Actor Xian Lim looks back at his career, including films he starred in alongside Kim Chiu. He is best known for his roles in My Binondo Girl (2011), The Reunion (2012), Ina, Kapatid, Anak (2012–13), Bakit Hindi Ka Crush ng Crush Mo? (2013), Bride for Rent (2014), The Story of Us (2016), and Everything About Her (2016).
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00Hey, what's up everyone? It's Ian Lim and this is my career so far.
00:10I'm so stupid.
00:13That's why I'm asking you.
00:15Gretchen, will you marry me?
00:18Babe!
00:19I remember that
00:22it just ended
00:24when they asked me, why don't you have a crush on your crush?
00:28We were given a follow-up
00:30film already
00:32and
00:34we didn't expect that
00:36we would be given
00:38a movie right away.
00:40So, it was more like
00:42we must be
00:44doing something right.
00:48And when
00:50Bride for Rent
00:52was shown in theaters, I remember
00:54getting a call the next day
00:56after the premiere night
00:58and they said,
01:00I couldn't believe it,
01:02that it has the potential to do really well in the box office.
01:04So yeah, that's directed by
01:06May Cruz-Alviar. Beautiful film.
01:08I think when it comes to
01:10the characters that I play,
01:12there's always
01:14a part of me in
01:16either a small percentage
01:18or maybe sometimes
01:20big. There's always a part of
01:22Cien in every role.
01:24Even may it be a dark one,
01:26may it be a light one or a funny one.
01:28He's a lawless boy.
01:30So I am a lawless boy.
01:32So yes, a huge percentage
01:34for Bride for Rent
01:36is Cien.
01:38Cien.
01:48When they presented the project
01:50to us, they said we're going to be shooting
01:52in different locations.
01:54Palawan,
01:56New York, and really
01:58and I was like, how?
02:00The scale was
02:02so big and I was like, okay
02:04it's going to be tough because
02:06my character was
02:08a tour guide in Palawan.
02:10My name there is Bakoy.
02:12Just the whole...
02:14different islands,
02:16how to sell this to tourists.
02:18That's what Bakoy wanted
02:20for his life. And when you go to the
02:22States, you're gonna
02:24fight for the love
02:26of your life.
02:28So the arc of the story
02:30as someone from
02:32the island that
02:34you brought to New York and he's going to TNT
02:36for the love of his life.
02:38So I remember,
02:40the actual police chased me
02:42because they thought
02:44that I was stealing.
02:46For one of those projects, I was just asked
02:48because I
02:50wanted to learn so much more
02:52than acting.
02:54I knew it was, I knew
02:56my calling is
02:58of course being an actor but at the same time
03:00being a filmmaker.
03:05I need money.
03:07Do you know you could die there?
03:09Are you really blind?
03:11I can feel movement.
03:13And I can see a little bit of light.
03:16What was really challenging
03:18with that movie is
03:20a lot of things were done, like from the Koreans
03:22to there was even a Turkish version
03:24that was really well made.
03:26There was even I think like an Indian version.
03:28I'm not really sure.
03:30But it was such a challenge
03:32because we were doing it during the pandemic.
03:34He's in an underground fighting
03:36blood.
03:38Literally blood.
03:40And we were
03:42restricted because
03:44it was during the pandemic.
03:46And I remember we just shot the whole fight
03:48sequence in two days
03:50and it was really hard
03:52and all the elements were against us.
03:58There's like a memorable scene there
04:00because this scene with a dog
04:02working with animals, it's very
04:04unpredictable.
04:06Do they like you?
04:08There's this dog that's
04:10supposed to be really close to me
04:12and he's gonna run up to me and lick me
04:14but he doesn't want to lick me.
04:16So they had to put
04:18peanut butter on me.
04:20Yes!
04:22That's nice.
04:24Good.
04:26Let's do more shots, girls.
04:28Hold it. I think Sin Island was
04:30a very, it's memorable
04:32for me because I think that
04:34was from playing the
04:36roles of the lover.
04:40The wholesome kid.
04:42Doing something a little daring.
04:44I wouldn't really say it's
04:46really over
04:48the edge but it was really challenging
04:50for me to even get my mindset
04:52on it but
04:54it was so exciting to film.
04:56We have this thing called
04:58a sensuality
05:00workshop.
05:02You just let go of all
05:04your inhibitions and
05:06you learn how to
05:08just be open, just be in the moment.
05:10Not necessarily sexual
05:12right away. It's a sexy film. Sin Island
05:14is a sexy thriller.
05:16I'm not sure if I shared this
05:18during the time but
05:20my director was Gino Santos.
05:22And there's this crucial
05:24scene that we really had
05:26to take. My character
05:28David, along with
05:30my love interest
05:32Natalie Hart.
