Chai Fonacier personally handled the authentic folk healing paraphernalia used on the set.
I handled them with ‘takot,’” quipped Cebuana actress Chai Fonacier—as a wordplay to the phrase “handle with care”—while talking about the props she used in the psychological thriller “Nocebo,” where she plays a Filipino folk healer in Ireland.
Chai said the props were bought in Quiapo, Manila, a well-known site for folk medicine services, and were shipped all the way to Ireland for the shoot. The actress also had to “consult a spiritualist” before portraying Diana, who uses traditional folk healing methods on the family of the character portrayed by French actress Eva Green.
Christine (Eva), a fashion designer, suffers from an illness that perplexes her doctors and frustrates her husband, Felix (Mark Strong). They welcome into their lives Filipino nanny Diana, who uses traditional folk healing to reveal a horrifying truth about Christine’s baffling sickness.
Respect for culture
“Nocebo,” by Irish filmmaker Lorcan Finnegan, is currently screening in local cinemas with TBA Studios as its distributor.
“I only spoke with the Filipino practitioner via Zoom. She gave me instructions. Later, when she meandered from our topic, she said, ‘Chai, you come from a long line…’ When I asked, ‘of what?’ She just said, ‘You will know when you’re ready.’ What she said terrified me,” Chai recalled.
“The Irish production team showed so much respect for our culture. Even the smallest props were handled with so much care. When the spiritualist told us to be careful not to pass by a cemetery while carrying a particular prop, the team made sure to check if there was any cemetery on our route,” Chai told Inquirer Entertainment during a recent virtual interview.
Fonacier (background) with Eva Green and Mark Strong
The actress said they put notes on every single item, too. “These are instructions given by the spiritualist on how to handle stuff. As for me, I handled them with takot. The props used by my character are items that real practitioners use,” she pointed out. “One note said, ‘Do not say this out loud.’ So when my director instructed me to ‘act like you’re chanting,’ I really felt scared because I didn’t want to say anything I didn’t understand and accidentally open a portal.
Never felt homesick
“Do you know what I chanted? ‘Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.’ It’s a placeholder text in layout design. When I checked, I learned that it’s Latin, but it’s gibberish, so it’s safe,” she recalled. “I think because, collectively, we had so much respect for the culture and the props we had, no one committed any mistakes in handling those things.”
Chai said only a few scenes were shot in Manila, primarily because Eva, who was supposed to fly with her here, already had other commitments. “It’s amazing what the production team did. They set up an entire area in Ireland that looked like Manila. We shot the interior scenes there. The place looked warm even though we were all feeling cold. They got Filipino background actors based in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The exterior scenes were shot in Manila. While the gap between the shooting in Ireland and the Philippines took two months, you will never notice it. The continuity team was amazing.”
Chai said she stayed for a month and a half in Ireland for the movie, but she never felt homesick. “I didn’t miss anything from the Philippines because I knew I would go home eventually. What I realized was that the OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) I met there have no idea when they will come back. Slowly, I came to understand their plight from an experiential point of view. The idea that I’m far from home and unsure of when to return would probably drive me crazy,” she pointed out.
Director Lorcan Finnegan (right) on the “Manila set” in Ireland
Wonderful stay
Chai said it helped that she had a wonderful stay in Ireland. “There was no racism, at least in the area where I stayed. Everybody called each other, ‘Love,’ just like the male cashier of the store I often bought groceries and wine from. He told me, ‘You’re new in this neighborhood. What are you here for?’ I said, ‘I’m doing a film.’ He said, ‘Good luck, Love!’ He would greet me every time I returned to the store. Most of the people I met were nice. I feel like Irish people are the opposite of their dreadful weather. They’re very warm,” she observed.
Chai was repeatedly asked what it was like to work with Eva in previous promotional interviews, so we opted to inquire about her working relationship with British actor Mark Strong.
She recalled a rare and funny moment she shared with Mark during filming. “We were part of the scene, but the cameras were all pointed at Eva. Mark elbowed me and showed me a meme from his cell phone. We had a hard time trying to stifle our laughter. He’s such a crazy guy!”
There was also a time when Chai confided in Mark. “I told him, ‘I feel like I’m not doing well. We’ve been working for a week, but I feel my character is starting to gel only now.’ He said, ‘That’s normal. Just trust in the process, trust in the script. You were hired for a reason.’ He is very generous with advice,” the actress said.
When she admitted to Mark how much she liked his work, (“particularly in ‘The Young Victoria”), the actor’s reaction surprised Chai. “He said, ‘Thank you, but you ladies are doing the heavy lifting for this film. I’m just here to support.’ This seasoned actor, who knows that he is playing a minor character, is very humble about it,” Chai stressed.