(Conclusion)
Los Angeles—As 2016 comes to an end, we recall more quotable quotes dished by the talents we interviewed. Again, we are grateful for the following bon mots, in contrast to the monosyllabic answers that we sometimes got.
Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds (Photo by Ruben V. Nepales)
(On his “Deadpool” costume) To pee, it took me about 30 minutes to find my penis, so it was no joke. Russ Shankles, the genius who made that suit, didn’t really think of that. I let him know it in no uncertain terms.
Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren (Photo by Ruben V. Nepales)
Certainly in my lifetime, I’ve watched brilliant actresses, as they reached their late 40s, 50s, find it very difficult to find work. That’s really unfair! A parallel I’ve watched is not-so-great actors having very long and successful careers because there are many more roles available to them!
George Clooney
George Clooney (Photo by Ruben V. Nepales)
(On tabloids’ favorite headlines regarding him and his wife, Amal Clooney) I am getting divorced now, am I? And no, she’s not pregnant.
John Travolta
John Travolta (Photo by Ruben V. Nepales)
My parents gave me a great sense of who I was as a child. I was 15 years old, and I did a great song-and-dance audition for a summer stock producer. He said, “You should really think about not being in show business.” I thought, how could he think this?
Gene Kelly’s brother taught me how to dance. I had a lot of support from significant artists who said otherwise. Then, this man told me to leave the business. So, I went into it with a good sense of self.
Mick Jagger
(On the passing of his friend, David Bowie, who was the Rolling Stones cofounder’s close friend for almost 40 years.) We had fun and great times together.
David was a pretty close friend of mine. I was distraught, obviously, to learn of his death. We used to bounce lots of ideas off each other musically and for stage shows. We talked about each other’s shows a lot. We were both interested in movies and clothes—we talked about them a lot (laughs). We had long conversations about fashion and designers.
We had a lot of things in common. When I review our pictures, there we were at parties. We used to go out a lot in New York, dancing and partying. I remember all those good times with David.
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman (Photo by Ruben V. Nepales)
(On still getting rejected) It sounds nicer now than it used to (laughs). They will say, “Listen, we’re thinking of going in a different direction—Brad Pitt.” Maybe in the next film, we’d love to have you involved (laughs).
Shakira
Shakira (Photo by Ruben V. Nepales)
(On her dream) I wish for every kid in the world, no matter his condition, race, gender or background, to be able to access quality education. Education is that opportunity that makes us all equal. A lot of the world’s social struggles and problems come from the lack of opportunities like that one (education) and from disparity, from that huge gap between the poor and the rich that especially exists in the developing world. So, I dream about that gap becoming smaller.
Woody Allen
(On casting Justin Timberlake in his untitled movie) I want to use him, he’d like to do it, and so we smiled and exchanged insincerities, and we signed him up.
Ronnie del Carmen
(On his growing up years in Cavite) I had a rough childhood, though many of the early years were idyllic for me. When the hardships came and hung around for years, we had to make do with whatever fortune brought us. You learned to appreciate a break when it came your way. You’ll never know when fate will turn sour on you. That’s why I work hard and a lot. I like to achieve personal goals which, in the end, is what matters the most.
E-mail rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com. Follow him at https://twitter.com/nepalesruben.