Dingdong himself confirmed what Bela says at his Asia Yaosho launch. “Totoong wala kaming chance to talk other than when we’re doing a take. Maayos ang trabaho namin at walang tension sa set kaya nakakatapos nga kami ng 36 to 40 sequences a day,” he says.
Bela’s real name is Krista Sullivan. Her dad, Cornelio Sullivan, is from Nottingham, England. “Divorced siya sa first wife niya and I have three half siblings in England na may mga asawa na. I’ve visited them and I met my dad’s first wife. They’re all nice. My mom, Meg Carino, is the first cousin of Robin Padilla’s mom, Eva Carino. She met my dad here in Manila. I have an older brother who’s 28. 19 naman ako. Natira kami sa Hongkong and Malaysia but I finished high school at Colegio San Agustin. We were on a field trip sa ABS when Jet Valle of ABS saw me and presented me sa Star Magic. I’m with Batch 15 but nothing happened so I moved to GMA. My role as Yumi, Dingdong’s girlfriend in ‘Endless Love’, is my biggest break so far.”
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THERE’S A rumor that some quarters are against Bayani Agbayani to be a part of the new game show, “Asar Talo”, but it’s said that Edu Manzano himself called Bayani to inform him he’s part of the show. He’s now also seen as a cop in Eugene Domingo’s hit sitcom “Jejemom” every Saturday night. He’s part of Noel Ferrer’s stable of talents who’ll do Celebrity Storytelling at Enchanted Kingdom. He’s assigned to be the storyteller on September 26. Asked about his alleged altercation with Dingdong Dantes at the birthday party of Ogie Alcasid, Bayani says Dingdong was very calm when they talked and it’s not true they had a heated exchange of words. “Wag na lang palikihin yan,” he said. “Pareho kaming Kapuso at nagkakaintindihan kami.”
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LAURICE GUILLEN knows her new family drama, “Sa’Yo Lamang”, will be compared to her 2000 filmfest entry “Tanging Yaman” that won several trophies. “They’re both inspirational family dramas but my level of commitment in both films is the same,” she says. “It’s both about a family with problems and how they rise from these problems with the help of faith and God’s love and their continued support to one another even if they have basic differences. ‘Sa’Yo Lamang’ is about a mother and four children abandoned by the dad.”
She got to meg Christopher de Leon and Lorna Tolentino when she was just starting her career in 1980: Christopher in “Kasal?” and Lorna in “Init sa Magdamag”. How is it directing them again 30 years later? “They’re both professionals so it makes my work easier. But the role is very hard and demanding for Lorna as she’s used to the restrained kind of acting, yung tahimik lang. Here, I required her to be more florid in expressing her emotions. She delivers but I can see hirap siya. As for Boyet, we haven’t worked for so long and he has acquired some physical characterizations that I told him to shed off. Nagawa naman niya.”
What’s her next project? “I don’t know yet. Star Cinema has an intriguing story, ‘12th of August,’ about a father na nawawala tuwing darating ang August 12. I also have a couple of stories that I want to do as indie. We all know most producers now just play safe with tried and tested formulas. If you want to be more creative, the way to go is indie. If ever, ako mismo ang magpo-produce.”
Would she also act in it? “Ay, no. I’ve never acted in my own film. Hindi ko yata magagawa. Kaya nga nga I admire those who can do it, like Clint Eastwood.”
How is she coping with being a widow? “I’m really too busy to dwell on grieving. And I think Johnny (Delgado) would want it that way. Kaysa I mope in our room, he’d prefer to see me being productive. But it doesn’t mean that I don’t miss him because I do. It’s good I have my two daughters with me, Ana and Ina. We now all sleep together in the same room where Johnny passed.”
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RUFA MAE QUINTO just returned from the States and it’s said she made a rendezvous there with her mysterious BF Mr. M? “No, I went there to be a bridesmaid to my friend LJ Moreno in her Los Angeles wedding to cager Jimmy Alapag,” she says.
She’s happy to be back hosting “Showbiz Central” last Sunday and taping for “Bubble Gang” and her new hit sitcom with Joey Marquez and Rhian Ramos, “Kaya ng Powers”. Since many basketball players attended the wedding of LJ and Jimmy, did she get to meet by chance former cager BF Rudy Hatfield? ”No, wala siya roon. I haven’t heard from him for a long time at wala na kaming communication since he got married.”
Was she with Mr. M in L.A.? “Ay, solo lang po ako. Naiwan si Mr. M sa Pampanga.”
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DIRECTOR GIL PORTES’ “Two Funerals won five awards in the recent Cinemalaya Filmfest, including best director, and won a unanimous A rating from all the members of the Cinema Evaluation Board who previewed it. We’ve seen it and the finest element in it is the inclusion of so many local Lenten rituals and practices in the narrative since the story happens on Holy Week. This gives it a lot of wonderful local color that should make it attractive to foreign audiences. The film is actually a road movie that starts in Cagayan and ends in Sorsogon. Tessie Tomas plays the mother of Princess Manzon of PBB and they live in Tuguegarao. On her way to Manila, Princess is killed in a bus crash and instead of her remains being sent home to her family, it is delivered instead to a poor couple (Benjie Felipe and Althea Vega) in Matnog, Sorsogon. The remains of Benjie’s own brother, who turns out to be a wanted criminal, is the one delivered to Tessie by accident. Tessie then sets out on a long trip from one end of Luzon to the other end, along with Princess’ fiancé (Xian Lim.) Along the way, they encounter some memorable experiences and also get to see the beauty of Luzon. In the end, the story offers a couple of twists that will surely shock some viewers about the true character of the deceased. Both Tessie and Xian give fairly creditable performances, along with Benjie and his friend Mon Confiado as a duo of buffoons. If there’s one thing that we find unpalatable in the film, it’s the inclusion of so many homosexual characters that detract from the main point of the narrative, the grief and bonding between Tessie and Xian. “Two Funerals” will have a celebrity premiere on September 6, Monday, at SM Megamall Cinema 6 and opens on September 8, Wednesday, at SM Digital Cinemas nationwide.
