Direk Olive: I am a Vilmanian

Curtain-raisers:

• This crossover superstar (in both sports and showbiz) is a certified ladies’ man. Funfare’s airline DPA said that she was with the “champ” with Actress K (dad is an actor) on a flight to Hong Kong. The next day, the guy showed up at the birthday bash of Wilson Tieng and when he crossed paths with “K” they pretended that they didn’t know each other. Also present was Dancer R who is also romantically linked to the guy, along with Actress A, Singer Actress G and Actress R. Doesn’t the guy’s celebrity wife know about his, ehem, “extra-curricular” activities? “Yes, she does,” said the DPA. “In fact, she suspects that some of Actress A’s newly-acquired properties were courtesy of her husband and that Actress G (married to a showbiz guy) has been texting her husband.” The DPA quoted the wife as saying, “Malapit na akong magsalita sa Startalk. Ibubulgar ko na ang lahat-lahat!” Wow, it should be a knock-out revelation...at Round 2?

• It’s set: Claire dela Fuente will have a meeting with Michael Bolton in L.A. on Sept. 11 to finalize his participation in Claire’s Christmas album for which he’s singing a song with Claire. “I’m trying to find a nice pasalubong for him,” Claire told Funfare. Bolton will include the song in his own album to be released internationally, of course. It’s his first time to record a duet. 

•  All’s well that ends well. The issue between Star Cinema and SM has been ironed out. The company’s latest movie, In My Life, will be shown at all SM Mall theaters nationwide starting next Wednesday, Sept. 16, unlike its last, And I Love You So, which is projected to gross more than P90-M during its entire run. It’s estimated that, minus the SM playdates, the movie earned 12 percent less. Incidentally, In My Life willl have two premieres on Tuesday, Sept. 15, first at 5 p.m. at Trinoma and then at 7 p.m. at an SM Cinema.

* * *

“Yes, I am a Vilmanian!”

That admission came from direk Olive Lamasan who’s directing her idol in Star Cinema’s In My Life which was filmed mostly in the tri-state of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut in the remaining days of winter early this year.

“I grew up on Vilma movies,” said direk Olive. “I’ve seen all of them.”

Direk Olive was a kid when she saw a Vilma movie for the first time.

“It was Dama de Noche,” recalled direk Olive. (It was the same movie that won Vilma Best Actress tie with Boots Anson-Roa in the 1972 Quezon City Film Festival.) “I saw it on TV. Since then. I was hooked on her.”

Asked what her favorite Vilma movie is, direk Olive said, “I can’t pick just one. I like all of them.”

She’s such a Vilmanian at heart that when Star Cinema tapped her to direct In My Life, direk Olive could hardly believe it. It’s her second time to direct Vilma, the first having been in the Maalaala Mo Kaya episode in which Vilma played mother to a mentally-retarded daughter (played by Maja Salvador).

In In My Life, which also stars her own son Luis Manzano playing her son and John Lloyd Cruz as Luis’ lover, Vilma visits her son in New York and gets the shock of her life when she discovers the truth about Luis.

“The two mothers are entirely different from each other,” explained direk Olive. “In the Maalaala episode, the mother was dealing with a dying daughter. In In My Life, the mother is dealing with what may be called her son’s ‘identity crisis’.”

According to direk Olive, Vilma was a darling to work with, even if they followed a punishing schedule that would start at 7 a.m. and end at dusk.

“We shot in the States for almost two weeks, araw-araw ‘yon, and I never heard Vilma complain,” said direk Olive. “It was a breeze. I didn’t have to explain the scenes to Vilma. The moment I would say, ‘Action!,’ she would come up with a performance that simply floored me. There’s only one other actress who has the same impact on me, si Nora (Aunor). When she did (Regal Films’) Bilangin ang Bituin sa Langit, I was the line-producer.”

In one scene, direk Olive was moved to tears right on the set.

“Vilma is saying, ‘Walang katapusan ang pagiging ina’ in her scene with Luis and I remember my mom. I was so touched by her performance that, without my knowing it, I was already crying.”

In My Life presents not only a different Vilma but also a different Luis and a different John Lloyd. The actors’ gay characters are not the swishy type but subtle. In short, no tell-tale signs except perhaps in the nuances of the actors’ portrayal evident in hand gestures and facial expressions.

How did direk Olive convince Luis and John Lloyd to kiss in one tender scene?

“It’s not a passionate kissing scene,” qualified direk Olive, “their lips just touch very briefly; parang dampi lang. Before we shot, I developed Luis and John Lloyd’s characters by talking to Boy (Abunda) and his partner Bong (Quintana) and a few other such couples. They were a big help.”

Showbiz ‘baptism’ for Benedict Campos

Funfare is pleased to give an aspiring actor his first publicity, Benedict Campos, who has just finished a degree in Political Science at De La Salle University. He appeared in a brief role in Mel Chionglo’s Bente, playing the friend of Aldred Gatchalian.

While serious in pursuing an acting career, Benedict isn’t giving up on his dream to take up graduate studies. He has just enrolled in Master of Science in Marketing, also at La Salle.

Turning 21 next Jan. 2, Benedict stands 5’8”, weighs 165 lbs., wears size-9 shoes, has fair complexion, and brown eyes and hair. He finished high school at Xavier and speaks Fookien and Mandarin aside from Filipino and English, of course. He has Chinese (his father is a Kaw) and American (mother is a Smith) blood.

Benedict underwent an acting workshop for Star Magic and hopes to be cast in ABS-CBN shows. But he’s also open to other options.

Helping him enter showbiz is my good friend Lilibeth “Bechay” Vera Perez Nakpil. No, Bechay isn’t about to become a talent manager but she can’t say no to Benedict’s parents who are her good friends.

But come to think of it, Bechay will make a very good manager, what with her terrific PR which she inherited from her father, the great star-builder and Sampaguita producer Dr. Jose R. “Doc” Perez.

What’s up?

• Minor “oopses” in yesterday’s Funfare: Syerrap’s legs when he walks seem to be “far apart” and not “part apart.” Also, Jon Santos is a relief in the direness of “diurnal life” and not “dirual life.”

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