MANILA – Only hours after their first-time arrival in the Philippines, Resurrection stars Omar Epps and Kurtwood Smith sat before media representatives in the Lifetime event at Long Bar, Raffles Makati.
Omar Epps, easily known for playing Dr. Eric Foreman in House M.D., mentioned in good humor that eating in Jollibee was atop his Manila itinerary, while the famed That 70’s Show and Robocop personality Kurtwood Smith, noted that his wife was already off to the mall. Incidentally, the Hollywood actors’ first time in the Philippines was the third and last stop, following Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, of their Resurrection Asia Tour.
Both star in the recent, well-received series Resurrection, which revolves around the premise of the deceased coming back to life, physically unchanged since their deaths. To say “well-received” may be an understatement – viewers of its pilot episode broke past thirteen million in the United States, statistically beating even that of The Walking Dead.
Lifetime network is set to air Resurrection in the Philippines beginning on May 12 at 10pm, and will be consistently aired at the same time weekly thereafter. Although bearing an American reputation for female-oriented entertainment, Lifetime in the Philippines potentially expands its audience by selecting Resurrection as one of its main attractions.
There is more to the series than melodrama, as its premise might inadequately impress, and although Resurrection is based on the novel The Returned, both actors insist that the show is not a faithful portrayal of neither character nor storyline in the book, which leaves more room for audience anticipation.
“The real connective tissue between all of us as human beings on this earth is life and death—it’s not our ethnicity, it’s not our class,” Epps said of being in a series that enables him to explore “the big what-if”.
Despite the plot dynamics, it’s the character roles that pulled both Epps and Smith into the production. Epps plays a customs agent who returns a boy, supposedly dead for 30 years, to his mother and his father, played by Smith.
“With this show, it’s pretty much do your homework up until the doorbell rings,” Smith said, emphasizing the importance of knowing his character’s disposition over the fictional years that passed in order to project himself well.
Omar Epps and Kurtwood Smith are in the Philippines until May 10, the end of their Asian tour.
