Mikael Daez Has To Train 4 To 6 Hours A Day For His Role As A Bokator Martial Arts Fighter In 'Blood In Dispute'

MIKAEL DAEZ has to train hard for his role as a Bokator (a form of martial arts) fighter in “Blood and Dispute”, the Fil-Cambodian co-production shot in Manila and Phnom Penh. “One week akong nag-training, 4 to 6 hours a day,” he says. “Sa story kasi, martial arts expert ako sa Pilipinas. Pinay ang mom ko and my dad is Cambodian, played by a respected Cambodian actor, Tep Rindaro. Pupunta ko sa Cambodia to learn more about my dad’s culture and while there, mapapalaban ako sa top sport nila, yung Bokator. Ang hindi ko alam, ang karibal ko pala, kapatid ko sa ama, kaya ‘Blood in Dispute’ ang title kasi blood brother ko pala ang kalaban ko.”

Unlike his ka-love team Andrea Torres who went back to the Philippines right away, Mikael opted to stay for a while to visit Kohrong Beach which is four hours away by land. “Grabe, ang ganda, parang Boracay in the 90s nang hindi pa commercialized. Malapad din ang white beach nila pero puro mga kubo-kubo pa lang, walang hotels. Earlier, nabisita ko rin ang Angkor Wat. Si Andrea, wala pang napupuntahan kaya when ‘Blood in Dispute’ will have its premiere night later this year, babalik kami roon at mamasyal daw siya.”

Their love team is called MikAnd (for Mikael-Andrea) and they consider this international co-production venture starring them a real blessing. “Kilala kami sa Cambodia because nag-hit doon ang ‘Sana ay Ikaw na Nga’ namin and showing naman ang ‘With a Smile’. I hope ‘Blood in Dispute’ will open more doors for co-productions to widen the market of Filipino shows and actors.”

The only problem is there is a language barrier. “Sa ‘Blood in Dispute’, three languages ang ginagamit. Kapag kami lang ni Andrea, we use Pilipino. Kapag Cambodians ang magkakaeksena, they use their language, Khmer, which is pronounced Kimay. Kapag kaming lahat ang magkakaeksena, we speak in English. Sa crew, we use our hands a lot to describe what we want. Noong first taping days namin, may eksenang inabot ng take 20 kasi hindi makuha nang sakto ang gustong ipagawa ni Director Ken Simpson, who’s Canadian. Nanibago talaga kami kasi we don’t know how they work there. I just told Andrea na let’s just be open to whatever new experiences we’ll encounter while working sa Cambodia. Matuwa na lang kami sa mangyayari, but everything turned out well and we really enjoyed working there. When they found out na birthday ni Andrea noong May 4, they even hosted a party for her at the hotel where we were staying, Naga World, na parang Resorts World natin. At napansin namin, lahat ng performers sa bars doon, puro Pinoy. Isa pa palang problema doon is sobrang init. Kung mainit dito sa atin ngayon, mas mainit pa sa kanila, umaabot ng 45 degrees lalo na when were in the Killing Fields. Kaya tuwang-tuwa sila nang mag-shoot na kami rito sa Manila. Mas malamig daw rito.”