Joel Torre Decided to be an Actor After a Drunk 2-Kilometer Run

Joel Torre — the acclaimed star of Oro, Plata, Mata, On the Job, Batang West Side, and other major works of Philippine cinema  — was not always so sure he wanted to be an actor.

Torre had been a member of award-winning director Peque Gallaga’s theater group Masskara since he was a young child in Bacolod. “Peque was a great teacher,” Torre recalled in an episode of Rolling Stone Philippines’ YouTube series, Greatest Hits. “He was my mentor, my teacher, my guru, my friend, my father figure: all rolled into one.”

It was Gallaga who encouraged Torre to pursue his passion for acting even after completing his undergraduate degree in mass communications. “He set the bar and he said, ‘If you want to go into the arts, go all the way,” said Torre. “Wala na ‘tong balikan pa. So if you decide, you better not be half-decided.”

Gallaga’s mentorship led Torre to make arguably one of the most important, albeit drunken, decisions of his life. “I promised myself [that] when I graduated… if I can [run] and make it back and forth this subdivision, I’ll be an artist,” said Torre. “I was so drunk. I ran about two kilometers.”

“But I did it,” added Torre. “Half-drunk, of course.”

Torre’s career choice, as well as his close connection with his mentor, quickly brought him his first major acting role in Gallaga’s 1982 war drama, Oro, Plata, Mata. Torre was 21 when he took on the role of Miguel Lorenzo, an awkward, fearful teenager caught in the chaos of the Japanese occupation and World War II. “It’s considered one of the best Filipino films, and to be part of it… It’s hard to explain,” he said. “It was a breakthrough film and [Miguel] was every young actor’s dream role.” Torre also recalled how he hadn’t initially been the first choice for the role, and how it had been intended for another actor.

“But as fate would have it, it was for me,” said Torre. “And I was so grateful… it was a landmark cinema, commercially and critically.”

In Rolling Stone Philippines’ Greatest Hits, Torre breaks down five of the biggest roles in his acting career and reflects on his place in Philippine cinema today. You can watch it now exclusively on our YouTube channel.