Exclusive: Juancho Triviño On His Role as Padre Salvi

Celebrity dad Juancho Triviño shared with us his thoughts on the controversial character that is Padre Salvi.

While many don’t recall enjoying their reading of Noli Me Tangere or El Fili Busterismo, that is one of the challenges that celebrity dad and content creator Juancho Triviño had to deal with in portraying the controversial character that is Padre Salvi.

“Just like a lot of us, I didn’t really read into it back then. It was more for the sake of compliance. Back in high school, we were all naïve and we just wanted to get good grades and make our parents proud,” he admitted. “But now that I’m playing the character, we had to do some deeper reading and, there’s a deeper understanding of what Jose Rizal was trying to tell us.”

He admits that he genuinely enjoys the project Maria Clara at Ibarra. “It didn’t matter what role they gave me. Though it’s a lot of hard work, I’m really happy with the project. It’s a lot of reading, researching, and preparing myself emotionally.”

Juancho Triviño’s Art Challenges

A few videos, workshops, and even a bit of a makeover later, Juancho Triviño shared how he had an adviser to help flesh out Padre Salvi. “We even had to learn how to speak Spanish,” he shares. “But early on we were told about the characters and what values they represent, a lot of minor and major things like that.”

When asked how he sees Padre Salvi, he shares that Maria Clara at Ibarra‘s villain is a little more complex than many understand. “Although there wasn’t a cross since we didn’t really have similarities, Padre Salvi as a character is passionate. But on the inside, I feel that and I want other people to feel and understand that his passion isn’t coming from a place of evil but more from a place of frustration.”

Despite the seriousness of the character, Juancho Triviño didn’t expect Padre Salvi’s quick rise as a meme sensation among his fans and the netizens. “Dealing with all the comments from the fans, it’s funny because I didn’t expect it! I found it funny and even my friends found the costume funny, even before the taping started. I really didn’t expect that I would start something that even people began dressing up as Padre Salvi on Halloween. I’ve been getting a lot of memes too about it.”

How Padre Salvi Became A Meme Sensation

It all started during a press conference when he had to dress up as Padre Salvi. “We had one and I had to go in costume. I was wearing the wig and no, I didn’t shave my head. But the media people were asking me back then, “Is that real?”, “It looks so real in person!” But, I have to give credit to the one who made the prosthetic. It looks real and feels real because it’s actual human hair! Sometimes, I even feel it’s growing! It’s freaky!” he jokes.

Besides the media’s stunned reaction to how authentic it looked, it was more amusing to Juancho that his son recognized him on TV despite him wearing the prosthetic. “He’s one so I’m pretty sure that while he didn’t understand what was going on, he did say ‘dada’ when he saw me. Although, he wasn’t happy.”

And if there was any item he wanted to bring home after the project, he shared that it was the prosthetic hairpiece. “I’ve been asking them if I could bring home the wig,” Juancho laughs. “I thought about wearing the wig, going around the mall with it on.”

What else is going on with the dad of Team Triviño?

Besides juggling his work, his podcast Juan with Juancho, parenting with Joyce, and now preparing for their second baby, Juancho Triviño recently finished his degree in Business at the De La Salle University. “I just had 1 to 2 classes to finish so the weight wasn’t too bad and I’m just glad it never reached that point of being a student and a dad because I really wouldn’t know how to juggle it,” he laughs with a sigh of relief. “But being a working student for at least 2 to 3 years, I had to turn down a few roles. There was a lot of coordination, asking profs, or asking if this schedule is open at a specific time. But Business in DLSU is no joke.”

He also shares a cute, funny, and sweet anecdote. “When we [Joyce and I] were dating, Joyce would come to pick me up because traffic is so bad in DLSU. And in Taft,” Juancho laughs.

But the dad of Team Triviño offers words of wisdom for dads who want to head back to school and learn again. “Let’s not stop learning, even when we’re old. We can still learn a thing or two. Not just in academe but in life and parenting. There are a lot of things to research on, to study on. On how to handle kids or how to handle things you’re doing like business and work. Never stop learning. Never be complacent because there’s always room to be better.”

More about Team Triviño:

How These Celebrity Dads Celebrated Father’s Day
Joyce Pring and Juancho Triviño Are Expecting Baby Number 2!
10 Celebrity Parents Who Keep The Love Alive