John Arcilla was born as Romeo John Gonzales-Arcilla in Quezon City, Metro Manila, the Philippines to Filipino parents, Dominador Gil Alemania Arcilla and Eustacia Gonzales. He is a descendant of Manuel L. Quezon from his mother’s side. Arcilla and his family moved to his mother’s hometown Baler, Aurora, due to the declaration of martial law in 1972. There, he began to show interest in acting at age 7, when he had fantasies of performing on stage in front of a large audience. He was heavily influenced by his parents, from his mother who was a fan of Broadway and Hollywood actors such as Julie Andrews, Yul Brynner and Marilyn Monroe and from his father who was very interested in film.