CyberGuardiansPH

Mr. John Arcilla

Award-winning Actor, CGPH Ambassador

Romeo “John” Gonzales-Arcilla is a Filipino actor. He won Best Actor awards at the 78th Venice International Film Festival and the Gawad Urian Awards for his performance in On the Job: The Missing 8. He is the first Filipino and Southeast Asian to win the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. He played the role of Antonio Luna in the historical drama film Heneral Luna, Hagorn in the fantasy drama television series Encantadia, Renato Hipolito in the action drama television series FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano, Carlos Fiero in the drama revenge television series Dirty Linen, and President Eleazar Sagrado in the drama thriller television series Pamilya Sagrado.

He was a member of the community-based Philippine Educational Theater Association-Metropolitan Teen Theater League (PETA-MTTL). In 1986, he graduated from Saint Joseph’s College of Quezon City (SJCQC). He was also an acting scholar of the Actors Workshop Foundation under Laurice Guillen, Johnny Delgado, and Leo Martinez from 1987 to 1990.

Arcilla joined Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas in 1988 and was a member until 1989. There, he was trained by stage director and National Artist for Theater, Tony Mabesa. From 1989 to 1990, Arcilla worked as a casting director for Foote, Cone & Belding.

From 1991 to 1997, Arcilla was a resident actor and senior member of Tanghalang Pilipino’s Actor Company, the resident theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. At the Cultural Center, he played lead roles in several productions, including Orosman and Zafira, Walang Sugat, and Ryan Cayabyab’s Rizal musical trilogy: El Filibusterismo in 1993, Noli Me Tángere in 1995, and Illustrado in 1996. Arcilla was also part of the main cast of Rama at Sita, a 1999 Filipino musical adapted from the Indian epic Ramayana. In 2000, Arcilla became a guest actor for Repertory Philippines and played Valentin in Kiss of the Spider Woman.