Proactive stars come up with fresh moves and gambits

Bela Padilla

We constantly remind stars to keep “surprising” fans and TV-film buffs with fresh moves and gambits, to make their careers bracingly eventful and dynamic—so, we’re singling out some proactive luminaries who’ve been doing just that:

Topping our “like” list this month is Bela Padilla, who’s made her debut as screenwriter in the October release, “Last Night,” starring Piolo Pascual and Toni Gonzaga, and megged by Joyce Bernal.

Ordinarily, we would see Bela’s credit in a TV-film production as a performer, but she’s gone “behind the camera” this time around, and has passed muster in her new line of work, as well—good for her!

This, by the way, is only the most recent bright feather in her cap: Only a couple of months ago, Bela scored as an actress with her excitingly and enticingly edgy lead portrayal in “100 Tula Para kay Stella.”

This is a big improvement over the merely proficient work Bela turned in on some teleseryes, like “My Dear Heart.”

What’s up next for the star-screenwriter? Since both her script for “Last Night” and her portrayal in “Stella” were of the “edgy millennial” sort, she should come up with more of the same as follow-up gambits.

That’s a good, potentially prolific place for her to be, because it’s been looking for suitable “representation,” and Bela seems to have a spot-on feel for its “pulse.”

Bela’s current success as a screenwriter (she’s also penned the script for “Luck at First Sight”) prompts us to recall other screen performers who’ve also come up with creditable screenplays.
They include Laurice Guillen, Raquel Villavicencio, Marilou Diaz-Abaya and Rosa Mia—Bela is in very good company, indeed!

Incidentally, Laurice’s daughter, Ina Feleo, is similarly acclaimed as a TV-film thespian—and has also done well as a writer-director.

Some years ago, we were deeply moved by Ina’s hour-long indie film about an illness in the family, in which she most insightfully directed her own parents, Laurice and Johnny Delgado. What a singularly memorable film event that was!

As for Raquel Villavicencio, she started out as a screenwriter and production person behind the camera before being cast in a wide range of roles—in more than 90 productions!

She was even nominated for an Urian Award for best supporting actress. Her screen outings include “Niño,” “Aparisyon,” “100 Days to Heaven,” “Orapronobis,” “Alyas Baby Tsina” and “Batch ’81.”

Raquel has written more than 40 scripts and also has production designer and set decorator credits.

She’s written screenplays for and worked with the very best, including film icons like Mike de Leon, Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal and Marilou Diaz-Abaya.