05:34We were in a boat
05:36and our
05:38character arc, the inciting
05:40incident when the first kiss
05:42of the character was the
05:44vision of the director.
05:46Gino Santos said, I want you to kiss
05:48your first kiss then you sink down
05:50the bottom. As you sink down the bottom
05:52the drivers will surround you
05:54while the sunset,
05:56while the ray of the sunlight
05:58is slowly beaming down.
06:00That's the vision of the director. So we were so excited.
06:02And we're doing this
06:04without clothes on.
06:06We had our thing
06:08but the illusion was
06:10new. So then we
06:12went to the middle of the sea
06:14which is the actual middle of the sea.
06:16Only to find out that she didn't know how to swim.
06:20She didn't know how to swim.
06:22So Gino said,
06:24okay, we're gonna take it.
06:26I don't know why Natalie said that.
06:28I guess we were so excited to film.
06:30It was really beautiful.
06:32Everything is set. The divers were set.
06:34The cameras were set. There's even lights.
06:36Then all of a sudden, when we jumped
06:38Natalie panicked.
06:40She said, if you guys rewatch it, it's really funny.
06:42She panicked. She said, I don't know how to swim.
06:44I don't know how to swim. Then she panicked.
06:46But it's really deep.
06:48So she was really just pulling me down.
06:50She was pulling me down and we just sunk in the bottom.
06:52The scene was shot.
06:54Good thing we're alive.
06:58Albert.
07:02Your assistant called me here.
07:04She told me there's a job for me.
07:06Okay then.
07:08Prepare the proposal as soon as you can.
07:10I need the specifics as soon as possible.
07:12We're rushing this for some reason.
07:14May I know why?
07:16My favorite.
07:18I love Ate V so much.
07:20I love direct Joyce.
07:22Joyce Bernal. I remember she was really
07:24working with me because I started off in TV.
07:26And if you start off in TV,
07:28the tendencies
07:30of acting because it's TV.
07:32So it's big.
07:34There's always an explosion.
07:36There's always a plot.
07:38But in TV,
07:40she was explaining every single day to me
07:42that it's the small nuances
07:44because you're going to be seen
07:46in a big screen.
07:48In a theater, in a cinema.
07:50I just learned so much
07:52from Ms. Vilma Santos.
07:56One thing that stood out with me the most
07:58is that I was so nervous the first day.
08:00I couldn't even memorize my lines
08:02because I was going to face the Vilma Santos.
08:04And that's the first day
08:06I had to face my mother,
08:08Albert, facing
08:10Vivian Rabaya for the first time.
08:12Nothing was sticking to me.
08:14I didn't know what to say.
08:16And I remember she sat me down.
08:18She told me that
08:20even 50 years,
08:24she's been doing it for more than
08:2650 years,
08:28in the hands of the director.
08:30The actor will not have
08:32any control, actually.
08:34Your only job is to let go.
08:36So that really put me at ease.
08:38And even Angel
08:40looks in.
08:42Our dynamics.
08:44I love that project.
08:46And especially the crying
08:48scene with my mom.
08:50Because she took so many
08:52painkillers.
08:54I told her what I needed to tell her
08:56because she won't get hurt
08:58because she already had a lot of painkillers.
09:02It looks like
09:04she's been living here
09:06for a long time.
09:08Is this our room?
09:10The same?
09:12How much?
09:14Your grandfather built this
09:16for your grandmother.
09:18This house is being demolished.
09:20I'm here with
09:22Julia Barreto and Marco Gumaba.
09:24We shot in Pola.
09:26A small town, very warm
09:28and accommodating.
09:30It's a dream come true to work with
09:32Briliante Mendoza.
09:34My biggest takeaway from that is
09:36Briliante doesn't have
09:38a script.
09:40He's going to shoot a movie
09:42without a script. It's just a sequence treatment.
09:44And yet he's holding secrets
09:46from your character.
09:48He won't tell you
09:50what will happen.
09:52I just need to know
09:54what's going to happen next.
09:56Why would I tell you?
09:58Because in life, we don't know what's going to happen.
10:00Just react.
10:02It's hard.
10:04That's acting.
10:06Actors and actors have fallen into a trap
10:08where they're always giving their 80%.
10:10But all I'm asking for is 2-3%.
10:14He said,
10:16we don't have a script. Just follow my lead.
10:18We'll set it up and just react.
10:20Tell us what you want to say.
10:22We'll do the editing.
10:24It was hard.
10:26It was hard.
10:28I mean, I guess
10:30if this was my
10:3210th film with Briliante,
10:34I would get scared. But this was the first.
10:36So Julia and I were like,
10:38what are we going to say?
10:40Let's just improvise.
10:42So that's pretty much
10:44if you guys watched the movie. No script.
