Angel Aquino on starring with Isabelle Huppert: 'Her attack was very simple'
MANILA, Philippines — In May, Philstar.com did a series of mini-stories featuring the talented mother-daughter duo Angel Aquino and Iana Bernardez. They sat down for an interview before they were photographed for a fashion editorial showcasing sustainable clothing and accessories.
In 2012, iconic model and acclaimed actress Angel Aquino was part of the cast of director Brillante Mendoza’s “Captive,” which “follows the hostage crisis of the Dos Palmas kidnappings in the southern Philippines, the life of the hostages whose survivors were freed after an awful year in captivity.”
Isabelle Huppert, the legendary French actress, played Thérèse Bourgoine, a non-governmental organization (NGO) worker who was one of the hostages of the Abu Sayyaf, along with Angel, who played a nurse named Olive Reyes. Coco Martin, Mercedes Cabral and Sid Lucero were also in the ensemble cast.
Huppert is the most nominated actress for the César Award, the French equivalent of the Oscar. Since 2022, she has been nominated 16 times, and won Best Actress twice for “La Cérémonie” (1995) and for “Elle” (2016). She has received 14 nominations for Best Actress and two nominations for Best Supporting Actress. In 2017, she was a nominee for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for “Elle” at the Oscars.
“Captive” was screened at the Berlin Film Festival in 2012. At that time, Huppert talked to IndieWire about the film:
“So, for me there was no character. That’s the strength of the movie and that was also the bet of the film for everybody, just to be hostages and to be defined by the reactions that you have to the fear, the unnatural conditions, the evil that happens, but certainly not by what you are or what you were previously, because by definition you are not anything anymore. You are forced into… being anonymous, or this loss of intimacy, by this promiscuity. That’s the life of the hostage, I believe. I’ve never been a hostage myself, but I think that’s exactly what Mendoza wants to explore, that condition,” the French actress said.
Angel recalled her experience working with an international treasure.
“Nu'ng una, ‘di pa akong masyadong aware of who she was. And ‘yung mga international ano, kasi wala pa naman 'yung Internet. Their films don't get shown here. Hindi naman ako art film connoisseur.
“You know, I was just an actress and I just really loved my job. That was it, no? So wala akong masyadong awareness who she was and what she's done. So, I think that kinda helped when, you know, we were doing scenes together.
“Because Isabelle was very, hindi naman self-effacing. May pagka-aloof siya. And she was just there for her scenes. And also because she's French. So, pagka lang may mga eksena siya, that's when she's there. And then she would talk to us.
“But her process, I realized, was very simple. She was just being real to the role. Parang ganun, hindi siya, hindi mo siya mararamdaman na nag-grandstand siya, or that she wanted to [say], 'Hoy, ako 'yung art, ako 'yung biggest actor dito.' Walang ganun, I didn't feel any of those things from her.
“Her attack was very simple. And, yeah, it felt very real. So it helped us with, I mean, especially myself, how to play along with her," Angel said.
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