When Dina Bonnevie was offered the role of a woman married to a womanizer in Flames of Love (opening nationwide today), she accepted it without even reading the script.
“I was abroad when Tita Baby (Nebrida, the producer) called me,” Dina told Funfare in an exclusive interview. “When I got back, I saw Tita Baby’s letter that the film would be for media evangelization and about empowering women, I said, ‘Go!’ After I read the script, I was happy that I said yes because the film imparts a lot of values. I recommend it to everybody, including high-school students.”
Directed by Gigi Javier-Alfonso, Flames of Love is composed of several stories about family — dysfunctional family, disintegrating family, family in disarray, etc. — rolled into one. Dina plays the wife of Ricky Davao who is having an affair with a younger woman (Valerie Concepcion) who is the girlfriend of his and Dina’s son (Mavy Lozano) and who is being abused by the lover of her mother (Jaclyn Jose) since she was 14. Quite complicated? On screen or off it, isn’t the ramification of love like a maze?
“The values are super-ganda because the film shows people how to say, ‘Oh, I’m a mistress because…’ or ‘I’m a prostitute because…’ or ‘I’m a dancer because’…or ‘I’m a gold-digger because…’ without making excuses. The film shows people how to lead a purpose-driven life.”
Asked how she identified with the character, Dina begged off, “Ay, let’s not talk about it,” adding with a laugh, “uy, intriga na ‘yan, ha!,” referring to Vic Sotto, her first ex-husband (by whom she has two children: Oyo, married to Kristine Hermosa; and Danica, to player Marc Pingris), who is noted for being a ladies’ man (now said to be happily going steady with his Eat, Bulaga! co-host Pauleen Luna). Her second ex-husband is Dick Penson (by whom she doesn’t have a child). “Hmmm, what aspect of my character did I identify with? Well, needless to say…alam naman natin that most men are babaero. But I’d rather not talk about it. Tapos na ‘yon. I’m happily married now.”
Of course, I didn’t want to dig up Dina’s past; I just wanted to know where she drew her inspiration in portraying her role. Her current (third) husband is Ilocos Sur Vice Gov. Deogracias Victor Barbers Savellano (whom she married in a quiet wedding in Antipolo City last year) who’s running for reelection of Ilocos Sur in 2013. He has authored three coffee-table books about Ilocos Sur.
“I really wanted it to be private because I didn’t want people to say, ‘A, nagpakasal lang ‘yan dahil sa pulitika.’ That’s not true, that’s why we made everything hush-hush. My husband has been in politics since he was 21; he has never lost an election. He was once a vice mayor, governor for several times, vice governor and then governor again, board member, and now vice governor again.
“We married because we found each other; we fell in love. It may have been a whirlwind romance at nagpakasal kami kaagad. But why bide our time? We’re not getting younger. He’s 52 and I’m 50. We both needed a companion in life. We made the right choice; we’re happy together. Kung may mga nag-iintriga d’yan, mga naiinggit na lang ‘yon.”
Flames of Love actually lured Dina out of virtual retirement, temporarily away from the business that occupies most of her time now. Every now and then, she would take a role in a movie (the last was the Anne Curtis starrer Who’s That Girl for Viva Films) and a soap (ABS-CBN’s May Bukas Pa). She turned down the role as the mom of Andi Eigenmann (who replaced KC Concepcion) in A Secret Affair because, well, she didn’t find it okay (she was replaced by Jaclyn Jose).
During her (forced) absence from showbiz, Dina was nursing herself back to health after she suffered from a strange illness.
“We were shooting May Bukas Pa in Pampanga and I didn’t know that I was allergic to lahar,” she recalled. “I would suffer from hyper-ventilation. Eh, we would shoot there overnight, so almost every other day, for 11 months, I would take Prednisone 20, anti-histamine tablets which I didn’t know contained steroids. Masama pala ‘yon. I self-medicated; you’re not supposed to take that pala longer than two weeks.
“I got bloated at nagkaroon ako ng hormonal imbalance, because of the toxins inside my body, and a big lump at my back. It was so debilitating so they had to open my back. The abnormally fatty tissue that was taken out was big. They also had to treat my eyes because I was suffering from involuntary tearing. I’m healthy now. I work out — and I have stopped taking steroids. I have learned to listen to my body. You know, when you’re tired, rest ka na.”
She has bounced back — with a vengeance. Flames of Love should signal her full-time return to showbiz.
“I’ve met Gigi before when I was studying in UP where she was a part of the UP Film Center; she was a theater director there,” recalled Dina who has worked with other lady directors (the late Marilou Diaz-Abaya and Laurice Guillen, among them). “It’s fun working with Gigi. She doesn’t want ‘acting,’ she just wants you to be natural — you know, go with the flow of the character; don’t act, just be. I like her style.”
Does she feel more comfortable doing love scenes under a lady director?
Dina laughed, “Luckily, Ricky Davao and I didn’t have a love scene. ‘Yung character niya is busy with his other woman. But yes, in love scenes mas comportable ako kung babae ang director kaysa lalaki. A lady director knows how to handle a fellow woman; kapag lalaki, may halo nang pagnanasa ‘yon, eh.”
She has only one criterion in accepting a role now.
“It should be something that conveys a significant message to the audience, a role that a lot of people can relate to and can really understand, a character that is real/realistic. I have played nice roles except one in Ang Babaing Nawawala sa Sarili, ‘yung sinasaniban ng demonyo or what. If I had a movie na ikinahihiya ko, that’s it.”
She’s ready to shoot a new Kapamilya soap, Bukas Na Lang Kita Mamahalin, as the mother of Gerald Anderson (with Maricel Soriano and Tonton Gutierrez as other co-stars).
(E-mail reactions at entphilstar@yahoo.com. You may also send your questions to askrickylo@gmail.com.)