Durian Jam: an interview with Abe

Aside from homegrown bands, local filmmakers and visiting showbiz celebrities Durian Jam is lucky to have the opportunity to hobnob with international movie actors ranging from Hollywood actor Josh Hartnett who recently shot a movie in Diwalwal　to Majid Kabab proprietor Majid Jadali who once appeared in 70 international and Filipino movies in the 1980s either as a stuntman or character/supporting actor working with the likes of Susan Sarandon, Chuck Norris and Richard Harris.

This time, the column will be featuring Mr. Abraham “Abe” Pagtama, an American-based Filipino actor, who for 25 years has portrayed a multitude of screen roles in different productions ranging from independent Fil-Am shorts to big-budgeted Hollywood flicks.

Mr. Abraham “Abe” Pagtama was born in Waipahu, Hawaii sometime in the late 1940s. His family later transferred to Kidapawan, North Cotabato where he grew up spending high school in Central Mindanao Colleges, he then spent a year of college here in Davao City at the University of Mindanao before he went back to the United States.

Abe is married to Rodulfa Chan, a native of Camiguin Province, Mr. Pagtama is a very proud father of his two children who are currently following in his footsteps; his son Gabe, is a video artist and a budding filmmaker currently working on his full-length screenplay, while daughter Karen is one of the producers for the top-rating US reality TV cooking show Top Chef.

Los Angeles-based Abe got a screen role in Keanu Reeves 2005 supernatural thriller Constantine where in one scene he plays one of Constantine’s exorcism assistant. He also appeared in the music video of the Black Eyed Peas’ APL Song alongside several Filipino-Americans like Chad Hugo (a Grammy award-winning music producer, together with Pharrell Williams formed the famed record production duo the NEPTUNES ) and Dante Basco ( one of the stars of the movie Take the Lead with Antonio Banderas)

Durian Jam: How did you pursue your acting or filmmaking career? What motivated you to pursue acting?  What roles did you play?
 
Abe: After I got back from Germany, where I was stationed when I was in the US Air Force, due to boredom, I started taking acting classes in Hollywood and started doing theater and then started acting in films.  My roles are mostly Japanese, Chinese and Hawaiian. I never had any Filipino role.

DJ:  what can you say are the highlights of you acting or filmmaking career?   
 Abe: When I was cast in a commercial or what you called in the Philippines a commercial model for Pepsi in 2004 it was shown in the Super Bowl 2004 and was seen by 130 million viewers around the world, and was shown in the Academy Award that year.

DJ: I’ve seen you in Constantine, how did you grab that role? How was the experience of making that exorcism scene? What were your impressions on working with Keanu Reeves? What was he like in person?
 
Abe: There was an audition and they called for roles of that scene and was lucky enough to be part of the cast, the exorcism scene was fun, but it was also exhausting because the mirror that we used was actually cast iron, and we have to carry that all the time while we were filming and it took us almost a week to shot that scene, I actually worked on that project for 2 1/2 weeks. Mr. Reeves was very nice, I would say he is a very shy person, he keep calling me sir, Very accommodating.

DJ: Aside from Mr. Reeves were there instances that you’ve worked or with other Hollywood celebrities? How would you describe the experience of working with them.
 
Abe: Yes, I have worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Tom Hanks, James Brown, Gary Shandling, Tina Turner, George Lopez, Kurt Russell and many more I don’t remember everybody now, I’ve been in this business for almost three decades, all of them are really nice, they come from humble beginning and they know its a hard business, there is no guarantee that you can make it, they know you need luck also to survive in this show business.
 
DJ: What does it take to be working as an actor in the U.S.? What values, attitudes and skills or looks are needed in order to succeed?
 
Abe: Patience, perseverance, love of the craft, theater training will be a good one, Looks will help but most importantly roles have to be written about us, and that’s what is lacking for now.
 
DJ:  What is your take on your role in “My father, the actor” (short film) any updates about the movie, I’ve read that it is shown in three cities in the U.S.
 
Abe: My role in My Father, The Actor, is kind of parallel to I guess a story of most struggling actors in which they believe that they are good and that’s the only thing they want to do, a one-track mind in that whatever it takes, they can afford to lose everything including their families but not the love of acting, if it comes in their way that’s what they have to do.  It’s finally being accepted a lot in film festival circuits?
 
DJ: The short (My Father the Actor) is a work of Fil-Am filmmakers,  can you describe the Fil-Am filmmakers and the Fil-Am filmmaking scene? I heard that they’re pretty active, how are they doing?
 
Abe: Don DeLeon is a young filmmaker, her mother is originally from Cebu, and his father is an American, we also have David Maquiling, the first Fil-am that is a member of  DGA (Directors Guild of America) and is a professor in USC Film School, Patrick Genelsa, who directed most of Black Eyed Peas apl.de.ap’s videos (Bebot, APL song), Patrick Epino, who just directed the movie Mr Sadman, Justin Quizon, nephew of Dolphy, he just finished a short movie called Rival Sibling I am co-starring in his project. Edward Malilim just finished a movie called Brown Soup Thing; I have a cameo in this movie with Manny Pacquiao. And of course Debbie Formoso’s Nagpapanggap (Pretend) which just won as the best short film at the Hawaii International Film Festival, we actually shot this movie in the Philippines, yes we are very active, and hopefully we will also get funding soon, and don’t forget our own Yam Laranas “ECHO”, just finished shooting in CANADA.

DJ: Any film projects you’re busy with (I’ve read you are appearing in Mr. Sadman)? Any roles you want to tackle?
 
Abe: I played a magazine vendor in Mr Sadman, at this moment I just want to get busy; I like to play different roles, with the exception of a Shakespearean character. And if somebody wants to hire me I like to do movies in the Philippines, don’t forget I speak Cebuano, Ilocano, and Tagalog, Spanish, and a little bet of English (pun intended) hehehe.

DJ: what was your reaction on the alleged racial slur heaped by several US shows (one particular was an episode in ABC’s Desperate Housewives) against Filipinos.

Abe: Good and bad have come up with that show, but I believed it’s a wakeup call for us Filipinos. We have been a yes sir, yes ma’am, group we never complain. But I think for us just being agreeable all the time, its time to voice our opinion, it is true that with all the medical practitioners in the U.S. Filipinos out number all ethnicities that are working in the medical field from the janitorial to the specialized field like doctors, nurses, secretaries across the board we work on those fields, but somehow we are invisible to the eyes of Hollywood, they think that all Asian-looking nurses  or doctors are Chinese, Japanese or Korean, so I say Filipinos wake up and call ABC and tell them to do more research and get your story right?

 That’s the reason why Filipinos don’t want to get in the entertainment field because they don’t see themselves that that they can be successful as a writer, producer or an actor due to lack of opportunity in this field, I believed we of Filipino-descent, are very talented as actors, writers, producers, we need the mainstream media to give us a break.

DJ: Your message to other indie filmmakers, who are pursuing their dreams despite the many odds they faced.

 Abe: Keep making movies, keep writing, and have fun, send your project to film Festivals, who knows it might get distribution and keep the DREAM alive, ITS FREE… to DREAM.