RECENTLY, WE SAT DOWN WITH Joel Torre at his JT Manukan restaurant to discuss his latest movie project, “Baryo,” directed by John Sayles, one of America’s independent filmmaking icons, who was Oscar-nominated for the screenplays of his films, “Passion Fish” and “Lone Star.”

“‘Baryo’ tells the story of the Filipino-American war, when the Americans were pursuing Aguinaldo. I play a cabeza de barangay, one of the film’s central characters. When the colonizers came in, we were caught between the crossfire of the rebels and the Americans. The story is part of history that needs to be told—it’s gripping,” shares the 48-year-old actor.

In good company

Joel is in good company: Among his coactors are Chris Cooper, who won an Oscar for “Adaptation,” and Garret Dillahunt, whose performance was noticed in “No Country for Old Men.” He confesses, “I thought I have reached the apex of my career when I did ‘Bayaning Third World,’ went to New York to do ‘Batang West Side,’ and acted in the play, ‘Dogeaters.’ Then, this movie with John Sayles came along. It’s too good to be true!”

How did he meet Sayles? He replies, “I met John in 1999. He’s a Renaissance Man. He’s always on top of things, but he doesn’t impose himself on others. Ours is like a teacher-mentor relationship. He never runs out of ideas.”

Joel accompanied the acclaimed director on a four-day road trip to Pangasinan, Subic and Vigan to check out the terrain. He recalls, “We were in one car. John’s research was extensive. Nahiya ako dahil mas marami pa s’yang alam tungkol sa ating history! In the course of the trip, he asked me how much it costs to make a movie here—and the rest is history.”

Childhood friend

Coproducer Mario Ontal, who works with Sayles as an associate editor in most of his films, is Joel’s childhood friend from Bacolod. He later informed Joel that the filmmaker already had a script and was forming a team to start filming.

Among the key people in the production are Kokoy Jimenez, Rodel Cruz and Lee Meily, with actors, Ronnie Lazaro, Spanky Manikan, Pen Medina and Rio Locsin.

Joel discloses, “I went on a sabbatical from film and TV work to focus on this project, which starts principal photography next month. Hard work always pays off!”