Why Matthew Modine has a soft spot for Pinoys

A few days ago, I did a 10-minute phone interview with Matthew Modine (from London) in connection with his starrer on Hallmark Channel, Jack and the Beanstalk, Part 1 of which will be shown tomorrow night at 9 and Part 2 on Monday, Dec. 17, same time.

Matthew Modine? You might be asking. The name sounds very familiar, of course, but not many Filipino fans can quite match the name with the face which has graced such films as Married to the Mob (1988) as an FBI agent (with Michelle Pfeiffer as co-star), Robert Altman’s Short Cuts (1992) as a sexually distant doctor, Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket (1987), Cutthroat Island (1993), as the male lead and the made-for-TV And the Band Played On (1993).

Yes, he’s the one, a towering 6’4" boyish hunk who had his movie debut in Baby, It’s You in 1983 after studying acting with Stella Adler.

Matthew was only a voice on the phone, that’s true, but he was as warm and as friendly and as engaging as if we were talking face-to-face.

In Jack and the Beanstalk, he plays Jack Robinson, head of the huge corporation in the world called Robinson International. The 37-year-old heir is about to discover the true story of Jack and the Beanstalk and pay the price of what his great-great-great-grandfather Jack did "once upon a time, so very long ago." (I bet my Christmas bonus that after seeing the telemovie, you’ll never see Jack again in the same light.)

Anyway, it was when I asked Matthew if he’s ever been to this part of the world did I find out that, yes, indeed, he has a soft spot for the Philippines because when he was in high school in San Diego, California, he had several schoolmates and friends from the Philippines.

He said that he has been to Japan and Korea for promo and to Thailand for the filming of Cutthroat Island, but never to the Philippines which he’d love to visit soon.

"One of my first girlfriends was a Filipino," said Matthew. "Her name is Melanie Quismundo. We went steady for six months. I was 17 then, she was 16."

Not wanting to pry too deeply into Matthew’s private life, I proceeded with the interview. Here are excerpts:

How were you able to identify with a character like Jack?

"It was easy. I like the story because it was turned upside-down – you know, what if Jack was lying, what if Jack was the bad guy and the giant was the good guy? I thought that the original story was kind of strange, although I liked it when I was little because it was scary. You know ‘Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman!’ When I got older and I started reading fairy tales to my children, I thought there was something strange about the story. Jack killed the giant, took the goose that lay the golden egg and lived happily ever after. I didn’t like the message of that story. So I put it away and I didn’t read it to my children."

As a little boy, what message did you get from the story?

"Boy, I thought it was very exciting! You know, carrying the giant, carrying the dragon, being rewarded and living happily ever after. But as a grown-up, I don’t like the idea of going to another world and stealing from them and living happily ever after. I like the new story because it approaches the plot from that angle, confronting us with the question: Are we responsible for the crimes committed by our ancestors?"

Do you believe in fairy tales... even now?

"Oh, yes, I do. It’s like believing in luck, in having good luck. We all want to believe that when we buy a lottery ticket, we’ll have good luck and win."

Did you ever think that you’d play a role like this one?

"No, I never imagined that."

Aside from Jack and the Beanstalk, what other fairy tales caught your fancy as a child?

"The one about King Arthur... Knights of the Round Table. It’s not really a fairy tale but it’s wonderful. There’s also Goldilocks and the Three Bears."

Your father operated a drive-in theater in your native Utah. I suppose you grew up on movies.

"Back then, I liked spaghetti westerns, the ones starring Clint Eastwood, like The Good, The Bad and The Ugly."

What sort of childhood did you have?

"I’m the youngest of seven children. We moved a lot because the drive-in theaters were being closed, the land was being developed and turned into homes."

According to your biography, while waiting for the big break, you dug ditches, ground valves and worked on cars...

"...well, not really waiting for the break. I didn’t know what to do so I tried many different jobs. I also worked in a restaurant as a cook. I washed dishes and cooked mashed potatoes. I was only 12 then. I used to sell doughnuts, too. We were seven children in the family and there wasn’t much money, so I had to work to earn money for candies and for movies. I’ve been working all my life!"

Of the roles that you’ve done so far, dozens and dozens of them both in movies and on television, which one comes closest to being like the real Matthew Modine? The one role you identify with.

"Each of the roles I’ve played has aspects of who I am. But I find some of them very memorable because of their impact on both me and the public, like Birdy (1984) where I play a traumatized Vietnam veteran who thinks he’s a bird. Full Metal Jacket (1987) is another one. Full Metal Jacket is the hardest movie I’ve done so far."

Why? Because it’s your most "physical"role?

"Not really. I think it’s the most psychologically challenging role I’ve done. I’d rather do a very physical role than a heavily-psychological one."