Seven months after shooting Howard Yambao's BEST. PARTEE. EVER. in a slammer in Pampanga; I get to once again be part of a film starring THE COMEDY QUEEN herself, Ms. AIAI DELAS ALAS , with The Joel Lamangan no less at the helm. A cameo is always welcome; it is a short appearance, with minimal exposure requirements and I get to just be myself or as to how I deem the role should be carried out with. I play a parlorista who rages on another parlorista [played by Byuti Veloso] ; who I share a chin prominence making us look like twins! Ms. Aiai's character, a Barangay Kagawad and sort of a 'jane of all trades' pacifies us. We shot in Proj6, Quezon City and it was a breezy day which made it quite comfortable. That was on April 2. I never expected that suddenly I would be called back to do more appearances ; delighted and totally flattered who was I not to oblige? I did three more scenes; two of which were highlights of the hilariously riotous opus that cel
Frankly , I haven't heard of her before the story conference of Howard Yambao's BEST. PARTEE. EVER, entry to last year's QC INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL starring JC De Vera. JC played a straight-acting gay man caught in nasty broil of Ecstasy addiction and trade. The film was shot almost in its entirety in the confines of provincial jail where I played a hot headed old fag jailbird. At the conference, as we were introduced, she caught my attention. Well-made up and in a cocktail dress she amiably smiled at everyone , her name: CATALEYA SURIO. As we were given a rundown of role assignments, I realized that she was playing a transwoman in for some crime and detained in the male cell. This was because in the Philippines, a sexually re-assigned is still recognized with what is on one's birth certificate. Ah, alright. "As far as I remember, I was ALWAYS a girl", Cataleya nonchalantly declares in our online interview. Orphaned at a very young age, She