PRODUCER Pat Crowley (right), with actors John Arcilla (in suit) and Lou Veloso, distributes school kits to children in San Andres.
The children of San Andres in Malate, Manila, will remember Rachel Weisz not only for spending time in their neighborhood to shoot the film “Bourne Legacy,” but also for an act of generosity seen to make their days happier.
The actress donated funds for the renovation of a playground at the San Andres Sports Complex, which served as the “Bourne Legacy” production team’s base camp while filming in the area last January.
“We set up camp next to the playground. All of the trucks and actors’ trailers were parked there. Rachel came to me one day and said, ‘I want to do something for the community,’” the film’s producer Pat Crowley told Inquirer. “She noticed that the playground was falling apart and was dangerous for the kids. She said they should have a better place to play at.”
Weisz, married to British actor Daniel Craig, has a 5-year-old son, Henry, with her former partner, “Black Swan” director Darren Aronofsky. Henry spent three weeks here with his mom.
Fair amount
Crowley said Weisz left “a fair amount of money” and gave the go-signal to hire a local company to fix the playground. “She requested for a merry-go-round and a seesaw. She also wanted to put bars to make it safer for the kids,” he said.
Filipino architects Roy Lachica, Dan Fernandez and Kenny Yanga were commissioned to design the playground’s makeover. “Rachel approved the drawing we showed her before she left Manila,” Lachica said. “She wanted us to include rubber mats, because the floor area is all concrete.”
Crowley and his production team also handed out school kits to over 500 children residents of San Andres. “It’s not much, but it’s the least we can do to show how much we appreciate them,” he said.
He said the team stayed in San Andres for almost three weeks, which was more than the time they spent in the film’s other locations in Navotas, Marikina and El Nido in Palawan.
“We shot in San Andres at night and during the day. We constructed huge towers. We ran on roofs—we had to replace the roofs of 51 houses there. We got to spend a lot of time with the children,” said Crowley during a gift-giving ceremony at the San Andres Sports Complex.
The producer added: “For us who came from the States, Canada or England, it was heart-wrenching to see kids living in such conditions. We put together a backpack of school notebooks, pencils and crayons—the kind that kids would feel proud to carry to school.”
RACHEL Weisz ordered rubber mats for the new playground. AP
“Bourne” Philippine producer Jun Juban and cast members, Lou Veloso and John Arcilla, were present at the event. “This is a good thing,” said Veloso, a councilor of the 6th district of Manila.
Fabulous shots
“This gesture shows that [Rachel and the team] liked their stay here,” Arcilla noted.
The “Bourne” crew filmed in the country for a total of eight weeks, said Crowley, who also produced the first three “Bourne” films. “It was very good. We got fabulous shots.”
“We’re cleaning up now,” said Crowley. “Some of us, especially people from our art department, have been here for almost four months—that’s a lot of time. We’re all eager to go home.”
Crowley himself will stay a little longer: “I’m going to see the beaches in Bohol and some whale sharks (in Sorgoson).”
“The Bourne Legacy,” a Universal Pictures production, premieres in the United States on Aug. 3.