The Good Boy Behind the Bad Boy
There are two sides to a coin: The “right side” and the “other side.” There’s no “wrong side,” is there?
Like a coin, Baron Geisler has also two sides: The “Bad Boy” side which is what some people see because of the mischiefs he has found himself in; and the “Good Boy” side which many people perhaps don’t know and don’t see, and which will be explored in the following “Who, What, Where, When, How” truth game.
Discovered when he was 12 by the ABS-CBN kiddie show Ang TV, Baron has metamorphosed into one of today’s finest young actors, honed more by the downs than by the ups in his checkered life, recently named Best Actor by the 2008 Cinemalaya for his absorbing performance as a gay TV producer in the indie film Jay. It’s his second acting award; the first was from the Philippine Movie Press Club (PMPC’s) 2006 Star Awards for Television for his portrayal of a doting brother who carries his younger sibling (played by John Prats) in the Trolley episode of Charo Santos-Concio’s Maalaala Mo Kaya.
The award for Jay (directed by Francis Xavier Pasion) couldn’t have come in a better time, just what Baron badly needed to prop up his career which suffered a slump two years ago due to personal problems. It focused on Baron’s thespic talent which, surprisingly, seemed to have been overlooked by producers and directors. Baron is now starring in Viva Films’ Torotot, directed by Maryo J. delos Reyes, as the cuckolded husband of Maui Taylor who seeks pleasure in the arms of Yul Servo. He will soon be seen in another indie film, Manila, with Alessandra de Rossi and Piolo Pascual (who’s producing the movie written by Adolf Alix Jr. and Ryan Martin) and in an ABS-CBN teleserye.
“I have hit rock bottom,” said Baron whose house was gutted by fire twice in a row in a span of barely three years. He lost his father before that. Three tragedies that dealt him a big blow, that drove him to the bottle. “Now, I’m on the right path, thanks to the people who have faith in me.”
WHO
•Who are the person(s) that you admire the most?
“Direk Maryo J. delos Reyes. When I was down, nobody would touch me with a 10-foot pole. Only direk Maryo. He fought for me to be included in his teleserye (for ABS-CBN) Calla Lily. He told me, ‘Someday, I want you to be a superstar.’ Never niya akong pinabayaan; he really believes in me and I’m trying my best to live up to his expectations. He’s a genius. The other person I truly admire is Francis Xavier Pasion who gave me an award for Jay. He’s brilliant, very ‘
•Who do you turn to when you are feeling low?
“My mom, Gracia Bayoneto Geisler. I realize that when the chips are down, pamilya pa rin talaga ang susuporta sa’yo.”
•Who are the friends that you keep?
“I cherish those who were with me in Tabing-Ilog, the ABS-CBN teleserye I did a few years ago, such as Lloydie (John Lloyd Cruz), Leandro (Muñoz), Jodi (Santamaria), Kaye (Abad), Paolo (Contis) and Desiree (del Valle, his former girlfriend). My
•Who is the true-life person that you want to portray in a movie?
“Yes, Heath Ledger! It’s far-fetched, but given a chance, I would love to play The Joker; itutuloy ko ‘yung role ni Heath Ledger. Actually, I might play a true-life criminal, medyo glamorous na character, in a movie. But it’s still under wraps.”
•Who is the Baron Geisler that many people don’t know?
“The Baron Geisler that many people don’t know is really sweet, secretly nga lang...hehehehe!...and secretly religious. I am passionate about my craft...and I guess everybody knows that by now.”
WHAT
•What personal experience do you draw from when you play a role?
“I don’t usually draw from my personal experience. It’s really the material, it’s the script. My roles are usually different from what I am.”
•What makes you mad?
“If somebody steals anything from me...ahhh, that makes me mad.
Actually, mahaba ang pasensya ko. What pisses me off is, for example, I place my sunglasses or my celfon in a place and somebody removes it, ahhh, doon ako nagagalit.”
•What role would you not do?
“None. I’m willing to play any role. But I don’t think I will play another gay role in the next five years; baka ma-typecast ako, eh. Frontal nudity? No problem. In fact, I did it in a scene for Jay, in long shot.”
•What do you usually pray for (since you said that you are ‘secretly religious’)?
“I pray for the universe to give me more abundance in life, and same for my family and loved ones.”
•What do you like and don’t you like most about Baron Geisler?
