‘Patay Na Si Hesus’ director Victor Villanueva: I owe much of my career to Jaclyn Jose
CEBU, Philippines — When producers of the Bisaya dark comedy “Patay Na Si Hesus” offered Jaclyn Jose the matriarch role in the film, the actress was still fresh from her Best Actress triumph at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival for Brillante Mendoza’s “Ma’ Rosa”. Jose – real name Mary Jane Santa Ana Guck – is the first and to thus far, the only, Filipino and Southeast Asian to win the award.
Cebuano filmmaker Victor Villanueva, who by this time, only had the Cebuano indie film “My Paranormal Romance” in his filmography, was understandably doubtful that the decorated industry veteran would say yes to their little indie project.
“I remember wondering if she would accept the role since it was a comedy and she just won at Cannes so there was that pressure and intimidation of working with her,” Villanueva told The FREEMAN in a phone interview yesterday. “So it was a surprise that she said agreed to the material.”
Villanueva said he was “quite shocked and saddened” at the star’s sudden passing at 60 years old.
Jose succumbed to a myocardial infarction or heart attack in the morning of March 2, 2024,
as confirmed by her family via her eldest child Andi Eigenmann in a press conference Monday.
“It’s with great sadness that I announce the untimely passing of my nanay, Mary Jane Guck, better known as Jaclyn Jose, at the age of 60, on the morning of March 2nd, due to a myocardial infarction or heart attack,” Eigenmann said via a prepared statement.
“We’d like to thank everyone who has since extended their prayers and condolences to us. As our family is trying to come to terms with this unfortunate incident, please provide us the respect and privacy to grieve and we hope this would put all speculations to rest.”
“We’d just like to say that her undeniable legacy will definitely forever live on through her work, through her children, grandchildren, and the many lives she’s touched. As she herself, her life itself was her greatest obra maestra.”
The industry and Filipino audiences mourned the demise of the actress whose trademark style of a monotone delivery spawned the term Jaclyn Jose Acting. Her ongoing television role is the Police Chief Dolores Espinas in ABS-CBN’s “FPJ: Batang Quiapo” – her final assignment in a decades-spanning career.
Recalling her first meeting with Jose for “Patay Na Si Hesus”, the then-28-year-old Villanueva said he was bundle of nerves, as he anticipated her “expectations or any questions she might have.”
“But when we sat down, she was so chill. She said she liked it, she was challenged, because she would have Bisaya lines and she has yet to do a road trip movie. I felt at home with her during that first meeting,” said the “I Am Not Big Bird” director.
Asked of his memorable moment directing the Pampanga-born star, Villanueva cited filming one of their first tracking scenes in the film that would see a dysfunctional family – led by Jose’s Iyay as the matriarch – embark on a Cebu South road trip to attend the wake of their estranged father and Iyay’s ex-husband in Dumaguete.
“When you say tracking, the vehicle is moving – I think this was with Sister Lucy and the whole cast. When we stopped to re-set-up, she told me ‘Alam mo Direk, nararamdaman ko, maganda ito. Alam mo ang ginagawa mo.’ And way back then, you can’t still envision what the film will turn out to be,” shared Villanueva.
“Gikilig ko that she praised me. And you know, we encountered a lot of problems during filming. So the moment she said that, I thought, at least in a way she was happy and she was committed to the project. Remember that for the first time, I had a movie that starred such a big-name actor.”
For her stature, Jose had zero demands: only a hankering for lechon especially that one of their filming pit stops was Carcar City.
“Despite problems and concerns on set,” recalled Villanueva, “she’d be calm all throughout.”
When the film that also starred Chai Fonacier, Melde Montañez, and Vincent Viado became a sleeper hit after its 2017 nationwide theater release (it first premiered as one of the entries at the 2016 QCinema International Film Festival), Villanueva said Jose heaped him with congratulatory messages.
“She also said in a press conference, ‘Yan si Direk Vic, magaling yan. He’s in his zone palagi.’ Most of the time, nagkayamukat man akong utok that time. But from her point of view, kalmado daw ko sa set. Wala lang siya kakita kung unsa na ko ka-panic,” he added.
“When the movie was out, she was also the one na nag-chismis sa ako how producers and studios remarked that ‘Uy, worthy diay ang Bisaya na film. We should look for similar material…’ There was a scramble among studios to look for an unexpected comedy like ‘Patay Na Si Hesus.’”
Among the many things she further admired about Jose was her commitment to the project.
“We talked about how to go about the character and the direction. What I liked about her, and one of my realizations during the shoot was, nindota diay sa if an actor is very committed and involved. She would say, ‘Direk, I think my character would do this, or wouldn’t do this…’ She would have insights that would also get me thinking. The rest of the cast would do the same, but Jaclyn was just all-in with her character.”
He further said, “One of the long discussions we had, she felt her character wouldn’t view her husband inside the casket. That was the scene in Dumaguete. I told her as a director and from an audience’s perspective, I feel like your character would do this. There was a lengthy back and forth and eventually, na-gets niya. It showed that she really cares about the character and the film. I really appreciated that. Because this was just my second film. So murag naa ko’y ‘Bitaw sa?’ So this is how some professional actors are with their craft.”
Villanueva said one of the reasons her passing is a big blow to him is because he owes much of his career to Jose.
“And even the fact that she’s part of ‘Patay Na Si Hesus.’ It really opened doors for me in my craft. And I won’t forget that. The mere fact that she said yes and that she worked with a relatively Cebuano crew that she wasn’t used to,” he said. “I have told her several times how thankful I am to her. I feel she could have done more, and this was all too sudden. And I feel sad that she was alone at home when she passed.”
If there’s one thing he regrets, it’s that a planned reunion project with his Jose will no longer ever be possible.
“One time we saw each other somewhere and she said, ‘Mag-reunion project tayo Direk.’ I was really looking forward to that. I wanted to work with her again just to show her how I’ve grown as a filmmaker. I would have wanted to show her how I’ve grown and how experienced I’ve become, and that I’m sharper now,” the filmmaker said.
If there’s any consolation, Jose as Iyay will remain embedded in the hearts of audiences, as professed by many fans.
He said, “Right now there’s a lot of messages that they love and miss her in Patay Na Si Hesus. It made me realize how much the film has cemented as this actor. It makes me feel emotional and sentimental that her character resonated with audiences and that the film was memorable for a lot of people.” — (FREEMAN)
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