10:46Everything was improv.
10:48Charm's and I planned
10:50our whole life as a couple.
10:52What am I going to do now?
10:54This is a very
10:56memorable film for me
10:58because this is
11:00my first.
11:02First ever project, actually.
11:04I really didn't know how to
11:06how everything worked.
11:08I didn't know how to walk in the industry.
11:10How do you memorize the script?
11:12How do you act in a film?
11:14Are these just words?
11:18Tips on acting.
11:20After making that film,
11:22I said,
11:24it's my dream to make a Cinemalaya film.
11:26And I'm not going to stop
11:28until I make one.
11:30Until I write and direct a Cinemalaya film.
11:32That's what sparked everything.
11:34It's about my fiance
11:36and another
11:38random family.
11:40Then the boat changed.
11:42And it's our journey to
11:44travel from Manila all the way
11:46to Bicol
11:48to retrieve the body.
11:50The body of the other family
11:52that they lost.
11:54Only to find out that they're earning
11:56from the boat.
11:58The actors there,
12:00Benji Filipe, was the one I got
12:02for my Cinemalaya project.
12:04So it went
12:06the whole
12:08circle.
12:10We can't explain.
12:12It's like the time
12:14suddenly stopped.
12:16When I saw him,
12:18I realized how old I was.
12:20The duration was like 3 years.
12:22Because
12:24we had to shoot.
12:26Then Jeneline Mercado
12:28had a baby and we had to stop
12:30for a while. Then we came back.
12:32But the story is
12:34time loop. It's my wife saving my life
12:36every single day.
12:38Because I'm dying over and over again.
12:40The sun is rising again. She wants to save me.
12:42So as a TV format, it's hard.
12:44I think the time loop
12:46I would be really confident
12:50if we're sitting for 90 minutes
12:52watching a movie. But it was really
12:54challenging to shoot it.
12:56I never knew that
12:58me and Jeneline Mercado
13:00would be friends like that.
13:02Because I always tell her
13:04this, that I'm a fan
13:06of Jeneline.
13:08Even when I was younger,
13:10I can still see her
13:12in the notebooks.
13:14So I always say that.
13:16She told me to stop
13:18watching it. But I just think
13:20it's really funny that
13:22I'm such a huge fan
13:24of Jeneline. And now
13:26I got to work with her.
13:32Tabon was really hard
13:34because it's my first film.
13:36I wrote and directed.
13:38It was very personal.
13:40How do you make a film?
13:42It's a magical thing.
13:44But now that you're
13:46the one telling the story,
13:48it's really hard.
13:50You have to coordinate
13:52everything.
13:54It's expensive to make a mistake
13:56in a movie.
13:58That's the price you have to pay.
14:00If you make a mistake,
14:02time is money.
14:04Clock is ticking.
14:06The moment you can't decide,
14:08the moment you made a mistake,
14:10that's gonna cost you money.
14:14I remember seeing
14:16the last...
14:18The whole film was
14:20projected for 6 days.
14:22After 6 days,
14:24I put the film
14:26together. I edited it.
14:28I put the sound.
14:30I put color.
14:32I said, I don't understand.
14:34The film doesn't stand up.
14:36I know this is what's written.
14:38This is what I wrote.
14:40This is the expectation.
14:42I don't understand.
14:44I had to add more days.
14:46I think 4 more days.
14:50I had to spend 4.
14:54You make mistakes like that.
14:58If you make a mistake,
15:00it's gonna cost you.
15:02Filmmaking is a very expensive thing to do.
15:08Filmmaking is a very expensive thing to do.
15:12I'm a huge fan of Giano Gibbs.
15:14When I was a kid,
15:16I really liked
15:18his humor.
15:20I think that's why my humor is like this.
15:22The likes of
15:24Giano Gibbs, Andrew Illana,
15:26even Benji Paras.
15:28I'm a huge fan of
15:30their filmography.
15:32I came to the Philippines
15:34with a dream
15:36of becoming a professional
15:38basketball player
15:40as a film.
15:42I went to the U.E.
15:44thinking that I'm gonna make it.
15:46I'm gonna make it to the PBA.
15:48I'm gonna be an all-star.
15:50Only to find out that
15:52when I was playing college ball,
15:54I wasn't good at it.
15:58I was telling my friends that.
16:00I remember we had a get-together.
16:02They said, we've been telling you
16:04that you're not good at it.
16:06No, but it's our national sport, basketball.
16:08A man who was left behind
16:10by time.
16:12That life didn't really
16:14work out the way it's
16:16supposed to for him.
16:18Ariel's character.
16:20And there's this magical figure
16:22who gives him a second chance
16:24to doing everything.
16:26I'll give you everything you want in life.
16:28Let's see if you'll be happy then.
16:34you
16:36you