So You Think You Know Baron Geisler
Esquire Philippines|August 2016

The Controversial Actor describes the Angels and Demons in his Lifelong Arch of Stumble and Stir.

Paolo Enrico Melendez
So You Think You Know Baron Geisler

Back when I was a college junior, I had a classmate who wrote a play with Baron Geisler in mind for the lead. It wasn’t some cutesy fifteen-minuter, mind you. It was a full-length piece, in iambic pentameter if I remember correctly, photocopied and bound in garish school zone copy center green. It was encyclopedia-thick and bowling-ball-heavy. No one ever volunteered to read it. I asked the guy why he’d written such a comprehensive story for Geisler, and he didn’t seem to know why himself. I suppose that’s exactly the thing with the actor—we think we understand the extent of his influence, until something new with him comes up and we realize we really don’t.

We fondly remember him as a child star in Ang TV, the kiddie gag show that dominated afternoon television in the ’90s; as Fonzie in the smash teen drama Tabing Ilog; as an excellent actor in a range of movies from the naturalistic indie, Jay, to the comic mainstream Kimmy Dora: Kambal sa Kiyeme. He was a clean-cut youngster, so we think he’s one of us. But that’s the thinking that often leads to disillusion. Jennifer Lawrence is an awkward girl next door? The Fappening. Lionel Messi is a kid who didn’t let poverty get in the way of his passion? The Panama Papers.

This story is from the August 2016 edition of Esquire Philippines.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the August 2016 edition of Esquire Philippines.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM ESQUIRE PHILIPPINESView All
What It Means to Be Beautiful
Esquire Philippines

What It Means to Be Beautiful

At the trial of Phryne in 350 BC, the courtesan, who was acknowledged to be one of the most beautiful women in Athens, had been accused of defaming the gods and was losing the case, and was about to be sentenced to die.

time-read
10+ mins  |
August 2016
Of All Time
Esquire Philippines

Of All Time

Both an athlete and a symbol of noble defiance, Muhammad Ali was a hero to men everywhere. Long after the Thrilla in Manila, and certainly long after his death, he will be remembered as the greatest.

time-read
6 mins  |
July 2016
Esquire Philippines

Twenty Years Later

Kobe says goodbye, and hello.  

time-read
7 mins  |
July 2016
Being Miss Universe
Esquire Philippines

Being Miss Universe

Seven months after being named the most universally beautiful woman in the world, Pia Wurtzbach has grown into the job.

time-read
10+ mins  |
August 2016
So You Think You Know Baron Geisler
Esquire Philippines

So You Think You Know Baron Geisler

The Controversial Actor describes the Angels and Demons in his Lifelong Arch of Stumble and Stir.

time-read
10 mins  |
August 2016
The Nice guy
Esquire Philippines

The Nice guy

He’s the world’s most famous normal person, the Hollywood Everyman, the good guy who finishes first. This month, he makes himself even more popular by returning to his most successful character, the rogue CIA agent Jason Bourne. Over coffee in Toronto, Matt Damon tells Esquire about surviving early acclaim, overcoming career setbacks, and why he won’t be running for president any time soon. (OK, maybe vice-president.)

time-read
10+ mins  |
August 2016
N
Esquire Philippines

N

The road to the north is not narrow at all. But it feels narrow, as all roads are narrow, as a straight, taut bridge to somewhere in the far distance is narrow, no matter how wide the bridge really is, as the eyes narrow, even when you’re only looking at the map and there are no complicated directions, and even when you ignore the instructions given out by the rigid voice on our devices.

time-read
6 mins  |
August 2016