FILIPINO thespians Marife Necesito and Martin de los Santos join Gael Garcia Bernal, the star of such acclaimed films as “Babel,” “The Motorcycle Diaries,” “Y tu Mama Tambien” and “Amores Perros,” and Michelle Williams (”Brokeback Mountain”) in a movie being filmed in Subic and Morong.

In the film titled “Mammoth,” Marife plays the nanny of Gael and Michelle’s child. The story involves Gael’s character, a successful New Yorker, who decides to radically alter his life while he is on vacation in Asia with his family. Marife Necesito’s credits include a memorable performance in Lav Diaz’s “Ebolusyon ng Isang Pamilyang Pilipino.” Martin de los Santos was in the movie, “Mga Mata ni Anghelita.”

Other Pinoys working in the Philippine segment of the shoot are Oli Laperal Jr., line producer; Awel Galang, production manager; Julie Ysla, casting manager; Criz Soriano and Elmer Santos, location managers; and Tess Marin, production coordinator.

“Mammoth” is the first English language film of Swedish director Lukas Moodysson, who has several noteworthy films to his credit. Gael, who started acting in his native Mexico, has become an internationally recognized actor. Michelle, who split with her “Brokeback Mountain” co-star Heath Ledger this year, earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her performance in the film.

MY recent two-part column about our interview with director Francis Coppola elicited a reaction from a reader, specifically on this quote from the filmmaker about making “Apocalypse Now,” his landmark Vietnam War film in the Philippines:

“I’m thrilled that we did all that in the Philippines. I’m grateful that we didn’t lose lives because, as I think back, what we did was far more dangerous: We were up in helicopters flying around. The Filipino people were generous and worked so hard for us! We did that dangerous production with honor, so I’m grateful. Salamat po!”

Rene Ontal, whose e-mail address is rgontal04@yahoo.com and who describes himself as a “writer and filmmaker” with a day job as a “media specialist for the City University of New York,” wrote: “Mr. Coppola evidently purged the deaths of several Ifugao extras from his consciousness. Playing Montagnard tribesmen, they were crushed to death when the Kurtz temple set collapsed during a typhoon. They went unlamented as well in ‘Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse,’ his wife Eleanor’s documentary on the making of the film.

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THE COLORFUL, versatile actor Bernardo Bernardo was so quotable in my Q and A with him via e-mail that my recent column on him ran in two parts.

Despite the two-part space devoted to BB, who just finished the LA premiere engagement of the play “The Romance of Magno Rubio” (with a wonderful cast that includes Ramon de Ocampo, Paolo Montalban, Arthur Acuña and Jojo Gonzalez), we still have some quotable quotes left from our interview. So we are sharing some of the Q and A segments which did not get printed due to space constraints.

And here’s a photo of Bernardo Bernardo (standing) with Ramon de Ocampo in “The Romance of Magno Rubio” courtesy of Matt Zugale.

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JOAQUIN PHOENIX, one of the finest actors of his generation, has always marched to a different drummer.

But it still came as a bit of surprise to hear him tell us in a recent interview that he checks his e-mail only once a month. In this day and age, that’s a shocker to most people who virtually sleep with their BlackBerry. But this is probably why Joaquin has stayed refreshingly different from his colleagues.

The actor, who stars in the drama, “Reservation Road,” admitted in a talk at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York: “I’m pretty computer illiterate. I do e-mail but only occasionally, like once a month. But of course, the Internet is a great tool for research. I don’t know what actors did 15 years ago. I don’t know if I could go to a library and spend that much time researching. I’m very fortunate to be in this time as an actor because we have the Internet as a great research tool.”

Joaquin revealed that he’s “not a big reader” in general. “I read scripts and on whatever research I have to do,” he explained. “I have this problem — I suppose it’s why I’m an actor. When I start reading a book, I end up just going off on these fantasies where I take the character somewhere completely different. I have to go back three pages because I was inventing this other fantasy. I get stimulated by a book but reading doesn’t let me focus on staying with the book. I just start wanting to invent other things.”

DIRECTOR Quentin Tarantino must like the barong given to him on his recent visit to the Philippines.

The innovative filmmaker wore the barong at the premiere of his film, “Death Proof,” in Dublin, Ireland. He paired the Philippines’ national shirt with black and white athletic pants, the unusual combo he came up with when he received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Cinemanila Film Festival from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Malacañang, as shown in this file photo.

Quentin’s pants were drenched when he was forced to ditch his flood-struck limo and ride a pedicab to Malacañang amid heavy rain. So he had to change into athletic pants before receiving the award from GMA.

The ensemble must be comfortable — and he must have enjoyed his stay in the Philippines so much (he is a walking encyclopedia of the films of such Pinoy directors as Cirio H. Santiago and Eddie Romero) that he decided to bring a touch of Pinas all the way to Ireland.

Editor’s note: File photo showing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Quentin Tarantino at the Malacañang Palace in Manila courtesy of Agence France-Presse/Malacañang-PCPO