Joel Torre

Thank God for chicken inasal, actor-restaurateur Joel Torre can take a hiatus from his regular film and TV work – his last was GMA-7’s action series “Zorro,” which wrapped up in Aug. 2009 – to focus on projects that are close to his heart without hurting his primary role as provider to his family.

Joel is in the thick of preparations for his on-and-off-screen participation in American independent filmmaker John Sayles’ historical war drama, “Baryo,” which will start its six-week shoot in Bohol on Feb. 2, while his successful eatery, JT’s Manukan Grille, recently opened its fourth branch in Ortigas.

“Baryo,” says Joel, is set during the Philippine-American War that took place from 1899 to 1902 and imparts different points of view – that of the colonizers, the rebels, and the civilians caught in the crossfire. It also touches on the roots of American imperialism.

“It’s an obscure part of our history that needs to be told,” the Bacolod native, who broke into the biz via Peque Gallaga’s 1982 war epic, “Oro, Plata, Mata,” tells Manila Bulletin Entertainment Online in an interview, adding that the movie will surely raise questions.

Joel says “Baryo” may stir controversy especially since Sayles, whose original screenplays for 1993’s “Passion Fish” and 1997’s “Lone Star” had both been nominated for Oscars, is known to tackle political and social issues in his films.

Sayles, according to a Los Angeles Times article, viewed America’s 1898 war with Spain over the Philippines as an “eerier precursor of U.S. military exploits in Vietnam” and at the same time “fascinated by the last gasp of Reconstruction – the era of virulent, post-Civil War racism.”

This led him to write his unpublished novel titled “Some Time in the Sun,” which in turn became the basis for “Baryo’s” screenplay.

Joel shares that he got to know Sayles through his old friend Mario Ontal, who first worked with Sayles as “Lone Star” assistant editor and now as “Baryo” co-producer.

Joining Joel onscreen are foreign actors headed by Sayles regular Chris Cooper, Oscar best supporting actor for 2002’s “Adaptation,” who will play an American colonel.

Garrett Dillahunt, notably of “No Country for Old Men,” is also in the movie along with other US-based actors including Fil-Am Arthur Acuna.

Joel informs us that another Sayles regular, David Strathairn, whose performance in 2005’s “Good Night, and Good Luck” earned him an Oscar nomination for best actor, was supposed to be in “Baryo” as well, but schedule conflict prevented him from doing so.

Ronnie Lazaro, Pen Medina, John Arcilla, Joe Gruta, Bodjie Pascua, Spanky Manikan, Rio Locsin, Irma Adlawan, and some local Bohol talents round up the cast.

“Baryo” is set for a U.S. release later this year.