Ricky explains ‘disappearing’ acts

Twice last year, Ricky Davao “disappeared” without telling anybody where he was going or what he was doing, although he did ask permission from the Kapuso management that he would not show up on the set of the sitcom Inday Will Always Love You for three days.

“I was an actor in the sitcom, not the director, and I was done with my shoot,” Ricky told Funfare as he explained those “disappearing” acts.

…and with director Neo whom Ricky first met at the 2014 ASEAN Film Festival in Malaysia.

That was in March last year when Ricky went to Taipei to shoot for the movie Killer Not Stupid, an action-comedy where he plays the main villain, with co-stars from Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, megged by Jack Neo, Singapore’s box-office director (and also a popular comedian) known for making movies with such titles. Neo’s films are popular in Chinese-speaking countries.

“The first time I went to Taipei, I shot for four days,” said Ricky. “I was vacationing in Japan in October when they called me. They sent me a plane ticket to Taipei and I shot for one more day.”

Ricky first met Neo at the 2014 ASEAN Film Festival in Malaysia where they both sat as jurors. Since then, they kept in touch through text messaging until early last year when Neo asked Ricky if he was willing to act in a film.

“Of course, I told him, ‘Why not?’ We closed the deal that fast.”

Ricky on the set of Killer Not Stupid.

The two lead actors are from Taiwan (“The Piolo Pascual and Bea Alonzo of Taiwan,” said Ricky). “I play a Filipino minister, head of a group. The film is in Mandarin but my lines are in English. My exposure is not that much but my character is important.”

Initially, Ricky’s co-stars were wondering who he was and why Neo cast him in a big role in the movie. When they were told that Ricky is a veteran actor-director from the Philippines, they started being nice to him.

Eith co-star Jay Shih.

“In one scene,” recalled Ricky, “the actress was supposed to slap me but she said she wouldn’t do it. The interpreter told Ricky, ‘She said that she couldn’t do it because you are a veteran actor and she respects you.’ I told the actress, ‘It’s okay. You can do it. I’m fine.’ Still, she wouldn’t. So they changed the script. They asked her to just shout at me and her bodyguard to hit me in the tummy. Their characters didn’t know that my character was their boss, so the scene was so funny.”

Killer Not Stupid had a gala premiere in Singapore last week and will start its regular run in Taipei first week of February coinciding with the Chinese New Year. Ricky is invited to the event.

Beauty is Bato’s wife’s choice to play her in biopic

Robin Padilla, Beauty Gonzalez and Gen. Bato during Monday’s second presscon for Bato: The Gen. Ronald dela Rosa Story, showing nationwide starting today.

One of the interesting scenes in Bato: The Gen. Ronald dela Rosa Story shows how Bato courted Nancy Johnson Comandante. Young Bato is played by Kiko Estrada and young Nancy by Alyssa Muhlach.

In Monday’s second presscon for the movie (showing nationwide starting today), Bato confirmed what Kiko told Funfare how “unique” Bato’s style of courting was.

“It’s true,” said Bato who impressed the movie writers with his candidness and sense of humor. “Nagpapastol ako ng kalabaw sa gilid ng kalsada and I would watch a plane over head. I would wonder, ‘When can I ride a plane?’ You must know by now that I came from a poor family. I never imagined that the daughter of the plane’s owner would become my wife.”

Nancy’s American grandfather used to own parcels of land in Davao del Sur where Bato also hails from. It was a classic case of poor-boy-wins-girl. How did Bato do it?

“Nancy had many suitors, some of them doctors and some from also rich families. They would park their BMWs in front of Nancy’s house. I was already a tinyente at that time and I would ride a tank and park it beside the expensive cars. I would put three red roses in the grenade launcher and fire it as soon as I arrived at Nancy’s place. Naiiba, di ba?”

The grown-up Bato is played by Robin Padilla and the grown-up Nancy by Beauty Gonzalez who were both present at the presscon. Reminded that he mentioned at an early December 2018 presscon that his choice to play Nancy was Sharon Cuneta, Bato casually (no offense meant) said that Nancy objected because she wasn’t “that big,” and gave a thumbs-up when Nancy saw slim Beauty’s picture. When the movie writers laughed, Bato realized the effect of his revelation, he apologized profusely, “Sorry po; sorry, sorry, sorry!”

Produced by Arnold Vegafria’s ALV Productions and released by Regal Entertainment, Inc., with Adolf Alix Jr. as director, the action-drama-comedy will show Bato’s rise from poverty, doing jobs to help his family make ends meet and support himself through school, to being PNP/BUCOR chief and, who knows, a senator (he’s running in May’s mid-term elections).

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(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)