Bela on the struggles of ‘half-half’ Amerasians

BELA Padilla

“They struggle to fit in because they’re half-Filipino and half-something else,” said actress Bela Padilla of Amerasians, whom she fondly called “half-half.” She met some while doing the independently produced film, “I America,” in Olongapo City.

“If you talk to them, you’ll know that they constantly battle with identity crisis. They’re not quite Pinoy, but since they grew up here in the Philippines, they’re not so American, either. They struggle to find who they really are,” said Bela.

She could empathize with the “half-half” because her dad is British and her mom is Filipino.

“Since they feel that they don’t belong to one particular group, they work on adapting well to their environment,” she told the Inquirer.

Bela’s character Erika, whose father is American, has only one goal—to visit the United States. “She wants to get a visa, and she would do anything to achieve that.” She is “average,” so everyone could easily relate to her.

Bela added that it was tough playing Erika “because she curses a lot. She also uses rare Filipino words and speaks in broken English. It helped that I worked with a good cast, and our director was hands-on.”

Written and directed by Ivan Andrew Payawal, the movie also stars Rob Rownd, Matt Evans and Elizabeth Oropesa.

Working on “I America” so inspired Bela that she said she’d consider enrolling in a filmmaking class, offered by the Cinemalaya Film Institute, next year.

“I liked that Direk Ivan is open to collaboration with his actors. He stimulated my creative mind, not just in acting. I hope to direct movies one day. Because he also wrote the script, working with him was so easy. He knows what kind of emotion is required for a particular scene,” she said.

“Also, the cast is excellent,” added Bela. “They come to the set already in costume and in character. With them, I really felt like I was Erika.”

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