JOHN Arcilla: Good news photo:AUGUST DELA CRUZ
Some of the country’s best actors were tapped for small parts in the Hollywood spy thriller, “The Bourne Legacy.”
These are definitely far from major roles, explained one of the lucky handful chosen to be part of the popular action franchise directed by Tony Gilroy. But this golden opportunity will once again allow local talents to strut their stuff in the international arena.
Veteran character player Archi Adamos was among the final batch of actors who auditioned.
“Most of us in the batch had extensive theater and film background,” Adamos related. “John Arcilla got the part.”
Adamos also gave an acting workshop for kids who tried out.
“I helped prepare the boys for their VTRs,” Adamos recalled.
He can be considered a veteran of such “nerve-wracking” auditions, having appeared in Hollywood movies like “Born on the Fourth of July” with Tom Cruise and “McBain” with Christopher Walken.
“At first I was nervous, but it was the same as any other audition,” Adamos related. “There were three rounds. The first two are VTRs and the last is a face-to-face interview with the director (at the Manila Peninsula).”
Adamos, along with other seasoned actors, made it to the final round of try-outs for the role that Arcilla eventually landed.
Bigger audience
LOU Veloso photo:rodel rotoni
“Film has gone global,” Arcilla told the Inquirer recently. “Indie films are now being recognized in major festivals abroad, but a mainstream Hollywood movie will allow us to reach a different, bigger audience.”
“Bourne,” Arcilla said, spells good news for the local film industry in particular, and for the country in general.
Specifically, he said, “It will showcase Filipino skills.”
The actor has previously worked on two international productions: US filmmaker John Sayles’ “Amigo” and UK director Sean Ellis’ “Metro Manila.”
He said working in international productions has yielded precious realizations for him.
“I can very well vouch for the professionalism and abilities of Filipinos,” he said. “Our artists and technicians work well, even under extreme pressure.”
On foreign sets, eight-hour work days are the norm, he explained. “We could really focus on our characters. But [in ‘Amigo’] we had so much leisure time, I had to struggle getting back into character.” His training in the fast-paced world of local Show Town served him well, he conceded.
He recounted that Sayles had been impressed by how quick and competent the Filipino cast and crew of “Amigo” were.
His “Bourne” scenes are not likely to require death-defying stunts and car crashes, but it can be said for sure that Arcilla, the consummate professional, is ready for anything.
First-timer
Another veteran actor, Lou Veloso, has been picked for a role as well.
It is Veloso’s first time to get hired in a foreign production. “I tried out in the past, but this time I made it to final round,” he told the Inquirer.
The last tryout was scary, he said, especially after he recognized the caliber of the other aspirants. “I was tense,” Veloso related. “When I faced the director in the final round, I wore the costume [they asked us to bring]. Turned out, it was just an interview.”
Veloso initially had no inkling how big the production was. “I wasn’t excited until someone told me that it was the same franchise that starred Matt Damon.”
He’s elated that he’ll be in the same movie as Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner and Oscar winner Rachel Weisz.
“Anyway, Cinemalaya winner naman ako,” he quipped. “I told nga the director that, modesty aside, I won best actor in a local indie festival [just like Arcilla].”
‘About time’
He’s thrilled for his fellow actors, especially the kids who were cast as well. He said he would bring to the last auditions child actors, ages 7 to 11, that he had been training in the senakulos of his theater company, Manila Mobile, in Sta. Ana, Manila. “It’s about time we promoted our country as a location for international movies,” Veloso said. “Such projects will provide employment to a lot of Filipinos.”
(bayanisandiego@hotmail.com)