Drinks with Ronnie Lazaro

When you talk about Ronnie Lazaro, you’d think of the immense body of work that he has done in the local cinema, TV, and theater. A thespian that has probably done every role that you can think of. Once, I was on my way home, I was in a bus with a TV and it was showing a JaDine flick wherein he was playing a flamboyantly gay guy so, like what all good nieces would do, I took a photo of it and sent it to him via Viber. Surprisingly, amidst all the movies that he has done, he remembered this one and we shared a good laugh at it.

Ronnie Lazaro is a versatile actor, probably one of the best here in the Philippines and I don’t think anyone would argue with me on that. He’s known for the Tikoy Aguiluz movie Boatman, but he will always be etched in my memory as Junior Villasin in Richard Somes’ horror movie Yanggaw. The movie was in Ilonggo, Ronnie Lazaro’s native language, and it was refreshing to watch him act and banter using this dialect with his co-star and good friend Joel Torre, who’s also Ilonggo. Aside from being a production designer and of course, an actor, he has also dabbled with directing in the film Edna. I’ve already lost track of what he’s been working on, but I know he just wrapped up the TV series The Good Son, he will also have a performance art show at St. Benilde School of Arts this July entitled Breathless, and the movie Goyo, which he will reprise his role as Lieutenant Garcia, will be on movie screens this September. I’m sure it won’t be long that I would see him again either on TV, in a movie, or at JT’s Manukan having dinner with a bottle of good white wine.

Ronnie Lazaro is a cool man; the epitome of a guy who couldn’t be bothered to give a f*ck about a lot of things. You’d always see him with a smile on his face like he’s always having a good day. He’ll give you his trademark peace sign when you’ve said your good byes. For this episode of Drinks with Denise, I was lucky enough to have him one Saturday morning for tea time, a break from our usual wine night at JT’s Manukan. I’m not really a huge fan of teas but I drink it occasionally as a diuretic, it really works! Watch my conversation with Ronnie Lazaro as we talk about his staple food inside the fridge, washing dishes, and who he wants to play as Ronnie Lazaro in a movie.