Seven years after her hiatus, KC Concepcion returns to the silver screen in Asian Persuasion—and not without her stellar acting caliber.
In the Filipino-American Hollywood film set in New York City, KC fills the shoes of freshly-divorced fashion entrepreneur Avery Chua, a woman who becomes the unknowing subject of a hare-brained matchmaking scheme by her ex-husband Mickey De Los Santos (Dante Basco). To escape his alimony scot-free, Mickey hatches a plan to have her wed the handsome bachelor Lee (Paolo Montalban) by feeding him swoon-worthy info to make her fall head over heels.
READ: KC Concepcion Did Each of Her Crying Scenes in One Take in “Asian Persuasion”
While the film’s quirky plot has the signature beats of a good old-fashioned rom-com, Asian Persuasion still comes with emotional moments of its own. Portraying the heavy topic of divorce and second chances disguised in a lighthearted setting, the movie peppers tearjerker moments, with many of them including KC’s character.
According to the Tony Award- and Grammy-winning producer and now-director Jhett Tolentino, KC stepped up to the plate during her tearful scenes. “KC, to me, was phenomenal, because all her crying scenes were just one take,” the director said during the film’s recent press con and premiere held at the Greenbelt 3 cinemas.
“She saved us a lot. Because doing those things is challenging, like to do the reset, to do the makeup and all that,” Jhett noted. “We just do it in the car. One look, it’s done. And then it was the same when she was having her wine [during one scene]. Done!”
The director noted KC’s previous accolades, including her Best Actress win at the 2014 FAMAS Awards for Boy Golden: Shoot to Kill, the Arturo Porcuna Story. Aside from KC, Jhett was all praise for the rest of the cast, which he dubs as “pedigree actors.”
“I always call them pedigree, because they made my job easier,” he said. Among the cast includes veteran Filipino-American actors like Dante Basco, who starred in 1991’s Hook with Robin Williams and voice-acted as Prince Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender and American Dragon: Jake Long; and Paolo Montalban, best known for playing Prince Christopher in the 1997 Cinderella adaptation.
With a mostly Filipino-American cast, screenwriter Mike Ang hoped to bring Filipino presence that lacked in American film. But despite that, the story continues to be universal.
“I had never really seen a lot of the kind of stories that were reflective of my life and my experience as a Fil-Am in the States,” Mike said. “You would see Asians in the movies, but they would always be overly exotic, or there would be superhero stuff.”
“I just wanted to write a very relatable movie that would have the heart of Filipino-ness in it, but it would be a New York City love story, but that would invite other cultures into a story that's relatable,” the screenwriter continued.
“This is really about elevating, or creating a narrative that people can relate to all across cultures, and representing our culture as Filipinos very strongly on the screen, and just having fun with it. Writing the movie was very cathartic for me.”
Asian Persuasion is now showing at Ayala Malls cinemas starting November 29.
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