“It’s a long process,” she says. “When we were at the Osaka Filmfest last year, we asked the programmers if they could recommend a Japanese actor to be paired with Uge. Ang daming nag-apply and we narrowed down our choices to four actors at si Yuki nga ang napili namin nina Chris Martinez.”
How did Yuki feel about it? “They told me they want a young Ken Watanabe and I didn’t know if I’d qualify, but I really want to try an indie film. I told Chris Martinez, I even called her Miss Martinez because I didn’t know he’s a man, I really want to play the role and I’ll convince my manager even if the budget is so different from that of Hollywood. My ten days of work here is equivalent to only one day work in Hollywood. But our producer promised me she’d take me to Misibis Bay for promoting the movie.”
So how’s his experience working here in Manila? “I was expecting it’d be totally different but it’s as easy working in an American film because everybody talks to me in English. In Hollywood, it takes 3 to 6 months to finish a movie. Here, we did it in 10 days. Everyone’s friendly on the set and I felt comfortable at once. Our director, Leo Abaya, is very confident but open to new ideas. He reminds me of Clint Eastwood on the set of ‘Letters from Iwo Jima’. They both go for very few takes. Usually, just one or two takes. Eugene taught me some Tagalog words like waley and havey, bongga, etchos.”
In Hollywood, Yuki also did “The Pink Panther 2”, “The Last Samurai” and “Pirates of the Caribbean”. On TV, he has appeared in “The Newsroom”. Who’s the Hollywood actress to whom he can compare Uge? “Tina Fey. They’re both very good comedians.”
How was it doing the love scene with Uge? “You know, my first encounter with her, she told me, ‘We have a love scene, you know’. And I told her, ‘Thanks for reminding me’. Our love scene was mainit, very intimate. I don’t understand why she says she has no boyfriend. She has some Japanese lines in the movie and she’s very convincing in delivering them. They changed her line on the set and she got it right away.”
“Instant Mommy” is a comedy but its theme is actually dark and serious as it’s about deception. Uge as Bechayda is a wardrobe assistant in the shooting of TV commercials, where they use all sorts of deception to sell consumer products. She met Yuki as Kaoru in Boracay and they communicate throught skype. Yuki, who’s separated from his Japanese wife, is pleased that she’s pregnant. But she has a miscarriage and, so as not to disappoint Yuki who’s sending her financial help, she pretends that she’s still pregnant. The film is not your usually romantic comedy as it will take you to a totally different direction in its ending. We ourselves didn’t see it coming, but it’s totally consistent with the theme of deception.
