DINGDONG Dantes is happy that the action movie he did for Viva, “A Hard Day,” is an official entry in the Metro Manila Film Festival opening on Christmas Day. The movie is a remake of a 2014 Korean film that starred Lee Sun Kyun, the start of the Oscar-winning film “Parasite.” Lee won the best actor award in Korea’s prestigious Baeksang Arts Awards.
Dingdong plays a cop named Edmund Villon who’s having a really hard day. He is being investigated by police inspectors for an allegedly anomaly then his mom just died. On his way to his mom’s wake, he figures in an accident and hits a man on the road. He covers up his crime by hiding the body in his mom’s coffin. Soon, a man named Alas (John Arcilla) starts calling him, threatening to expose his crime if Dingdong would not give him what he wants: the dead man’s corpse.
In “A Hard Day,” Dingdong gets to work with director Lawrence Fajardo for the first time.
So how was it? “He’s perfect for the project. Naging maayos ang collaboration namin. He’s very meticulous. There’s an action sequence na inabot ng four days to shoot. Umuulan pa, so four days kaming basang-basa, pero two minutes lang ‘yun mapapanood sa movie.”
So it’s really hard action? “Actually, it’s more than that. It’s really a suspense-drama. Very exciting panoorin kasi it gets more and more intense by the minute.”
Does he hope to win another best actor award in the filmfest since he has won twice before for “One More Try” and “Dalaw.”
“No, hindi ako umaasa asa to win. Ang ipinagdarasal ko, sana bumalik ang viewers sa mga sinehan. More than anything else, ‘yun talaga ang prayer ko, na sana, tangkilikin nila itong film fest and they’ll really go watch the entries in actual theaters.”
Is he working on a new project with his wife Marian Rivera? “Yes, we are. No details yet, but malalaman nyo very very soon. But I just finished ‘Alternate’ in GMA-7’s ‘I Can See You’. I play twins. Mahirap gawin kasi paulit-ulit ang scenes with me portraying different roles. I’m with Beauty Gonzales. Abangan nyo in January 2022.”
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Newbie Vince Rillon’s acting career is on a roll. His first starring role in Roman Perez’ “Siklo” is about to be shown on Vivamax, but even before that is shown, he is also in the cast of three other movies: “Sisid”, “Resbak”, and “Gensan Punch”. “Sisid” will also be shown on Vivamax, “Resbak” on Cignal and “Gensan Punch” is now being streamed on HBO Go.
Vince says he has no intention of going into acting as a child. “Wala kasing artista sa family namin,” he said. “When I was 12 in 2012, ‘yung mga kapatid kong waiter, nalimutan ‘yung mga kutsara at tinidor na dapat dalhin nila sa isang event. So inihatid ko sa kanila. Direk Brillante Mendoza saw me and isinama ako sa movie niyang ‘Captive’ with Isabelle Huppert.”
But he was not serious then about acting.
“Kasi nag-aaral din ako. I was taking up HRM, pero natigil dahil sa pandemic. So matagal bago nasundan ‘yung ‘Captive’. When I did ‘Ma Rosa’ for Direk Brillante, the one that won best actress for Jaclyn Jose sa Cannes, isinama niya ko doon sa France. After that, I became more serious sa pag-arte. When our movie ‘Mindanao’ was entered sa Cairo Filmfest, where Judy Ann Santos won as best actress, isinama niya rin ako sa Egypt. Then we did the TV series, ‘Amo’, which is now showing on Netflix.”
Soon, other directors are also getting him. He did “In the Name of the Mother” for Joel Lamangan with Snooky Serna, “Abe Nida” for Louie Ignacio with Allen Dizon and Katrina Halili, and the Boys’ Love series “Unlocked” for Adolf Alix. He also acted in “Ang Probinsyano” for seven months as the brother of villain Joko Diaz. He also did “Policeman” with Coco Martin, where he was first paired with Christine Bermas.
Vince has become so busy that his schedule is filled up until next year. “Next week, I will start shooting a new Vivamax movie,” he said. “Then after the holidays, another project.”
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‘Kasi kapag magkasama kami ni Carmina, nag-aaway kami as she has her own style and I have my own – Zoren Legaspi’
“The End of Us” starring married couple Carmina Villaroel and Zoren Legaspi has jumped the gun on the “Doctor Foster” project being done by another network about marital infidelity. “The End of Us” is directed by the talented Zig Dulay, and has Carmina and Zoren playing a couple whose marriage was ruined when Zoren had an affair with another woman, played by Ariella Arida.
We guess their edge is that they are really married in real life, so you know that they are not just acting but merely re-enacting fights and conflicts that possibly happened to them before.
We ask Carmina how is it working with Zoren.
“We both got excited kasi we’re not always given the chance to work together. Hesitant kami noong una because of what’s happening to my dad. Labas-masok kasi siya sa ospital.
Also, hindi namin sana tatanggapin ito kasi ayaw naming sabay kaming wala sa bahay.
Dapat may maiwang isa, ito, sabay kaming naka-lock in. But we decided na sige, gawin na natin ito and now we’re very thankful we accepted it kasi this is truly a very memorable project of us. Ibang-iba kami rito.”
Zoren admitted he was reluctant to do it at first. “Kasi kapag magkasama kami ni Carmina, nag-aaway kami as she has her own style and I have my own. Sa bahay, the kids laugh at me. Whatever I do is funny to them. Kasi si Mina, alam nila, she’s a good performer. She just won a best actress award in an international filmfest in Australia for ‘Sunod’. She’s an organic actress. Tawa ‘yan ng tawa pero kapag tinawag na para mag-take, ayan, umiiyak na agad. Ako I’m a technical actor, so magkaiba talaga ang styles namin and the kids, mas panig sila sa mama nila. But I got surprised kasi impressed na impressed sila sa acting ko rito, humahanga sila.”
