As I tinker with my mac buttons a few minutes before I go to press, I hear this: Lloydie and Bea have finally reunited but not on the boob tube, and not on the wide screen either, but mainly to share Chicken Joy and Spaghetti! Ah, so this is where their love for each other means – munching as a duo!
A perfect time to get jolly(bee?) this holiday. From this GP ad, Bea cavorts with the bigger bulk of male audience as she seduces to invite for more than a sip as the new Tanduay Calendar Girl this 2022!
So it remains a popular Santa’s list for moviegoers – Bea and Lloydie please in a film naman. Viva’s Vic del Rosario has a big edge on this. Meanwhile, Lloydie gets a new girl every week on his new sitcom with Direk Edgar Mortiz.
Guess who do I virtually bump into at 1:00 pm here (2:00 am in Manila). One of the current subjects of a not-so-happily ended love themed pairs. You have heard it – Janine Gutierrez and Rayver Cruz have broken up after about five years of dating. The cause: sounds just like a typical press release – lack of time for each other. Certainly we’d like a more personal version and so here was Janine thousands of miles away from me but only thinly separated by a messenger app. Did I like to play a true or false chat with her?
We started scratching the surface.
What is Janine most happy about now? (I thought her leading man Paulo Avelino might get mentioned).
Janine: I’m very happy and grateful about my career now. I love Marry Me, Marry You and I’m so thankful for the positive response we’ve been getting from our viewers. I’m so happy na kinikilig at nato-touch sila sa kwento. I also have 3 new series lined up for next year and one movie which I’m all very excited about. Tapos ASAP is so much fun!
But wait, let’s delve into this weekly teleserye. Before it got released, take note of this. Paulo said Janine has publicly denied that they used to date.
Janine: “Excuse me, I never denied it. Si [Paulo] lang ‘yung walang sinasabi.”
Is there some flirting? Noooooo, was the quick reply if Paulo is the because of the big split.
What has been confirmed though is that love is brewing between the other tandem of Marry Me, Marry You – Edu Manzano confirmed that he is indeed in a relationship with actress Cherry Pie Picache. They play an estranged couple who are also parents to Paulo Avelino’s character Andrei.
While on the subject of Edu, I am reminded of his son Luis with Ate Vi. Luis has constantly asked his Mom if she and Christopher de Leon were an item before. Vilma vehemently denied this and I agree with her. I was there during those times, visiting them on the set and also participated in their social/private functions. Boyet and Vilma never went beyond the borders of friendship no matter how passionate their love scenes were in some of their films.
According to a psychology research study, a stage kiss is more than just a kiss. It happens all the time. While there is no denying that people who play characters in love often fall in love in real life, for example, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie after Mr. and Mrs. Smith. But, is it because they were pretending to be in love and those feelings turned into reality? Or is it because actors are forced to spend long hours in a small place with the same person?
I recall how I had witnessed the chemistry between Bobby Vasquez and Amalia Fuentes, Ronnie Poe and Susan Roces, Ricky Belmonte and Rosemarie to name a few and they ended tying the knot off screen. During that era, movie stars were more private and what went behind the screen remained off the record, unlike today when the cedlebs themselves have their own you tube channels to scoop about everything about them especially matters of the heart.
Back to Janine, she added that “More than specific roles, I really want to be part of international projects and share what we as Filipinos can offer to the global stage.” Next ish, promise, our next conversation will be more on a personal level but isn’t this what you love more to read about?
Let’s hop off to Aloha island and here’s an exclusive report of our good friend David Farmer.
David: Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 could be a record year for film and television production in Hawaii. The state could clear half a billion dollars spent on film productions this year. The previous record was set in 2018, when about $450 million was spent on Hawaii productions.
In addition to reality dating show “Love Island,” the biggest project to film since “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” in 2007, other major productions this year included a new season of the “Magnum P.I.” reboot series, and the first seasons of “NCIS: Hawaii” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” “NCIS: Hawai‘I” is the fourth television series and eighth major project to take up residence in Honolulu since the start of the pandemic, including the Disney+ Doogie Houser remake, DOOGIE KAMEALOHA and a Sony for Amazon series.
