(First of two parts)
LOS ANGELES ? For her Oct. 2 show, TV host Oprah Winfrey is featuring the band Journey which, as everyone knows by now, has Filipino Arnel Pineda as front man.
Ramona Diaz, the award-winning filmmaker who is making a documentary on Arnel and Journey titled ?Don?t Stop Believin?: Everyman?s Journey,? told us via e-mail: ?Oprah will be showing a clip?no more than five minutes?of something the Oprah folks themselves edited using some of our footage. From my understanding, the Oprah show is entitled ?Don?t Stop Believing,? and the band (more of Arnel?s story, really) is just in one of the segments.?
Details about Ramona?s much-awaited docu are available on www.everymansjourney.com.
Dancing with Pinoys
Fil-Am impresario Ted Benito pointed out that in the new season of ?Dancing With the Stars? which began early this week, there are three talents of Filipino descent ? contestants Mark Dacascos, known as The Chairman on Food Network?s ?Iron Chef America,? and Olympic swimming gold medalist Natalie Coughlin plus two-time champion Cheryl Burke. Ted said, ?I believe this is the first time that three Filipinos are featured in one major show on mainstream TV.? Good luck, Mark, Natalie and Cheryl!
Full-blooded Filipino
We respect Sylvia La Torre?s grandchild Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, who appears in the new version of the 1980 musical film ?Fame,? for proclaiming that she?s a full-blooded Filipino. She won?t have any of the BS that some Filipino talents resort to, in their lame effort to be considered for as many roles as possible. These actors claim to be a mixture of Polynesian, Chinese, Hawaiian, Spanish, Maori, Tahitian, Eurasian and Filipino. Some won?t even throw the Filipino tag into that mix.
?Thank you,? said Anna, 18, when we commended her. Wearing an ensemble by Russian designer Kira Plastinina (who?s only 17!), Anna showed up for a late lunch interview with me and my wife Janet in a downtown LA restaurant. She came with her father, former actor Artie Perez de Tagle, who manages her career (in the Philippines, she?s handled by Girlie Rodis).
?I?m very proud to be Filipino,? Anna stressed. ?In every interview ... I always say how talented Filipinos are.?
Quite mature for her age, Anna is poised and well-spoken. The singer-actress said, smiling, that she did her hair, a mass of stylish curls, while her mom, Evelyn, did her makeup.
Anna?s role in ?Fame? resonates with her because she once attended the Los Angeles County School of Arts (LACSA), a high school that offers specialized instruction in dance, music, theater and visual arts. A regular on TV?s ?Hannah Montana? and ?Camp Rock,? she was one of the actors who landed a part in ?Fame? after an intensive search. She volunteered that some of the dancers in the film are Filipinos, too.
In addition to the crop of young actors introduced in the film, ?Fame? also features Kelsey Grammer, Megan Mullally, Bebe Neuwirth, Charles S. Dutton and Debbie Allen.
Excerpts from our interview:
How did you land the role and can you share your reaction when you got the part?
I auditioned (at the end of May last year) like any other actor ... I got a callback from the casting director and then the director. [Then] I didn?t hear back for a little bit. I thought I didn?t get it so I was like, ?Okay, move on.? Then I got a call like a month later. They said, ?You have your screen test in two days.? It?s the last audition before you get the part. I was very determined to get into this movie so I walked into the audition room like I had the part already. The next day, my agent and my manager called, virtually at the same time. I was very happy.
What did you sing in the audition?
I sang ?On My Own? from ?Les Miserables.? They wanted a theater song.
How is this ?Fame? different from the original movie?
It?s more of a re-imagination than a remake. But it?s very much inspired by the original 1980 movie, with a contemporary direction. The film follows 10 students in their performing and personal lives at the New York Academy of Performing Arts. You see each one of these characters struggle or go through heartbreak or accomplish something. There?s nothing cookie cutter about it. The film has a strong message about dreaming big and staying true to yourself at the same time.
So it?s all new characters?
Yes but with similar story lines to those of the characters in the original. Debbie Allen who was in the original is also the principal here and I got to do a one-on-one scene with her.
Tell us about your character.
My character?s name is Joy. She?s the inspiring, exuberant actress. She?s outgoing and outspoken ... I like to call her the spastic puppy in her first two years in high school. She matures into a young lady toward the end ... I can relate to her. I went to the Los Angeles County School of the Arts for 9th grade. Unfortunately, I had to leave because my schedule started getting hectic.
What did you sing in this film?
I got to sing a duet in a karaoke scene. I got to do a lot more drama and also be a comic relief.
When did you watch the original movie?
Right before I auditioned. I didn?t even know there was a TV show inspired by the film. I loved the song ?Out Here On My Own.? The new version is more pop and R&B. Naturi Naughton is the singer in the movie so she sings the song ...
How does that song resonate with you?
I think that?s how my whole life is right now because I had to work hard to get to where I am.
(To be continued tomorrow)
E-mail the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com and read his blog, ?The Nepales Report,? on http://blogs.inquirer.net/nepalesreport.
