Gian Bernardino has spent the past year singing about what ifs… in forms of ghosts. Now, he’s getting the chance to meet one as he returns to acting with his feature-film debut in the upcoming Filipino adaptation of the Thai horror-comedy Pee Mak, joining Wilbert Ross, Bea Binene, Jairus Aquino, Vandolph Quizon, and TJ Valderrama in the cast. 

The film will be directed by Cebuano filmmaker Victor Villanueva, known for Patay Na Si Hesus and I Am Not Big Bird.

Bernardino is one of the voices behind Cup of Joe’s massive hit, which became the group’s breakthrough on the international charts. The song’s supernatural title has since become practically inseparable from the band’s growing pop-culture footprint—but his next project puts him on the other side of the haunting.

Before becoming one of Cup of Joe’s lead vocalists, acting was already part of Bernardino’s creative world. He has appeared in music videos, the BL series Quaranthings, and short films including Kubli and Microplastics. But Pee Mak marks his first feature-length film.

The opportunity also comes after Bernardino signed solo management and film contracts with Viva Artists Agency and Viva Films in June. During his contract signing, he described acting as a childhood dream and his “first love,” while making it clear that the new chapter will exist alongside his music career with Cup of Joe. 

Released in 2013, the original Pee Mak starred Mario Maurer and Davika Hoorne and reimagined the Thai folklore of Mae Nak Phra Khanong as a horror-comedy. The story follows Mak, who returns from war with four comrades and brings them home to meet his wife and infant son—without realizing that they have become ghosts. 

The Filipino adaptation brings that premise into a local setting, with Bernardino joining Ross, Binene, Aquino, Quizon, and Valderrama as part of the film’s barkada.

For fans who first knew Gian as the vocalist behind songs like “Multo,” seeing him move into acting adds another layer to an already expanding career. He’s still making music with Cup of Joe, but now he’s also getting to explore the childhood dream he had before the band became one of OPM’s biggest new acts.

From “Multo” on the playlist to actual multo on the big screen, Gian Bernardino might have found the most on-brand plot twist yet.