RONNIE RICKETTS says its Boss Vic del Rosario of Viva who gave him the chance to act and direct anew in “The Fighting Chefs”, an action comedy he wrote, directs and also stars in, with his wife Mariz as line producer. Didn’t it conflict with his work as OMB Chairman? “No, we only shoot on weekends, kaya nga natagalan ito bago matapos,” he says. “Monday to Friday, nasa OMB ako, never akong nag-absent. I wrote Malacanang para officially magpaalam na gagawa ako ng movie. I’m happy because I was able to assemble the cast that I want, led by Chef Boy Logro. Frustrated comedian ako kaya I enjoyed doing this movie with him. I chose action-comedy kasi mahirap tapatan yung kind of action movies na gawa ng Hollywood ngayon with so many CGI. We have to come up with something different, so naisip ko, why not combine action with cooking? I play Master Chef, owner of a restaurant sa Elite Square na maraming restaurants in it. When the villains tried to grab our land at gusto kaming palayasin lahat doon para tayuan ng condo, all of us chefs, nagkampi-kampi para labanan ang mga tauhan nila na gustong patayin ang mga negosyo namin. The other chefs here Jeffrey Santos, Joross Gamboa, Vandolph, Hero Angeles, Dinky Doo, Onyok Velasco and Arci Munoz who’s my leading lady. The villains are played by Mark Gil, Roi Vinzon and Roldan Aquino. Introducing naman dito ang daughter ko, si Marella Ricketts.”
Will he be joining politics in the future? “Maraming nag-alok sa’kin to run in this election but hindi ko talaga linya ang politics. I’m happy serving the film industry as OMB Chair. The FAMAS just gave me a certificate of recognition for the successful campaign against film piracy during the last Metro Filmfest at wala talaga kahit isang entry ang na-pirate during the festival run. The International Intellectual Property Alliance also commended us for successfully closing down once notorious piracy markets here in Manila.”
