Filipino Star Enrique Gil On Breaking Boundaries In His Comeback After A Three-Year Hiatus, ‘I Am Not Big Bird’

EXCLUSIVE: It’s just another day in Manila’s Riverbanks Center studios and a stand-in actor is beating off a group of gangsters with an outsized prosthetic penis – thankfully one that is wrapped in a tasteful chiffon scarf. 

The actor he’s standing in for, Enrique Gil, is one of the biggest heartthrobs in the Philippines’ film and TV industries and it’s safe to say he’s taking a slight departure with his most recent project, I Am Not Big Bird, which was mostly filmed in Thailand with some interiors in Manila. 

Produced by Anima Studios and ABS-CBN‘s Black Sheep, the film is about a 30-something virgin (Gil) who, dejected after his girlfriend turns down his marriage proposal, heads off on holiday to Thailand with a bunch of friends. Once there, a peculiar chain of events ensues when Gil’s character is mistaken for a famous Thai porn star, the “Big Bird” of the title. 

Directed by Victor Villanueva (Kidnap For Romance) and written by Lilit Reyes and Joma Labayen, the film also stars Nikko Natividad, Pepe Herera and comedian Red Ollero. Anima’s Bianca Balbuena and Kriz Gazmen of ABS-CBN are producing the film for the two studios, with Gil also on board as a producer.

Sitting down with Deadline on a break between takes, Gil says this is the first time he’s made a straight-up comedy, especially one so raunchy, likening it more to a Western-style comedy than a typical Philippines film. 

“I’d taken a break of about three years during the pandemic, and before that was doing a lot of romcoms and dramas, as well as some horrors,” says Gil, underplaying his track record of making some of the Philippines’ biggest romantic dramas, often with frequent co-star Liza Soberano. “Growing up, me and my dad used to just love comedy, he was a comedian himself, so I really wanted to make a solid comedy film that me and my dad, if he were still here, would want to watch.” 

He adds that he also hopes the project pushes the envelope for Filipino mainstream films, at least a little. Filipino cinema is not known for comedy that doesn’t involve a “love team” and lots of romance, while I Am Not Big Bird is more of a buddy (or in Tagalog ‘barkada’) movie, revolving around the mishaps of