Charles Teves
Kapuso artist Ken Chan has been acting for a decade already but his role in the television drama series Ang Dalawang Ikaw was the most demanding one.
He plays the character of a man who suffered from dissociative identity disorder (DID) and has two different personalities.
His preparation for the role was unlike any other and he shared exactly what he did.
“I underwent a lot of processes for this,” Ken said in Filipino.
“First of all, I had a workshop in GMA Network … we had a character sketch, how we dressed. We experimented around two months before our lock-in taping.”
Co-star Rita Daniela even asked him why he was speaking to her in character at one point during taping.
“She was wary because my words were becoming arrogant. I had to pinch myself and say, ‘wait, I have to let go’ because it’s hard to let go of the characters.”
One of the main reasons why his preparation was taxing is because the series addresses a very sensitive topic related to mental health.
“And also thorough research because this is a sensitive topic. It’s all about DID and it’s no joke. I also watched documentaries and films that have something to do with personality disorders.
“I’m so proud of GMA. They did a very brave thing. We all know that here in the Philippines, the knowledge on dissociative identity disorder isn’t that widely spread.”
They had a doctor on set to guide Ken in acting like a person with DID.
“It’s also a big help that we had a doctor, a psychiatrist on set and she’d guide me on how people with this condition, with DID act … because we want the information we’ll show to our viewers to be right. We don’t want to make a mistake because this isn’t a joke.”
GMA Network will air the series starting June 21 which features Anna Vicente, Dominic Roco, and Lianne Valentin.
