Jay Aquitania, Antonio Aquitania’s younger brother and one of the most promising young members of Douglas Quijano’s stable of stars, appears in his most daring role to date via the film Roxxxanne. In the movie, he plays the role of Marlon, a closeted gay teener who is secretly in love with his tricycle driver-friend (played by the hunky Janvier Daily). He does whatever he can to grab the attention of his crush which leads him to an involvement with a scandal that changes his life forever.

Jun Lana, the writer and director of the movie, writes in his blog that Jay was his first choice in portraying the role of Marlon. He said that the actor had the look and depth in acting which was very appropriate for the character. However, he was hoping for the best when he approached Jay’s manager, Douglas Quijano, to allow his talent to do the movie. Of course, Jun was already expecting Mr. Quijano’s disapproval because the playing of a gay role by a young actor nowadays may spell the end of his career - he may be typecasted in such roles and, thus, would be difficult to raise to matinee idol status. However, to Mr. Lana’s amazement, Mr. Quijano agreed to let Jay do the role and that was how Jay was cast for the role of Marlon.

If you may remember, Jay’s first appearance on TV was with the sitcom, “Kool Ka Lang” with fellow Douglas Quijano talents Richard Gomez and Joey Marquez. In one interview, Jay exclaims that he was just invited to do a pictorial one day and he was taping to the sitcom a week later. For this big break, he says, that he is really grateful to his manager.

After his stint the comedy, he ventured into drama by several guestings in GMA7 shows and eventually he was cast in the big-budgeted telefantasya, Mulawin. This was his biggest role to date and he considers this as the turning point in his career. Showing remarkable acting skills in the show, he was subsequently cast in other telefantasyas, “Sugo” and “Captain Barbell”.

Presently, he hasn’t been very visible on television. Probably his home network, GMA7, is brewing something for this 19 year old. His role in Roxxxanne shows his versatility as an actor and his acceptance of this role shows his risk-taker attitude to play any kind of character. I hope he gets good projects soon. I know, it’s gonna be a waste of a good talent if we get don’t see him acting in the big or small screens.

Incidentally, Roxxxanne is still showing at the Robinson’s Galleria IndieSine until February 12, 2008, so don’t fail to watch it.

Photo credits: Jay Javier and Jun Lana for some pics in this post.