RICHARD GUTIERREZ BRINGS HIS ACTION DREAMS TO LIFE IN 'INCOGNITO'

BENEATH INCOGNITO” STAR RICHARD GUTIERREZ’S HEARTTHROB surface is a legit action star. His martial arts training lends authenticity and intensity to his acting, making his fight scenes and stunts in the Netflix series about private military contractors believable.

- By NATHALIE M. TOMADA

In his first-ever ensemble project, Richard plays Jose Bonifacio, a son of a military general (played by Richard's real-life dad, Eddie Gutierrez) and a Navy SEAL who gets discharged due to his "involvement" in a mutiny. He gets contracted to lead a team doing covert missions for the government. The ABS-CBN Star Creatives-produced show also stars Daniel Padilla, Maris Racal, Anthony Jennings, Baron Geisler, Kaila Estrada and Ian Veneracion.

The concept for "Incognito" actually originated from Richard in tandem with his "Iron Heart" director Lester Pimentel Ong, who also helms his new show.

"The concept is something direk Lester and I already talked about during 'Iron Heart.' I told him, let's do something like this because I got obsessed with stories about private military contractors before, particularly Blackwater, one of the most famous and controversial private military contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. (I learned that) they trained in the Philippines, in Clark before.

"(I learned about it because) may mga nakilala ako kasi dito (in the Philippines) incognito nga sila. They trained here before going to different countries. I got obsessed learning about their stories, lives. I find them so interesting. They come from different military backgrounds and then they are formed into a team.

"Then I started reading books about it. Then I also trained in tactical training with some US, Australian and then local special forces. I told direk Lester about it and after 'Iron Heart,' binuo nila yun.

"Incognito" is also a dream project because Richard gets to live out his childhood dream of becoming a soldier.