By NESTOR CUARTERO
Speaking like a genuine movie icon, Vilma Santos says at this high point in her life, after more than six decades in the industry, she wants to do only films with substance, not just any film.
She considers her 50th Metro Manila Film Festival entry, “Uninvited” as one of them.
The suspense-thriller directed by Dan Villegas is based on a story that Vilma herself pitched.
“I wanted a movie whose story happens in just one night. My character will start out as glamorous but will end up dilapidated in the end,” she told a grand mediacon recently.
The veteran actress laughed as she said she left the middle part of the story to be filled up by the creative staff.
“I didn’t know what to put in-between,” she said.
Vilma says at her age, 71, she feels she still has much to give as an actress.
“This is one role that excited me, it challenged me as I haven’t done anything close to this in my long career,” she said.
The intensity of certain scenes impacted heavily on Vilma’s health that on some days at the shoot, her blood pressure spiked to 140/90. The staff wanted to pack up the day, but Vilma said she felt bad as that would entail added cost for production.
She went ahead with the shoot, and thanked God she survived that intense shooting day.
Her character is that of Eva, a grieving mother seeking revenge over the death of her child.
On set, Vilma said she was getting instruction from three directors.
Aside from director Villegas, there were also co-producers, including Project 8, namely Antoinette Jadaone and Irene Villamor.
It was her first time listening intently to three directors scene after scene.
“Uninvited” also stars Nadine Lustre and Aga Muhlach.
