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c h i k k a
i n t e r v i e w
PHOTOS
COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL PICTURES INTERNATIONAL
Frank
Marshall
Were you
around
when the
Palawan
scenes
were shot?
Yes. Palawan was the most beautiful place
I have ever been to. It’s just staggeringly
stunt. Jeremy and I fall off a bike and we get
pulled along the ground at about 200ft. We
were on our elbows. That was why I had to
wear elbow pads. We were on cables being
pulled along. It was scary.
You told me before you
liked Filipino food. Did
you have your fill when
you came?
I had a lot of
lumpia
(spring rolls)
and
adobo.
beautiful. Unfortunately, I was in Palawan
for only two days. I wish we had spent six
weeks there.
I must commend you
guys for making that
motorbike chase scene
look fast-paced and
exciting, given how slow
traffic is in Manila.
It took about 10 weeks to shoot that scene.
We were in Manila for six weeks as a
first unit, and another four weeks as a
second unit. During that whole time, they
were doing bits of the motorcycle chase.
Obviously, it was a big undertaking to
close off those streets and have all those
people in the background. That’s all real.
That’s just happening in the day, so we
took advantage of having people who were
around Jeremy and Rachel. All are extras
but they were going about what normal
people do in those situations. We had 300
people helping us as production people and
assistants who were controlling the traffic
and everything.
Tony
Gilroy
What
can you
say about
the Filipino
actors in the film,
including Lou Veloso and
Madeleine Nicolas?
I know them well. I wish we had more for
both of them to do. We take a great deal
of pride in casting great actors in small
parts. In the Philippines, it was just an
embarrassment of riches. We had these
people who are stars coming in and
working for us in these tiny parts. You feel
sort of bad in one sense. But for us, it’s a
big advantage because everybody was so
talented. There’s a rich talent pool there.
Lou was helpful in finding the child actors
too. He brought in the kid to play his son.
We were stunned! The guy who plays
Joseph at the factory (John Arcilla) gave
an amazing performance. Rachel was so
impressed with him. He’s brilliant.