GOOD news — it turns out that Iza Calzado still has a chance to star in Yam Laranas’ US remake of his own much-lauded Filipino thriller, “Sigaw.”
While English actress Amelia Warner has indeed been tapped to play the girlfriend role in “The Echo,” Iza is still being considered for the battered wife character, which she played convincingly in “Sigaw.” Iza’s performance contributed to the film’s success.
WE have reports, still to be confirmed by director Yam Laranas, that Amelia Warner has been cast as the female lead in “The Echo,” the US remake of his acclaimed thriller, “Sigaw.”
We know that Yam was hoping that Iza, who starred in “Sigaw,” will reprise her role in the Hollywood version. Amelia, a Liverpool native, is the daughter of British actress Annette Ekblom. The 25-year-old Amelia appeared with Charlize Theron in “Aeon Flux” as Una Flux. Her other screen credits include “Quills” and “Mansfield Park.”
Jesse Bradford (”Flags of our Fathers”) was announced earlier as the male lead.
“COLMA: The Musical,” a film which features all-original music written by a Fil-Am, H.P. Mendoza, opens in San Francisco this weekend.
H.P. also stars in the film as Rodel along with other Fil-Am talents, including L.A. Renigen.
We first met L.A. and her director, Rich Wong, at the Independent Spirit Awards held in Santa Monica, California earlier this year. Rich was up for the IFC/Acura Someone To Watch Award, which was won by the directors of “Cavite,” Ian Gamazon and Neill Dela Llana, in the previous year.
THIS is Jesse Bradford, the Hollywood actor recently picked to star in the US remake of Yam Laranas’ acclaimed thriller in Tagalog, “Sigaw.”
Jesse, whom we interviewed last October when he played one of the leads in Clint Eastwood’s World War II drama, “Flags of Our Fathers,” tackles the role played by Richard Gutierrez in the original movie. The photo was taken during our press con with him at the Warner Bros. lot.
Our congratulations to Yam — he gets to direct the American version, “The Echo,” as well. It’s a tribute to the filmmaking talent he displayed in “Sigaw.” An American director could have been chosen to helm “The Echo.” For Hollywood to give him the job, that’s a significant achievement.
Yam, way to go! For a change, it is nice to hear that Hollywood is doing a remake of a Filipino film and not the other way around. Let’s hope the American film industry taps more Pinoy stories and talents.
A SURPRISE treat for Joseph Henares and his fellow finalists in the recent Scripps National Spelling Bee championship was a trip to the White House.
“It was surreal,” Joseph said to us via e-mail. “Right after the semifinals, we were told that we had an appointment to meet with the First Lady. We were led straight to a waiting bus. With sirens blaring and Secret Service vehicles following our bus, it was really cool. Mrs. Bush graciously welcomed us in the Blue Room and spoke with us for about a half hour.”
For Joseph, however, the highlight of his national Bee experience was “placing in a three-way tie for third place,” quite an accomplishment since he was “a first-timer in the nationals.”
