Actress, model, and TV host Angel Jacob had no idea what she was in for when she signed up for an indie film entitled Namets!, but she got the experience of a lifetime. “I thought it was a cameo role,” she says, “but then I found out I was playing the lead. I thought, ‘I have to do well, I have to show them they made the right decision when they cast me.’” By coincidence, she had listed “to make an indie” as one of her goals at the start of the new year. Little did she know that her wish would soon be granted.

The role of Cassie Labayen calls for an actress who exudes the right amount of sass and spunk, charm and wit. Once Jacob’s name came up, director Jay Abello knew he had found the right Cassie.

But first, a major challenge had to be overcome—Angel spoke no Hiligaynon at all. She accepted the role instinctively, but realized that she would have to work hard to master the language. “I received the script and an mp3 player so I could listen to my lines being pronounced,” she relates. “I found it so difficult to do because I had no one to speak to in Hiligaynon.”

Arriving in Bacolod on her first shooting day, Angel found herself plunged right into the world of Namets!, in a scene shot at Burgos Market, in which she had to eat cansi. “I never told anyone that I don’t eat meat, just fish,” she says, laughing. “Eating meat at the market, in Bacolod, doing a film in Hiligaynon was just too overwhelming for me. But I was determined to do it.”

Her determination paid off—in the movie, she transforms into the quintessential Bacolod girl, and off-camera, she now understands and speaks the language fluently. “I observed how people interacted with each other, how girls would be so ‘lambing’ when they talk. Everyday was another day to ‘get into the Bacolod groove.’ I loved every second of it!”

The chemistry between her and leading man Christian Vazquez, so crucial to a romantic comedy, was cultivated over years of having worked with each other. “We have done soap operas together, movies and pictorials, where we were always husband and wife, so working with him came naturally.”

That Namets! is about food also made the job easier. “I love food! Not that I can cook, but I appreciate and enjoy food,” she adds. “My sweet tooth is happy, as well as my working relationship.”

So completely did she bond with the cast, crew, and the province, that shooting her last scene proved to be an emotional moment. “I take pride in doing a Negrense film—learning the language, enjoying the good food, learning the culture. Experiencing the warmth and ‘pagkalambing’ of Negrenses is an experience I keep close to my heart.”

Seeing the finished film affirmed that she had made the right decision. “I want people from all over the country to experience what I did! And Namets! gives them that opportunity!” she says. “To savor each bite of inasal, each mouthwatering spoonful of dulce gatas, the crunchy piyaya, the tummy-filling cansi, the finger-licking goodness of the napoleones! To get a glipmse of Negrense eating habits and realize there is a Negrense in each one of us!”

Namets! is showing exclusively at the following venues: 

• SM Bacolod:  November 24 –30, 2008 SM Cinema 3
• SM Iloilo:  December  1-6, 2008  SM Cinema 7
• Ayala Center Cebu: December 6, 8-10, 2008 Ayala Cinema 4 

For reservations, please call:

•    Bacolod: (034) 495-0936 / Rhea Sol – 0919-744-7706
•    Iloilo: Eden – 0929-777-0734
•    Cebu: Tina – 0908-987-4731 
  

DVD and VCD copies will be available in video stores in December. 

We’d like to thank the following: 

Bonfire Productions /  7^th Films  /  Tramontina / Sugarland Hotel / Ford Motors Negros Occidental / Enting’s / Pixel / Cook Magazine