PEARL CITY — The way Alberto Triana sees it, there are similarities between playing offensive tackle for the Pearl City Chargers football team and acting in school plays.

On the gridiron, he memorizes plays on the line. On the stage, he memorizes lines in plays.

"I just like doing both," said the senior, when asked if he enjoyed football or drama better.

What Triana wants is to become a filmmaker. Besides acting in school productions — he played the lead role in "Hamlet" as a junior and will play the villain in next spring's "Chronicles of Narnia" — Triana is taking a class in filmmaking. With fellow classmates, he likes shooting short films. His group was even hired to film someone's wedding.

But to continue his education to chase his dream, Triana must go to college. And football might provide that ticket.

"Playing football in college is a step toward a better education," he said.

Triana has the aptitude for college. He has a 3.5 cumulative grade point average. His film and theater background help dress his college applications. Most of all, he might have the right stuff.

"The thing I like about him is his work ethic," Chargers coach Mel Bicoy said. "He's a very well-rounded student. He does well academically (and I know) because I have him in class as well. He'll do things after a really hard practice, do a couple miles to get in some work a little bit more."

At 6 feet 3 and 320 pounds, recruiters shouldn't have a hard time missing Triana. But he has to make up for lost time. He didn't start playing organized football until his sophomore year. He said he wanted to play junior varsity as a freshman, but he missed the summer workouts because of a family trip.

"He just needs to work a little bit on the footwork because he has the physical size," Bicoy said. "If he were to work on his feet a little bit more, definitely he could take it to the next level. If not Division I, there's Division II."

Triana said he has submitted an application with the Pacific Islands Athletic Alliance, hoping to draw interest. He said Oregon State, Washington, Boise State, Nevada, UNLV, San Diego State and New Mexico State have asked for tapes of his games.

Triana said football is an outlet from his usual gentle demeanor.

"I like football because you get to hit a lot of people," he said. "I'm really a calm person. (Football) is a way to kind of release some energy."

As for film, Triana said it piqued his interest as an eighth-grader at Highlands Intermediate, when he won a trophy. He then got involved with drama. Last year, he was selected to play Hamlet.

"At first, it was really scary," Triana admitted about his first leading role after playing secondary characters in previous plays. "The pressure was on. But as (the production) got closer, I wasn't as scared as I thought I would be. I just rolled with it."

Like perfecting his technique as a blocker, he had to hone his skills on the stage. He said to play Hamlet, he had to learn combat training so he could portray more realistic fight scenes in which he used a sword.

It is that determination to be the best at what he does that makes Bicoy believe Triana can play at the next level.

"When you see this kind of work ethic, you know that he's a solid kid," Bicoy said.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.