'The Most Beautiful Woman in Cannes'

How come Mercedes Cabral felt like a winner even if she didn’t get any award in the two Cannes Filmfests where her films had competed, last year with the indie film Serbis directed by Brillante “Dante” Mendoza and this year with Kinatay, another indie film, which won for Mendoza the Best Director plum and the South Korean entry Thirst, directed by Park Chan-wook, which shared the Jury Prize with New Zealand’s Fish Tank directed by Andrea Fisher? (Park Chan-wook won the Grand Jury Prize for Oldboy in the 2003 Cannes Filmfest.)

The petite (5’3") UP Fine Arts junior (major in Sculpture) has a good reason to feel “triumphant.” The Cannes paparazzi organized an on-line voting on who the most beautiful girl at last year’s filmfest was and Mercedes emerged the winner, getting 54 percent of the votes against 20 percent for Aishwarya Rai and 10 or five percent for the rest, including Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek.

“I was surprised,” said Mercedes who is a deadringer for Miriam Quiambao (a Bicolana from Albay like Mercedes’ mom Petty Cabral, a Bicol University graduate who owns and manages a flower shop in White Plains, Quezon City). “I didn’t even know that there was such a voting in the Internet. I found out later that there was a list of names to choose from. Maybe the paparazzi got curious with me dahil bagong mukha ako sa Cannes. When I went back last May, aba, the paparazzi were calling me na by my first name! The reporters were also calling me, ‘Mercedes! Mercedes!’ during our photo call. Nakakatuwa!”

Mercedes Cabral, 22 (Leo, Aug. 10, 1986), is not your typical actress. She’s more known — and, may I add with a little sadness, appreciated — abroad than at home. She can stroll in any local mall without turning a single head, not even eliciting a “Who’s she?” Not yet anyway. But in Cannes, her name does ring a bell, no wonder an L.A.-based producer got interested enough to arrange a meeting with her.

She likes it that way — being able to blend into a crowd without anybody noticing her. That may not last long, though.

Before doing Serbis (as the wife of Coco Martin who belongs to a family which lives in a rundown porno moviehouse) and Kinatay (again as Coco’s wife), Mercedes starred in six short films (one of them Baliw with Ryan Eigenmann) made by film students. That was two years ago.

How did you start in the business?

“I started as a ramp model, mostly in naked-art shows by Alfred Galvez in music and arts festival in Megamall or in art galleries. Kaming mga models served as Alfred’s canvas. Our nipples were covered with tape and may undies naman kami. Very artistic ang body paintings. Our bodies were covered with paint kaya wala talagang makikita. Remember the painted lady in the Bond movie Goldfinger? Parang ganoon.”

And how did you get into film?

“I did school plays directed by Francis Villacorta who recommended me to other directors. He also knew Tito Ferdy (Lapuz, The STAR’s Toronto-based international correspondent and co-producer of Kinatay with Frenchman Didier Costet) who introduced me to direk Dante Mendoza. It was also Tito Ferdy who got me into Thirst. He met direk Park Chan-wook’s producer who asked him to e-mail photos of Filipino actresses.”

Did you really shoot Thirst simultaneously with Serbis?

“Yes. Thirst took one year to shoot kasi very meticulous si direk Park. I play the Filipina wife of a Korean. For three months, I went back and forth between Manila and South Korea for the shoot. My dialogue was mixed English and Korean. I rehearsed my lines so well that I started speaking fluent Korean. But they asked me to speak baluktot Korean para daw realistic.”

Did you think you would end up an actress?

“Not really. When I was a child, I wanted to be a veterinarian. As I grew up, doon na lumabas ang hilig ko sa pagpipinta. I grew up in a family of artists. My mom used to do theater in school. My (older) brother is also taking up Fine Arts (major in Advertising) and my other (younger) brother, Culinary Arts. Becoming an actress happened only by accident. At first, you know, ‘Sige, try-try.’ Until I started to like it. More indie projects are coming, so I started to take a leave from school. I just finished Ang Pang-gagahasa Kay Fe, an indie film directed by Alvin Yapan with Irma Adlawan in the title role, showing in the CineMalaya in July. Support lang ako, as the mistress of Nonie Buencamino who plays Irma’s husband.”

(Asked what kind of childhood Mercedes had, Petty Cabral said, “Being an only daughter, she was protected. We have a close-knit family, very religious. She grew up on good values.”)

“When my Lola learned about the naked art, umiyak talaga siya. But when she saw the actual show, she realized na wala naman nakikita dahil nga makapal talaga ang painting.”

How was it working with Dante?

“Well, iba siya. It’s true that he didn’t give us the whole script; he gave me only a copy of it na nandoon ang character ko and told me to concentrate on my character. Would you believe that I only saw Kinatay in Cannes? Doon ko lang nalaman what the film is all about.” (Scripted by Armando “Bing” Lao, whom Dante calls “my mentor responsible for what I am now” and who also wrote Serbis, Kinatay is a gritty look at the slow “chop-chopping” of a prostitute, played by Maria Isabel Lopez, with blunt kitchen knives. Coco Martin plays the neophyte cop initiated into his new world by a first-hand view of police brutality right on his wedding day. Mercedes plays his bride.) “The film got a standing ovation. Nagpalakpakan talaga ang audience for about 10 minutes. It was unbelievable! Direk Dante was overwhelmed; he was teary-eyed. Ganoon din kami.”

What about working with Park Chan-wook?

“Unlike direk Dante, direk Park stuck to the script. Nasanay ako kay direk Dante so medyo nangapa ako sa umpisa. On the set, the assistant director who spoke good English was the one who explained what I had to do. They were surprised when my scene was shot, in a hospital. Bakit daw kaya ko umiyak and then makikipag-biruan and then iiyak uli during the next take. Sila kasi, minsan they use artificial tears. Direk Park later told me that I did more than what he expected. Happy naman sila and they even gave me a despedida after the shooting, something which Koreans daw don’t usually do.”

Who’s the producer from L.A. whom you met in Cannes?

“His name is Frederick Golchan. He saw Thirst and he liked my performance. We’ve communicated sa e-mail pa lang. He’s planning to produce a movie intended also for film festivals. On the merit of my work in Thirst, I was invited to be a member of APAN (Asia-Pacific Actors Network) whose objective is to help Asian actors penetrate Hollywood. It was at APAN where I met Moon Bloodgood, the half-Korean actress who is in Terminator Salvation.”

Any limitations in your future projects?

“None, really, basta huwag naman garapal ang eksena. Even my ‘daring’ scenes in Serbis and Kinatay, medyo may konting daya; I was naked in one scene but shot in silhouette.”

How soon will you go “mainstream”?

“I don’t know yet. It all depends. If there are offers, why not?”

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