“Ang tagal ko na sa industry but this is the first time I played the role of a Muslim,” he says. “I did a lot of research on my role, interviewed actual Muslims and even studied some of their rituals, like their ritual cleansing which Matteo and I did in the scene shot in a mosque.”
They shot parts of the movie on location in Tawi-Tawi and other exotic islands in Mindanao. “They gave us excellent security. Isang battalion ng military escorts ang kasama namin to guard us. It’s such a beautiful place. We had a grand time, but we’re told it’s being used as the backdoor for human trafficking. The Muslims we met are all really, really nice. At one point, we used a speed boat that’s really fast at hangang-hanga ako, but the soldiers told us, mas mabilis ho ang boats ng mga pirata kaysa rito. We went to the oldest mosque in the country, called Makdum in Indangan, Simunul Island. Sana, balang araw, maging peaceful doon kasi it will be great for tourism.”
Dina Bonnevie has lost a lot of weight since we saw her in “Beautiful Strangers”, which she did with Bro Bo on GMA-7. “I was bloated then because I was taking steroids for my asthma and allergies that lead to water retention in your body,” she says. “They had to flush out the toxins in my body for me to lose my excess weight. Lumiit na ako but I still need lose some more excess pounds.”She’s reunited with Gabby in “Across the Crescent Moon”. “He’s my original leading man in my very first movie, ‘Katorse’. Pinopormahan niya ako noon but I had a boyfriend then (the late Alfie Anido). Sa movie, anak namin sina Alex Godinez, na naging wife ni Matteo, at si Jirene Tan, na nakidnap at naging victim ng human trafficking. Since Matteo is a soldier, we ask him to look for our kidnapped daughter. First movie lang nina Alex and Irene, both of whom come from rich families and they didn’t have to work at all. But I was so surprised ng makaeksena ko sila because they both turned out to be very good actresses, hindi nagpahuli pati sa mga eksena ng iyakan. They’re both very talented and they gave justice to their roles.”