Deglamorizing Sam Milby

Author: Isah V. Red
Column: Life & Entertainment

In Cinemabuhay’s Cul-de-Sac (Dead End), Sam Milby sports a new look—rugged, unshaven, brooding—totally un-Sam as we’ve known or seen him before on TV and in the movies.

Cul-de-Sac is a digital feature by Cinemabuhay for the PLDT-Smart Foundation and is directed by Juan Miguel Sevilla, a Mass Communication major at Ateneo de Manila University.

Sevilla won the P1-million grant to bankroll the project after besting other finalists who joined the contest put up by Cinemabuhay.

Joining Sam Milby in his first action role are Jodie Santamaria-Lacson and Chin-Chin Gutierrez.

“The title is derived from a French word which means bottom of the bag. But in the context of the story, it could also mean dead end. I thought of this story when I was still in college. I was looking for a place to park but I found myself in a dead end. In real life, it’s not a dead end because you can actually make a u-turn,” explains the young director.

The film is Sam’s first crack at doing an action film. Cul-de-Sac, says Sam, is pegged on films like Fight Club with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, who happens to be the actor’s favorite star.

Juan Miguel honed his directing chops on music videos he made for Kjwan, MYMP, and Chicosci, and an aspiring Viva Records artist.

When he learned about the Cinemabuhay contest, he submitted the sequence treatment of Cul-de-Sac that he did three years ago. Luckily, his entry was the one chosen among the four finalists (from an original list of 39).

“We had Sam Milby on top of our list. I chose him to play the lead role. He liked the story after reading it. He even talked to Star Magic to convince them about him doing the project,” says the young director. “Since it is my first time to direct I was kind of scared in dealing with a big star of Sam’s caliber. It’s added pressure on my part and I cannot afford to make a mistake.”

So how was the experience working with Sam?

“He’s very good. On our first shooting day, he seems even more excited than me. I talked to him. I told him it’s my first film and it’s my concept. He also gave me inputs with regards the story. So I became a little more relaxed. I was kind of afraid dealing with a star of his caliber but after meeting Sam, I realized he’s a very nice person. He was one of the nicest persons I’ve met. It’s not an actor-director relationship that we were able to develop,” Juan Miguel recalls.

“I told him that I hope he could help me because it’s my first film. Actually, he’s very easy to work with. He can take directions very well. He can easily pick up directions. I let him do a character test before we started filming because I’ve never seen him to a character like this before. It was in the script that he’d appear deglamorized for the role.”

Sam says he didn’t mind doing offbeat roles for as long as he likes the story. And in this case he really liked it so much he even took a huge pay cut to play the role. Not many actors in the business would take a cut in their paycheck for a role, but Sam knew this could make critics take notice of him as an actor.

Flawless in Galleria

From its initial plan of opening five to complete a total of 25 branches this year, the country’s leading dermatology and cosmetic clinic will in fact, open 28 in 2008.

Recently, Flawless opened a branch at Robinsons Galleria in Ortigas Center, (located on the 3rd floor east wing) as the 25th branch.

Attending the opening were the beauty facilities endorsers Lorna Tolentino, Mark Herras, Yasmien Kurdi, and Richard Gutierrez.

After the Galleria opening, three other branches will follow suit during the holiday season—Flawless BF Parañaque, Flawless SM Manila and Flawless SM Batangas.

In Galleria, the three Flawless premier endorsers were joined in the ceremonies by other Flawless loyal clients Tess Bomb, Rich Asuncion, Alyssa Alano, Jace of Survivor Philippines, and EJ Falcon of the Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition fame.

Currently, Flawless runs a well-received promotion called “Facial of the Stars” where clients are attended to by the stars’ personal facial specialist and give him or her the same star treatment that they give each celebrity client. Promo runs at all Flawless branches until Dec. 31 where winners will have a chance to win an all-expense paid vacation for two in Boracay.

Those who avail of the 70-minute Facial of the Stars service will have a chance to join the raffle drawn in January for its batch of winners.

At the same time, Flawless introduces the Flawless Hotline—1-800-10- Flawless (352-9537) where clients can easily connect and inquire about services and products and all their concerns.

The Flawless Web site—www.flawless.ph—is also up and running and can be visited for Internet inquiries to reach more people and serve more Filipinos all over the world.

Dividing time between family and career

After that heart-tugging confession regarding the much-talked about “breakup,” the Most Eligible Bachelor in Town has been visibly moving on.

A man of few words, Dingdong Dantes who pleaded to the entertainment press for “space and privacy to heal and to move on,” apparently got the respect that he wanted.

A professional that he is, loveless Dingdong (how ironic for a man voted to be one of the Sexiest Men in the World by Hollywood’s E Channel) has been keeping himself as busy as ever doing pictorials, taping for his latest soap and shooting TV commercials.

Promoting his latest GMA Films starrer One True Love paid off as it did very well at the box office—a confirmation of the bankability of his partnership with Marian Rivera.

Dingdong is leaving for Los Angeles in California, USA, this week for a show at the Shrine Auditorium with Marian, La Diva, and Teri Onor.

Dingdong makes it a point to spend more time for his family. Last time, his mom joined him in his US trip. Now, he’s joined by his father. He’s really making time to be with them even at work. If his schedule permits, he’s treating his dad to watch the Pacquiao-De la Hoya fight.

Once he’s back, he’ll start taping for his latest television series Ang Babaing Hinugot sa Aking Tadyang and shoot his latest endorsement.

BF goes only for excellence

MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando emerged as the grand champion in the second season of Celebrity Duets as everyone has predicted and proved that in everything that he does, BF only goes for excellence and nothing less.

Now that he could breathe a sigh of relief, BF considers the past 13 weeks in the competition as “an adventure of a lifetime.” But more than anything, he says, “Every moment of it was a beautiful experience for me. I had fun, I was able to make friends with the other contenders and the staff and production people behind the show, and most of all, I have learned so much in my stint in Celebrity Duets.”

And although everyone was sure that BF will emerge the grand champion right from the start, the chairman confessed that he was actually nervous during the grand finals night. “I guess all contestants go through something like that. I am sure Joey Marquez and JC Buendia were nervous too. I had jitters the morning before the finals night. It’s truly a good experience for me,” he said.

Chairman Fernando appreciates being given this opportunity to join Celebrity Duets for many reasons now but there is one thing that stands out among them. “Dati kapag nasa labas ako, people recognize me pero parang nahihiya o natatakot ang mga tao na batiin ako. Hindi nila ako kakawayan unless mauna akong kumaway sa kanila. Pero ngayon, siguro dahil nakikita nila akong nagpapakuwela sa Celebrity Duets, nauuna na silang kumaway kapag nakikita ako. Tinatawag pa nila ako, ‘BF! BF!’ sabay kaway. May mga nagpapa-autograph pa at humahalik sa akin,” he said in all amusement.

BF is thankful to all those celebrities who agreed to join him for duets in the show. “Sa lahat sa kanila, marami akong natutuhan. Lahat ng ginawa naming numbers in the show, paborito ko,” he said when asked who among them gave him the most memorable duet.

For his winnings, BF said his beneficiaries Caritas Manila and CHILD Haus are happy. “It’s even better being in this show because I am able to help in whatever way I can with the prize money they gave me,” he concluded.

Source: Manila Standard Today

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