Jodi Sta. Maria and Elijah Canlas. Scene from “Edjop” —CONTRIBUTED photo Actor Elijah Canlas has admitted that he was initially offered to do only two scenes in the biopic “Edjop,” but since he loved the project so much, he pleaded to its director Katski Flores to give him the lead role instead.
“Initially, I got offered to play the young Edjop (the late labor rights activist Edgar Jopson), whom I learned about in high school. When I read the script, I texted Direk to say, ‘Can I play the old Edjop, too? I know I look young, but I will work on it. I will try to age.
’ At the time, they turned me down. I guess they were having a hard time casting someone because it’s a very controversial project, and, I guess, dangerous for some, that they eventually told me to do a screen test,” he recalled. “I showed up—this was around November 2023—did my makeup and did a scene.
The producer, Ms Joyette (Jopson, Edjop’s daughter) came in, too. They said she cried after watching me do the scene, and so they said, ‘Game! You’re doing it!’ The work started there,” he told Inquirer Entertainment in an interview. Elijah said that while this is a story about Edjop, it’s about his daughter, as well.
Joyette will be played by Jodi Sta. Maria . “So technically, Ms Jodi is my daughter in the movie.
This is crazy, but I’m just so honored,” Elijah said, laughing. “This is based on a true story, and Edjop was assassinated. The question here is whether or not .
