Cebuana sexy star impresses veteran director

CEBU, Philippines - Veteran filmmaker and screenwriter Gil Portes found his screen muse in Cebuana celebrity Ellen Adarna for his Sineng Pambansa National Film Festival 2013 All-Masters Edition entry “Ang Tag-araw ni Twinkle.” For someone acting in her first film starrer, the alluring chinita beauty known more for her sexy covers than her acting chops has found a huge fan in her director.

“I did the film ‘Bayang Magiliw’ before where I got Ellen to play a small role, and I was impressed with her. She is fearless, adventurous and has lots of acting potential! So she was my first choice when I was casting for Twinkle,” Portes said during the nationwide film festival’s launching at the SM City Cebu IMAX theater lobby.

But before Portes came up with his final cast, GMA-7 got wind of his project and requested that he hold auditions among the network’s stable of female talents. One stand-out for the director was 24-year-old Kris Bernal, citing her “determination” to break out of the tweetums mold. Announcements were made that the Starstruck alum had bagged the part and, Kris stated in interviews that she was eager to dive into the rebellious role.

Just when everything was good to go, Portes received a call from GMA-7. He narrated, “They apologized to me that they did not realize Kris’ new soap ‘Prinsesa ng Buhay Ko’ funded by Avon requires her to maintain a wholesome image. They asked me if I was willing to revise the script and make it wholesome so Kris can still do it. Naturally, that couldn’t be done with the story I had. GMA-7 presented other names, pero hindi sila tumagos sa dibdib ko. So that’s when I returned to Ellen.”

According to Portes, Ellen was a dream to work with. “She proved to be very cooperative. She would arrive early on set. Ellen proved to be very effective for the role because she knew what she was doing. In fact, she would teach me how to do some of the scenes where her character will be snorting cocaine. Parang camera director lang kami. She really gave her all in this movie.”

Ellen, a self-confessed wild child coming from a well-off clan in Cebu, saw herself in Twinkle’s character, Portes said.

“She told me that she ran away from home when she was 13. During our press conference in Manila, she was asked how she prepared for the role of a drug addict. She was candid enough to admit that she didn’t need to prepare because of her past experiences. She did not become a total addict though, to the point where she needed to be rehabilitated,” shared the director.

In “Ang Tag-araw ni Twinkle,” Ellen as Twinkle is an 18-year-old adopted daughter of a retired Army general (Cris Villanueva) who became rebellious and got hooked on cocaine. Just when her parents decide to get her rehabilitated, her biological father (Arnold Reyes), a former NPA rebel now dying of cancer, resurfaces. The story revolves on how Twinkle is able to bond with her real father while repairing her relationship with her adoptive parents.

“Ellen said her father will kill her if she did the movie, but she has always been stubborn. I hope Cebuanos will patronize her launching film,” Portes requested.

Also in the cast are Rina Reyes, Pinky Amador, Dominic Rocco, Mar Aqueza, Lester Uansang and Mica Dolonius. Eric Ramos wrote the story.

“Ang Tag-araw ni Twinkle” is now showing in all SM Cinemas nationwide until Sept. 17. (FREEMAN)