Khalil Ramos on photography, acting and theatre as art practices

Often taking photographs of the mundane moments in life, Ramos took his passion to the streets—going on photo walks with his best friend. “We would go out and just park somewhere. We would shoot the entire day and go back home. I found it so exciting to capture life in a split second. The photographs that I take are just filled with so much richness of our culture and everyday Filipino life. . .For me, the most raw and pure form of the human condition is what speaks to me. Even in how people walk, you get an idea of what that person may be going through. So capturing that is the type of style that makes me feel excitement,” he says.

As a self-proclaimed camera nerd, Ramos swears by the compactness of his gear. Often preferring smaller cameras over bulky DSLRs, he would rather have something that fits in his pocket and captures all the natural colours of whatever catches his eye. “I’m not big on editing. I like most of my work to be straight out of the camera. Literally no filter. Maybe it’s because I’m too lazy to edit. I don’t like it when my hobby starts to feel like work,” Ramos shares while laughing.

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While his shots look professionally made and can certainly pass as such, Ramos doesn’t consider himself a professional. He thinks of himself as a hobbyist who loves the craft and community. “I rarely buy brand new cameras. I love buying used gear from Facebook groups. When you go to a Fujifilm Facebook group, you will find me there. I also have listings of some of my cameras,” he says.

 ICOH GR IIIx and the Fujifilm X-T4 are some of his favourite cameras. The earlier is the one he uses the most, while the latter is his workhorse—for when he needs a good shot.

Ramos’ first exposure to the big screen was through the hit show Pilipinas Got Talent, where he performed Edwin McCain’s I’ll Be. Only 15 years old and in his third year of high school, he had no idea he would become a star. He didn’t even know what he’d be taking up for college. “The same month that I went into the auditions for PGT, there was this college fair at my school. They were handing out flyers to try and recruit you. All my friends were going around, checking out each school—I didn’t even go around. I didn’t get a single flyer because I didn’t know what to do. I’ve always been interested in the arts, but my parents were very traditional. So the most practical thing for me to take up was anything related to computers because everyone was saying that the world’s approaching another tech boom—and sure enough, it did,” Ramos shares. With a mind full of uncertainty, he pushed through with the auditions as a Hail Mary to success. If it works out, great! If it doesn’t, then it’s straight to an IT course.

During the auditions, the feeling of singing in front of a big audience didn’t sink in. He went straight to national television without formal training, making it a leap of faith that he didn’t expect to last. “It was surreal. It was just like a blur. It was like a ‘Wake me up, am I dreaming?’ type of thing,” he says.

When he won second place in the reality talent show, his popularity skyrocketed. Suddenly people wanted everything to do with him, and as a 16-year-old who suddenly got into showbiz through Princess and I, Ramos admits that it was quite terrifying. “I started to work taxes and I took the quickest route to becoming an adult. It was thrilling, yes. But at the same time, I wasn’t sure if I loved what I did. At the time it was just fun. Not until I started acting,” he shares.

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As time went on and Ramos started cementing himself as a mainstay in television through teleseryes and movies, he fell deep in love with what he did. Perhaps the most impactful role he’s played is Basilio in Maria Clara at Ibarra. “He’s such an iconic character. It’s a character that I—and every Filipino—studied in high school… Just a few days ago, I was in Rockwell and a teacher came up to me and said that her students are currently watching Maria Clara at Ibarra on Netflix. She thanked me for being a part of it and told me that it became easier for her to teach Noli Me Tangere and El Fiilibusterismo because they’re [the students] interested. It’s not just a requirement anymore—which I thought back in high school. That moment reminded me that what I do is more than just fame and fortune. It’s more than just the limelight. It’s the impact that I left behind—there’s purpose.” Ramos shares.

Ramos’ initial encounter with theatre happened right after his success in Pilipinas Got Talent when he was invited to audition for the 2012 staging of The Sound of Music. “I was invited to be one of the children, but I declined. I said, ‘I’m not even that good as a singer—what more as an actor?’ I politely declined because I didn’t believe in myself. I was too scared… But I think if I took that, my life would be so different,” he says.

More chances would be thrown at Ramos to enter the stage, and in 2019, he auditioned for the role of AJ in Ang Huling El Bimbo. While he was offered the role, he had to give it up because he was working on the first Netflix original series, Dead Kids. For Ramos, managing a tight schedule is difficult. He prefers to hyper-fixate on one thing and give his all to that.

With the recent staging of Tick, Tick… Boom! in August, Ramos finally made his first foray into theatre as Jon. Through a spectacular execution of raw talent and unmatched emotional display, he was able to leave audiences on the edge of their seats. 

Ramos’ portrayal of Jon was different to Jef Flores’ in a way that his Filipino accent slips out at times. And it wasn’t a bad thing. On the contrary, it injected a unique flair into the songs, which added a new meaning. As a 27-year-old artist himself, Ramos can see himself in his character. The fear of not achieving anything great by the time we reach that dreaded age is something that many have felt—or still are feeling. While this production by 9 Works Theatrical stayed true to the original, Ramos’ personality made Jon’s story much more relatable to Filipino audiences. Songs like 30/90 and Johnny Can’t Decide didn’t feel like watching an actor sing their heart out on stage, it felt like watching Ramos himself show us what he struggles with day by day—and it was nothing short of amazing.

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From the passionate singing and choreography of No More to the careful but fast-paced execution of Therapy, Ramos was able to switch temperaments at a moment’s notice. One could look around them to see audience members singing along, dancing in their seats and putting their hands on their chest to feel the atmosphere, and I believe part of that is how he sang each song. 

Ramos’ background in television worked wonders in his interpretation of Jon. Every emotion, whether anxiety, joy or anguish, was evident in his facial expressions and body language. One scene I’d like to highlight is his solo, Why. Literal sweat and tears drenched his face, and it was as if he was Jon, feeling intense grief for a friend who was running out of time.

While Tick, Tick… Boom! was his first appearance on stage, and it certainly won’t be the last. He revealed that he wants to continue his theatre career with straight plays. “People keep asking me if I was bitten by the theatre bug. I like to think yes. I’ll definitely be part of another theatre production. It’s just difficult because theatre takes up one-fourth of my year. . .It might be a once-a-year type of thing for me but I’d love to do non-musicals as well.”

When Ramos is not on set for a new movie or TV series, he likes to play video games on his PlayStation 5. A massive fan of adventure and sports games, his favourites are the Assassin’s Creed series—Odyssey in particular—and the NBA. 

Another thing he’s extremely passionate about is coffee. From the actual production and farming of coffee to brewing and even starting up a cafe, Ramos is in love with it. “I started learning about the actual coffee industry and its struggles. We used to be number four worldwide in coffee exporting, but then coffee rust ruined the world’s supply of coffee. When that happened, we didn’t do anything about it. So now we resorted to importing instead of exporting it. It’s sad. So if I do put up a coffee shop, I want it to be purposeful. Not just import. I want to support our local farmers and bring out unique flavours we have here,” Ramos said.

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