John Arcilla reveals reason for missing Venice Festival
1 Oct – John Arcilla just could not be bothered to undergo a two-week quarantine, or at least that is the short version as to the reason why he decided not to attend the Venice International Film Festival earlier and missed his chance to accept his first Volpi Cup for Best Actor in person. He was represented by director Erik Matti at the festival, who brought home the Cup to John.
As reported on Inquirer, the actor, who became the first South-east Asian actor to win the award for his role in "On The Job: The Missing 8", stated that he was busy filming "FPJ's Ang Probinsyano" in Ilocos Sur when the festival was held.
"The show's team gave me permission to take a leave of absence for a week, but I decided to decline because I couldn't afford to lose 14 days in quarantine when I come home."
John stated that his decision not to go was so he could be of help to the show because they were airing "hand-to-mouth", meaning that the scenes they taped in the morning would have to be aired at night.
The actor said that he did ask for permission from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases if he could shorten his quarantine period, but was told no.
"I really can't be away that long. Plus, I will have to shoulder the expenses of my stay in quarantine. I can't accept the fact that I will pay for my agony. It's so unfair. Imagine that I will only stay in Venice for three days, but I have to endure quarantine for 14 days! I guess if we're handling the pandemic better than we already are, then things would have been easier. I would have been able to attend the awards show. I just think we should be treated better because we serve as ambassadors. Actors like me represent the country abroad, but I feel like we are not given much support," he said.
(Photo Source: John Arcilla Instagram)