Meanwhile, on the Union front, the National Board approved my reappointment to serve as a member of the SAG-AFTRA National Disciplinary and the Reinstatement Obligations Review Committees.
David, may I add, is married to Loren Karunungan-Disonglo, of pure Pinoy parentage. Loren at one point also did short performances on stage. Speaking of Pinoys, do you know that Vanessa Lachey, the super bida of “NCIS: Hawai‘I”, is half-Filipino? Her Dad is American, from Ohio, and is of half Italian, one quarter Russian-Jewish, and one quarter Irish, descent. Her mother is a Filipina, whom he met while based in the Philippines.
Vanessa is a beauty pageant titleholder, fashion model and television host. She was named Miss Teen USA in 1998. She was a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight and hosted Total Request Live on MTV, married to 98-Degrees singer Nick Lachey (who was once married to Jessica Simpson). Nick and Vanessa have been married for 10 years and have 3 children. (The couple first started dating after filming a music video for Nick Lachey’s “What’s Left of Me” in 2006.) The Lacheys have moved to Hawaii so Vanessa could devote more time for her current tv stint. Her role is that of Special Agent in Charge of NCIS Pearl Harbor Jane Tennant, who, with her unwavering team of specialists, balances duty, family and country, while investigating high-stakes crimes involving military personnel, national security and the mysteries of the sun-drenched island paradise itself.
While CBS has remained mum why they killed Hawaii Five-0 (and as a result, NCIS: Hawai‘I was born), they are quite vocal about the good news – NCIS: Hawai’i and FBI: International rank as the No. 1 and No. 2 most watched new series among total viewers in most current Nielsen ratings, averaging 8.05 million and 7.88 million viewers, respectively.
Which made us ask David – is he going to guest soon in NCIS: Hawai’i? I remember seeing himn in Five-0 before.
David: “You will be the first to know,” he said. I feel it coming.
Let’s talk Method Acting. We have seen actors lose themselves in roles so deeply, they transport us to a different time and place, and for some of us, that’s why we go to the movies. But how do they do it? This is one particular acting technique that can drive actors to life-altering performances.
Method acting is a technique or type of acting in which an actor aspires to encourage sincere and emotionally expressive performances by fully inhabiting the role of the character. It is an emotion-oriented technique instead of classical acting that is primarily action-based. It was further developed and brought to American acting studios in the 1930s by Lee Strasberg and Elia Kazan.
And this is where my anak Christopher de Leon comes in. (Why ANAK? We were very close during his early days and he’s one of the few who could wake me up any time of the night or the godless hours of dawn. He would come into my digs and we talked hours.
What about? Ooops, not for you to hear…
It was during the filming of Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos in 1976 when I saw Boyet de Leon upclose as an actor – I saw him prepare for his role religiously – he has mastered major aspects of method acting.
(Note: Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos is a 1976 Filipino period film written and directed by Mario O’Hara that set in the province of Laguna shot in Majayjay, during the Second World War produced by Nora Aunor who also stars as the barrio lass Rosario with De Leon as the Japanese-Filipino army officer Masugi.
A few nights ago, I decided to ask Boyet (my FB friend syempre) the following questions.
1. Which fictional character would be the most exciting to meet in real life?
Boyet: Rick Deckard of the Blade Runner
2. If someone is going to make your life into a movie, who would play you?
Boyet: Brad Pitt
3. Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
Boyet: Director, Actor, Producer.
4. Do you see yourself retired in the next few years – or does an actor ever think of retiring?
Boyet: Nope. Entertainment is my Job
5. Things you enjoy doing outside of your acting career
Boyet: Am a sea loving person, farming, spending time with my kids abroad. NYC, S.F & New Zealand.
In my next column, we will discuss his family in an intimate setting.
See you soon, it will be a December date.
