Fil-Am actors in movie ‘Plane’ disheartened by its cancelation in PH

Along with the privilege of being a part of a major Hollywood production like “Plane,” Filipino actors Mark Labella, Jeff Francisco, Ariel Felix, and Clarrel Pope also had the chance to demonstrate their skills and abilities to the other cast members.

Gerard Butler is the star of the worldwide ensemble film “Plane.”

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The actors were all eager for the movie to be seen in Philippine theaters as well, but their joy was quickly replaced by sadness when they learned of the senators’ disapproval of “Plane,” Robin Padilla and Juan Miguel Zubiri, which ultimately led to the local distributor of the movie pulling the film from theaters. Notwithstanding the fact that Jolo is a fictional work, the senators disapproved of how Filipinos were portrayed in it.

Even though the Philippines was the intended location, the movie was actually shot in the US territory of Puerto Rico in 2021 while the Philippines was still under lockdown and subject to stringent pandemic regulations.

Several Filipinos expressed support for the film on social media. The Filipino actors claimed they were discouraged by the debate, particularly in light of the fact that major action films have become more common, feature locations worldwide, and audiences can typically tell fact from fiction.

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Fil-Am actors in movie ‘Plane’ disheartened by its cancelation in PH

Francisco, who is also a cast member of the Netflix series “The Lincoln Lawyer,” expressed his sadness in particular since he thought a fellow Filipino actor like Padilla would appreciate the effort they put into every project.

“I grew up in the Philippines and you know, I’ve had some kind of exposure to Filipino cinema. For me it’s kind of disappointing, especially coming from Robin Padilla because he is a pillar in the action film genre in the Philippines and I grew up watching him,” Francisco noted. “There are stunt men and performers and acting in this movie was just top-tier you know, Evan Dane Taylor, Claro de los Reyes brought on such a great performance all the stuntmen just made it so believable. The action sequences and not a lot of people are aware that a lot of Filipinos are stunt performers in Hollywood.”

Pope was especially happy with the film’s inclusion of Filipino martial arts.

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The performers aim to appear in additional films and projects that their fellow Filipinos will see. ‘Plane’ is still playing in the United States and other nations.

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