Actors are often asked to become someone else. To borrow another person’s voice, carry their fears, understand their choices, and, for a moment, live inside a life that is not their own. But perhaps the most important part of acting is not the ability to pretend—it is the willingness to understand.
For Elijah Canlas, that seems to be one of the most meaningful things about being an artist. His career has been built on playing characters from different walks of Filipino life, but rather than simply treating each role as another performance, he allows every character to teach him something about the people—and the world—around him.
At the age of 14, he made his acting debut in Sundalong Kanin, a Cinemalaya indie war drama that marked one of his earliest steps into the entertainment industry. From there, his career continued to grow, earning him recognition across both film and television.
In 2020, his performance in Kalel, 15 earned him Best Actor wins at the Asian Film Festival in Rome, FAMAS, and Gawad Urian, alongside Best Supporting Actor for Edward and a Special Jury Prize for He Who Is Without Sin. His accolades continued in the years that followed, including Best Young Actor at the Urduja Heritage Film Awards, Best Actor at the Harlem International Film Festival, the Ani ng Dangal Award, and further recognition for About Us But Not About Us, Blue Room, and Senior High.
Yet beyond the awards and growing list of credits, Canlas’ career reflects something less measurable: an artist who continues to change with every role he takes on.
Because for him, becoming an artist has never seemed to be about arriving at a finished version of himself.
The People He Becomes
To truly play a character, an actor has to meet them without judgment. To look beyond the script and ask why they behave the way they do, what shaped them, what they fear, and what makes them human. The performance may end when the cameras stop rolling, but the empathy required to create it can stay with the actor long after.
When asked how portraying people from different walks of life has affected his understanding of his own Filipino identity, Canlas does not confine his answer to nationality. For him, the experience reaches somewhere more personal.
“I think more than just the Filipino identity, my identity as a human being.”
That sense of growth has followed him throughout his journey in the industry. The characters he plays may belong to particular communities, circumstances, or realities, but the experience of portraying them also becomes personal to him.
“Every time I play a character, I feel like I come out a better person,” he said. My empathy deepens, and my understanding of human beings from all walks of life, especially telling Filipino stories.”
For an actor, growth can often be measured through technique—the ability to understand a character more deeply, inhabit different perspectives, and expand one’s range. But for Canlas, there is always something more personal to take away from the people he plays.
The character may end when the project does, but the understanding does not necessarily have to.
Perhaps this is what makes acting more than simply acting. To portray another person truthfully, an actor must first allow themselves to empathize with them. It requires stepping outside of their own perspective and making room for someone else’s reality, even when that reality is unfamiliar or difficult to understand.
And for Canlas, that process does not only make him a better actor. It makes him a better person.
Beyond The Self
His mindset as an actor also shapes the way he approaches the roles he accepts.
For someone whose career has continued to grow, it might be easy to see each project as another step forward: another credit, another audience, another opportunity to build a name. But Canlas admits that his own career is probably only second or third when it comes to making these decisions.
“Ako, honestly, yung thinking about my career is probably second or third na when it comes to making these decisions. I usually think of, you know, what playing this character would mean to somebody out there who feels like this character represents them or they know who this character is. Usually, mas nandun yung mindset ko.”
It is a perspective that places his work somewhere between the personal and the larger world around it. Rather than asking only what a role can do for his career, he also considers what the role might mean to someone watching it.
There is a responsibility in that. When an actor portrays a person whose experiences may reflect someone else's life, the performance becomes more than a performance. It becomes a form of representation.
Still, Canlas does not dismiss the importance of thinking about his own career. He simply refuses to treat it as the only measure of whether a role matters.
“It's always for the macro. But the micro is not bad either. Parang, syempre, you have to think about that.”
There is honesty in that admission. Being an artist does not mean completely removing yourself from the equation. It means learning how to consider both—the larger impact of the work and the personal journey that comes with it.
For Canlas, being an artist does not automatically mean leaving behind the person he was when he started. It means learning how to hold different things at once: ambition and empathy, career and purpose, the character and the person playing them.
The Empathy of Becoming
In the life of an actor, there will always be a temptation to look at a career retrospectively and make it seem as though every step was leading toward a predetermined destination.
But for Elijah Canlas, the life of an actor is a constant process of change.
When asked what message he would want his career to leave behind for the next generation, he does not make a grand statement about legacy. Instead, he admits that thinking too far ahead is not really how he approaches life.
“I don't really think like that. Yung parang masyadong is ahead in the future. I take things day by day.”
For someone who has already spent years in an entertainment industry where people constantly look toward the next project, the next role, and the next achievement, there is something quietly radical about refusing to rush toward a final destination.
Canlas has already changed considerably from the young enthusiast who first entered the industry. His recognition has grown. His audience has become bigger. His body of work has become more expansive.
But none of that means that his learning—and his growth as a person—has stopped.
If anything, that may be what continuous growth looks like for an artist. It is not always about becoming someone entirely new. Sometimes, it is about allowing every experience to add something to the person who is already there.
Every character leaves something behind. Every story offers another perspective. Every person he portrays becomes another opportunity to understand a life beyond his own.
Despite all his years of experience in the industry, Canlas remains uncertain about many things. And perhaps that uncertainty is not something he needs to overcome just yet. The final version of himself, after all, is still too far ahead to see.
For now, there is only the character in front of him, the story waiting to be told, and the person he will become after telling it.
And if there is one thing Elijah Canlas has consistently believed in, it is the importance of showing kindness in every way possible. Because sometimes, becoming a better artist is not about learning how to become someone else.It is about learning how to understand them—and becoming a better person yourself along the way.
METROSCENE MAG | SEPTEMBER 2026 COVER: NEXT IN LINE
Producer, Creative/Art Director & Editor-in-Chief: Elwyn Baccay (@markelwyn)
Photography by Josh Castro (@ajoshcastro)
Makeup by Dominic Ocampo (@dom.ocampo)
Hair by Mharhea Banting (@workwithmhar)
Fashion Direction & Styling by Gen Real (@genreal__) assisted by Jasper Añonuevo (@jasperuevo), Lynus Martin (@lynuss) and Cha Fronteras (@chafronteras)
Video Director, Cinematographer & Editor: Gene Francis C. Sayson (@g.f.sayson)
Gaffer: Jessal Cruz (@jessalcruz)
Co-Producer: Avin Dela Cruz (@avindelacruz_)
Set Design by Elwyn Baccay and Niña Cruz (@cruzynina)
Shot at Sikret Studio (@sikret.studio)
Written By Keshia Miranda and Elwyn Baccay
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