FILIPINO-Americans are likely to venture in an acting career in Manila. It is rare, however, for African-Americans to start making a name for themselves here in the Philippines.

Thirty-one-year-old actor Charlie St. Cyr was tapped to do a BL (boy’s love) series, “Sashes and Hearts,” under Oxin Films, with director and executive producer, Xion Lim. Charlie will be seen in 13 episodes shown every Saturday starting February 22.

“I didn’t know, until recently, that I’m the first black American to appear in his first Filipino BL series,” Charlie admitted. “That was just shocking and surprising to me.

“But as far as the comments and the reactions that I’ve been getting, those have been very positive. Some of them are a bit sexual, of course. But for me those are positive outlook. I’m happy to be in that position.”

Charlie just takes the comments as a compliment. “I’ve just been in the industry long enough, starting in the US, when I was still a teenager,” he continued. “I don’t let comments bother me. I just keep moving forward.”

When director Xion made a casting call for “Sashes and Hearts,” Charlie was not yet here in Manila. He wanted to give the role a shot. So he forwarded his acting roles and his IMDb (Internet Movie Database) for a crack at the project which he nailed.

Charlie’s role in “Sashes and Hearts” is in the main cast playing the antagonist who plans to sabotage the lead.

“It was my first time to do a BL series,” Charlie shared. “I was here in the Philippines and I just finished the film. It was a great experience. I portray this character where I kind of got out of my comfort zone. The cast was very warm and welcoming. I felt like home here.

“The biggest challenge filming for the first time in the Philippines was the time that we shoot. We work as long as 18 hours here. Filming in the US, we have to observe the time or we get paid extra.”

Charlie is still learning Tagalog. “So far, 25 percent fluent and whenever there’s something that I don’t understand, I still get kind of lost when they were trying to explain,” he shared.

“For the most part, working with my castmates, I was very comfortable with them. It was an easy production.” He also uses “po” and “opo” to answer questions thrown at him.

Charlie gets to do love scenes, like doing a special favor with the manager of the pageant to get ahead. “I’m pretty much very arrogant and confident that I will win no matter what it takes,” he shared about his character.

“The manager uses that and wants me to do special favors for him to make me win. I’m a foreigner and in his perspective, looks very tasty to him. He told me, ‘I will get you to the top and get you the crown if you do these favors for me sexually’.”

Sure, Charlie agreed to do BL love scenes. “It’s pretty spicy,” he said.

“Even in big industries, like pageants and the film industry, there are people who take advantage of you,” Charlie said. “They make broken promises. Those who are vulnerable and really want popularity fall into those promises.”

Charlie was convinced “Sashes and Hearts” will open more doors for him. After the series, he wants to do more projects in Manila and decided to stay longer here.

“Working with the Filipino cast and crew, we did a lot of workshops before we started taping for the series. They helped us bond.”

He delivers only English dialogue in his BL series. “My character is Daniel Smith,” Charlie offered. “He is the USA winner of the pageant. He comes to the Philippines to join an international pageant.”

The cast of “Sashes and Hearts” are Ivan Cojuangco and Ethan Aguilar, with Gio Emprese, Kate Yalung, Larence Brenches, Marc Alonzo, Hannah Lee and Ryan Zamora.

Last December, Charlie worked with Lav Diaz in a yet untitled film. “I’m looking forward to its international release,” Charlie said.

He wants to work eventually with Kathryn Bernardo, his first Filipino crush. “She’s Dating the Gangster” was the first local film Charlie ever saw in 2021. “Since then, that made me fall in love with the Filipino culture and the language.”

Thankfully, when the wildfire spread in California, Charlie was here in the Philippines. “I live in California, too, but I wasn’t there when the wildfire happened,” he said.

Born and partly raised in Louisiana, Charlie was a military brat. His dad who was in the navy, made the family moved a lot throughout the US.

At age 16, Charlie joined the Fine Arts program in his school and that was when he got into theater. “I was always pretending to be something or someone,” he said.

When he moved to California in 2016, Charlie got himself an agent and made sure he had an agency.

He took up Kinesiology and plans to go into Physical Therapy. He has yet to finish his course. He took a break when he joined the Navy for six years.

After a year in the Philippines, Charlie can now understand Tagalog, although he has yet to speak fluently. He continues to learn Tagalog. No one is Filipino in his family, although he has been around Filipinos when he joined the military.

His best friend in the Navy is Filipino, too. Being in the entertainment industry in LA allowed Charlie to meet other Filipinos.

When he lived in California, most of Charlie’s friends are Filipino. “Back then, I was kind of introduced to the Filipino culture, the language and the food,” Charlie said. “When I arrived here in Manila, I noticed that Filipinos are shy to approach me than they were in the US.

“For the most part, everybody has been welcoming here, inviting me to their homes to eat. I feel like home here.”

When he was 19, Charlie was cast in director William Kaufman’s zombie flick, “Daylight’s End” (2016).

“That was my first experience in the industry,” Charlie offered. “Everything was just new for me at that time. But I enjoyed the whole process. The whole cast was very welcoming. I didn’t feel like I didn’t belong there.”

When he started learning Tagalog, Charlie watched a lot of films and Tagalog TV series on iWantTFC (The Filipino Channel).

“The reason I came to the Philippines, I want to become an international actor and extend my portfolio,” Charlie offered. “I am currently writing my first screenplay. That one will be a mix of Tagalog and other languages – Louisiana French-Creole, English, Tagalog.

The story is about an African-American from Louisiana who meets a Filipina in college. He tries to win her over by learning her culture, her language. The title of the story is “Boyfriend Mo.”

Interestingly, the plot happened in real life. Charlie met a Filipina in California. “Our relationship lasted for a year, but now, we are no longer together,”

Charlie first visited the Philippines in January last year. He brought with him the script he wrote. “For me to finish the script, I want to write from the first person experience.

“In the story, my main character came to the Philippines and started learning the culture. That was my main reason for coming here. I stayed for six months.”

He returned in October last year and is still around. He just finished the BL series, “Sashes and Hearts” that will be shown in 13 weeks.

“My goal is to just keep going out there and do more projects,” Charlie said. “If I keep getting more projects, I’ll stay longer in Manila. If I’m called to LA to do something there, I’ll go there. It just depends on where my projects are.”

AUTHOR PROFILE

Leah C. Salterio