LOS ANGELES—Fil-Am actor Rodney To stars in “The American Mall,” the new MTV movie from the executive producers of “High School Musical.”
An actor who was inducted into the Filipino-American Hall of Fame in Chicago, Rodney is a founding member of the New York-based Mr. Miyagi’s Theatre Company. We met Rodney at the premiere party of the film adaptation of “Rent” in New York and he shared the news on “The American Mall.”
“The movie is similar to ‘High School Musical’ in that it is about the lives of young adults, but ‘The American Mall’ is intended to be ‘edgier’ because it deals with different, somewhat more complicated issues involving family, dating and friendships. It takes place in a mall, of course.
“The story centers on Ally (Nina Dobrev), who works at her family-owned music store,” Rodney related by e-mail. “She dreams of going to a music conservatory, but then faces the issue of whether her family is going to be able to afford it. She meets a janitor, Joey (Rob Mayes), who falls in love with her music and then her. The movie follows their relationship as they pursue their dreams of becoming musicians…”
Everyone’s ‘good friend’
Rodney, who played the title role in “The Romance of Magno Rubio” in a Chicago production and Joey Sands in “Dogeaters” in an LA staging, added, “I play the role of Ben, one of Ally’s best friends. Ben is sort of a nebbish guy who would love to have a more fortuitous dating life but he just doesn’t have it in him. He’s everyone’s ‘good friend.’ What drew me to the role was that Ben is this sweet guy who always trips over himself which, personally, I found endearing. We all have a little bit of that inside of us.”
My wife Janet, who covered the premiere and after-party of “The American Mall” last Monday evening at the Arclight in Hollywood, quipped, “It is Rodney’s first major movie and he is crossing his fingers that it was worth the effort of dropping his pants and showing his underwear.”
Janet said of Rodney’s performance as the manager of a hotdog stand in a mall: “As the ‘weiner boy,’ Rodney is ‘one of the friends’ but he has a lot of scene-stealing scenes in the movie. Watch Rodney doing the ‘weiner dog’ dance.”
In our e-mail Q&A Rodney told me that filming this dance was one of his most amusing experiences on the set. He wrote, “There were so many hilarious moments to recount, but I did have to dance around in a 10-pound hot dog outfit for over eight hours in one particular shoot day. It wasn’t just dancing, but break dancing and then the director wanted me to tumble or do some sort of ‘trick’ in that outfit. That was pretty intense and ridiculous, but in retrospect, a great story — dancing in a hot dog outfit on film! How often can one say they’ve done that?!”
Rodney also related, “For about three weeks, we rehearsed for over eight hours a day in Salt Lake City, Utah, where we shot the movie. We danced almost that whole time. So our bodies were pretty much in tip-top shape. I knew there was going to be a scene that took place at a ‘fake beach’ which required me to wear swim trunks. I was kind of feeling good about my body and probably a little excited about showing off the fruits of my eight-hours-a-day-dancing labor.
“Well, when the day came to shoot the actual number, the director saw that I was too much in a better shape than my sweet, innocent role character demanded. So the director quickly decided to keep me buried in sand. I filmed for about half the day while buried in the sand. There went all that hard work on my body.”
Rodney, who used to live in New York but now divides his time between there and LA, recounted how he landed the role: “Last year, there was a nationwide search to find ‘fresh’ faces/actors to cast in this new movie from the ‘High School Musical’ creators. I did my initial audition in front of casting folks last September. After a callback (second audition), and a final grueling dancing/singing audition in front of the creative team and producers, I got ‘the call.’
“From the initial audition to the offer, about two months had passed, which was nerve-wracking as you can imagine. When this amount of time passes without any word, it is usually a bad sign, but this time around, my patience paid off! Lucky for me.”
Not race specific
When we asked if his character was race specific, Rodney answered, “I’m happy to say that Ben was never written specifically for an Asian actor (not that writing specifically for Filipino or ethnic actors is bad at all). In fact, none of the roles in the movie required actors of specific ethnic groups. So it made it an even sweeter project — that casting really focused on our abilities as actors and what we brought to the characters emotionally and not on what accents we have listed under ‘special skills’ on our resumés.”
He continued, “In fact, when we sat with the producers for the first time as a cast member, they were very gracious and said that after months of nationwide search, they found the best folks for the job. Whether that’s true or not, hearing that made me well up with emotion. I’ve been working as an actor for a while now and I am all too familiar with how much one’s ethnic background and appearance play a role in casting. For better or for worse, it’s simply the nature of the beast.
“So I applaud Bill Borden, Terry Spazek, Arata Matsushima, Barry Rosenbush and the director, Shawn Ku, for being so open and willing to take chances. It’s not often that people of color get wide-open, equal opportunities like this. So when we do, we have to take full advantage of the opportunity and work hard. I’m very aware that this is a great chance and I know I can speak for the cast in saying that we are all humbled to be a part of it.”
Rodney, a graduate of Marquette University in Wisconsin, revealed that he and his “Mall” cast mates have become such close friends that he celebrated his birthday last July 21 with them.
Did he ever work at a mall or in a hot dog stand when he was in high school? “No,” he replied. “But my first job was at McDonald’s. I was 15. I remember I was so small-framed that size 26-inch waist pants were still too big for me. So on my first day at work, I took out one of my shoelaces and used that as a makeshift belt so my pants wouldn’t fall down.”
About his family, he said, “My parents, Jean and Paul To, are divorced (since I was 1 year old). My dad went back to the Philippines. My lola is Betty Gestoso. She’s awesome. I hope you can meet her one day! She’s hilarious!”
Extended family
He continued, “My family on my mom’s side is from Davao (I’m not really familiar with my dad’s side). I have a huge, wonderful extended family and they have all migrated to the States (mostly in Chicago) but my lola (who just turned 95!) went back to Davao so she wouldn’t have to bear the harsh winter in Chicago. God willing, she’ll return soon. She has been incredibly proud and supportive and that has meant the world to me.
“My mom lives in Chicago. She has been such a huge support as well. It took her a while to get used to telling people that I was an actor, simply because no one in our family has ever done such an insane thing. But now, she’s excited and very proud. I’m thrilled that my family gets to experience a red carpet premiere in Chicago. MTV and Sears are holding a premiere in Chicago for the movie.”
“Mall” premieres on MTV on Aug. 11, with the DVD and CD soundtrack to be released the following day, Aug. 12.
Next on Rodney’s plate — and there is no typo error in this title, folks: “DaZe: Vol. Too (sic) - NonSeNse.” With a title like that, it can only be a “quirky movie,” said Rodney. “It’s going to be a wild ride.”
“‘DaZe’ stars Gary Busey, who appeared with many Filipino actors in “A Dangerous Life,” HBO’s acclaimed miniseries that dramatized the 1986 People Power Revolution in the Philippines. “My scenes were with Gary,” Rodney said. “I heard that he has a reputation for being unrestrained or intense but he was very nice to me, I must say. The movie is about a somewhat dejected salesman who is in his twilight years but continues to pitch ideas in order to sustain himself. It follows his life and the lives of a couple of others as they share somewhat sad lives. I play my own twin! That was a challenge but it was so much fun!”
E-mail Ruben V. Nepales at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com and read his blog, “The Nepales Report,” on http://blogs.inquirer.net/nepalesreport.
