular Thai porn star named Big Bird.

While Enrique said he has no plans of turning down offers to do romantic-comedy films like he used to, he opted to make an adult comedy project, “Because we want to disrupt the industry.” He added: “Hopefully, by the end of the year we will be able to come up with another one. As for TV projects, we’re in talks but there’s nothing final yet.”

When asked how he and Liza show their support to each other as artists, Enrique said: “I flew to New Orleans to be with her. I had lunch with her, Zelda (Williams, director), and Cole Sprouse (lead actor). They’re all very nice. I even met the producers. Liza does a lot of self-taped auditions for films. She auditions for a lot of crazy projects, like one with aliens and another with George Clooney for Netflix. I would even help with her self tapes, sometimes. It’s also a waiting game for her there. Meanwhile, she is currently working on seven projects that she is also producing.”

“As for me, I started my own production company and this actually gave her an idea to make her own,” Enrique added. “She hasn’t seen my movie yet, but I would send her photos throughout the shoot in Thailand. Even on our last day, I showed her our set. She said she just can’t believe that I’m doing this.”

Like Liza, Enrique is also open to pursuing a Hollywood acting career, “and so we made sure to talk to a lot of management groups there. We know it’s not instant. It’s a waiting game. We also realized that one can shoot self-tapes while working locally. It’s really hard out there, especially since I don’t have a house there while Liza’s is three hours away from LA.”

Long-distance relationship

Since the couple are currently in a long-distance relationship, Enrique was asked to share pointers on how they’ve managed to get by. “Love really requires sacrifice. If you have to do something to better yourself for the future, just go for it. It’s hard, but believe that both of you can do it,” he said.

Enrique the producer then tried to recall how he ended up working with Nikko, Red and Pepe for the movie. “I realized that when you work with a studio, your producers tend to cast popular or good-looking actors even though they’re not fit for the role. The bosses push for it and say it’s a management decision. For me, the actors should be perfect for the role,” he began.

Enrique got to know Nikko through the funny videos that the latter has been posting on social media. “I asked for help to contact him. Same thing happened with Red, who was recommended by my best friend. We went to see him perform live,” he recalled. “Pepe is a legend. I’ve worked with him in ‘Forevermore.’ He’s from the theater and he also sings. For a tour guide who needed to speak Thai, he’s perfect.”

Their director, Victor, who made the award-winning comedy “Patay na si Hesus,” is equally funny, Enrique observed. “You actually need to be a little bit crazy to be as artistic and brilliant as Victor,” he declared.

“I Am Not Big Bird,” written by Joma Labayen and Lilit Reyes, is also coproduced by Anima Studios and Black Sheep.