“My being a genuine person; totoo akong tao. Believe it or not, but I’m humble. What I don’t like most about myself? Let me see...Right now, I love everything about myself, but the negative intrigues surrounding me and the negative light in which some people see me. I try to be positive; I don’t want to entertain anything negative.”
WHERE
•Where are you most comfortable?
“Anywhere I am with friends, the ones that I mentioned earlier. What do we do? Wala lang. We just talk, we just laugh a lot, we’re just being happy. I am most comfortable at home.”
•Where do you want to go when you want to get away from it all?
“Pampanga. Don’t ask me why. I also go to the beach.”
•Where is your Achilles’ Heel?
“My heart. I’m very emotional. I am sensitive and, come to think of it, that’s what I hate about myself. But I’m trying to get over it; I’m getting immune to (negative) criticisms.”
•Where do you want to stay, if not in the
“I want to go to
•Where do you have tattoos?
“I have several. One on my leg, isang eye na parang binubuksan para mamulat; one on my arm, a ‘5’ which stands for us five siblings, my name which has five letters and...doesn’t Jesus’ name also have five letters?; one on my nape, ‘BVG,’ Baron Von Geisler; and another one below my right beltline, a clover. I’m thinking of having another one tattooed on my wrist or maybe on my back.”
WHEN
•When did you have your last drink?
“Last night (Saturday, Aug. 2). I drank five bottles of beer during the post-party for Torotot. I stopped at five and then I decided to go home. Before, I could finish one case of beer or a bottle of long-neck Matador.”
•When did you have your ‘first time’?
“Sex? I think I was about 12 or 13. My brother brought me to a disco house in Pampanga; he picked up a girl and I threatened to squeal on him, ‘I’m gonna tell Mom if you don’t pick one for me.’ So he did. The girl was 20. It was a sweet, sweet moment. She smelled like popcorn; that’s what I’ve never forgotten.”
•When are you most ‘high’ (naturally, huh, not ‘induced’)?
“I get high every after I do a difficult scene right. That’s why I love acting, why I’m in love with my craft. I’ve realized more than ever that I love acting, that I can’t live without it.”
•When did you realize that you wanted to be an actor?
“When I was jobless, when I was down. That was in 2004 and 2005; down na down ako noong time na ‘yon. I started in the business when I was 12, on Ang TV, but at that time it felt like play, not work. Then, I started thinking of the fame and the money. And then, nawala ako sa showbiz and that’s when I woke up, when I realized that acting is really my life. It was the PBB (Pinoy Big Brother) that helped revive my career. Because of PBB, nakilala uli ako ng mga tao; nakita nila kung ano ang tunay at totoong Baron Geisler.”
•When was the last time you told a lie?
“I actually never do, I never tell a lie. I’m a bad liar. You can easily see in my eyes if I’m telling a lie. But like everybody else, I tell white lies so as not to hurt people.”
HOW
•How do you deal with a crisis?
“I used to make little cuts on my arm, not naman big or deep enough to kill me. Small cuts lang. I didn’t cut to kill myself. Am I a masochist? No, I’m not. Or I would drink. Now, I go shopping...buy a new pair of shoes or anything not so expensive.”
•How was your childhood like?
“Good and bad. Corporal punishment was part of it. Basta, if we committed a mistake, our mom would give us a whack on our behind with a belt but never in other parts of the body. Our dad was very gentle; hindi niya kayang paluin kami. Honestly, we really lived the life when we were young. Mas malaki pa nga ang bahay namin noong hindi pa ako artista, eh. We were well-off; we would host parties every week. It was a great childhood. In our family album, you can see that we wore clothes na talagang pang-rich.”
•How do you measure success?
“In terms of happiness, not in material terms. You are successful if you are happy. Nawalan na ako ng bahay, twice, and I lost my dad, and all these tragedies in my life have made me what I am today. I am the sum total of my past. I like to think that I’m happy now, in spite of... When your family is happy, when people around you are happy, when you are happy, then you are successful.”
•How do you deal with the demons in your life?
“Very well. I can handle them pretty well now. Like yesterday during the premiere of Torotot, I was so nervous that I wanted a little drink. But something at the back of my mind was telling me, ‘Baron, don’t. Relax ka lang.’ And then I wasn’t nervous anymore.”
•How do you solve a ‘problem’ like Baron Geisler?
“Baron Geisler is not a problem anymore. I wouldn’t have been able to solve a ‘problem’ like Baron Geisler without the help of my mom. She’s my security blanket, she’s always there for me. I can’t imagine life without her behind me, beside me, standing all the way for me.”
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