World of Entertainment...

Documenting Pinoys in the entertainment capital of the world
By Cora Lucas

Philippine Daily InquirerFirst

Posted 00:30:00 07/21/2008

MANILA, Philippines - More Filipinos are getting noticed in Hollywood, and they are listed in a book by Carina Monica Montoya. Launched last March 8 at The Filipino American Library in Los Angeles, the book is also a pictorial account of Pinoys who cast a moist eye on Tinsel Town as early as the 1920s, as well as those who are just beginning to make inroads in global show biz.

“Filipinos in Hollywood” was born of Montoya’s personal interest in her compatriots’ evolution in the entertainment capital, her father being one of the first Filipinos to settle in LA and work in Hollywood as a film extra. It starts at the time MGM started casting “short native types” as extras for black-and-white movies and notes the continued influx of Pinoy workers, despite immigration restrictions and racial discrimination.

Pinoy movie-stage-TV actors, directors, writers, singers, musicians, broadcasters, models—they’re all immortalized in Montoya’s book.

Famous ones

The famous ones are: actor-comedian Rob Schneider, best known for his “Saturday Night Live” and “Deuce Bigelow” stints; Lou Diamond Phillips, whose big break came in the 1987 Ritchie Valens biographical film “La Bamba”; and actress-singer Tia Carrere, best remembered for her role as Cassandra in “Wayne’s World” and “Wayne’s World 2.”

Also among the most recognizable is Allan Pineda Lindo or apl.de.ap, Fil-Am superstar from the Grammy-winning, internationally-renowned hip-hop group Black-Eyed Peas. He is photographed with BEP’s other members, as well as with “Bebot” music video director Patricio Ginelsa and folk singer Lolita Carbon.

There’s Jasmine Trias, third-placer in the third season of “American Idol”; actor-comedian-writer Alec Mapa and singer-actor Dante Basco, who have penetrated the US film-theater-concert scene.

Alec has been cast in TV shows such as “Dharma & Greg,” “Desperate Housewives” and “Ugly Betty.” Dante has appeared in the theatrical movie “The Debut” and in the Antonio Banderas starrer, “Take the Lead.” “The Debut,” incidentally, was written by two Filipinos, John Manal Castro and Gene Cajayon, who also directed the movie.

Likewise mentioned is model-actress G Toengi, who expects to work in TV and movie productions soon, after studying at the Lee Strasberg School of Acting in New York.
Little known is Neal “Xingu” Rodil, a Pinoy “martial arts trainer to the stars” who has appeared on episodes of the series “Absolutely True” and “Fashion House.”
The book also includes a snapshot of Inquirer’s Hollywood entertainment columnist Ruben Nepales, with his correspondent wife Janet and their daughters.

In her introduction, Montoya explains how Pinoys made it past the door: “The new generation of Filipinos today is the product of the hard work and sacrifice of the Filipinos of yesteryears. Beginning as one of the least recognized and least documented Asian ethnic groups in Hollywood, Filipinos today shine in Hollywood’s limelight as a big part of the business community, industry and glamour. The earlier generations of Filipinos laid the groundwork, mostly behind the scenes, for today’s Filipino-American success.”