Why Pepe Herrera wishes to work with Michelle Yeoh

Pepe Herrera said he would love to work with Academy Award best actress Michelle Yeoh in a future project,” because we’re trying to aim for the top.”Pepe, who plays the lead in Jose Javier “Joey” Reyes’ horror-comedy “Bantay-Bahay,” said he would love to work with the production team of “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” with Michelle as one of the stars, because “that’s the best film for me for now. That’s my ultimate dream now.”

He said he also wished he’d have a chance to work with the late comedy king Dolphy, whom he idolized, too. “I grew up watching ‘Home Along da Riles’ and I’m a fan of local sitcoms,” he told reporters during the media gathering organized by Regal Entertainment to promote the movie, which starts screening in theaters nationwide on May 1.

“If only we could resurrect him. I would love to work with any actor who is passionate with what he does. I’ve also worked with his son, Epy Quizon, in ‘Princess DayaReese.’ I’ve not had the chance to work with Empoy (Marquez), too, and that would be interesting,’” said Pepe. “What I would also like to do is a comedy film with all the other local comedians, much like ‘The Expendables’ that features all the great action stars in Hollywood.”

Pepe said it would be great to work on the said comedy film with fellow comedians, Empoy, Jelson Bay, Jerold Napoles, Bayani Agbayani, Ryan Bang and Long Mejia. “That would be iconic, if ever,” he said, adding that he would also recommend one of his closest friends, Marius Talampas (“Ang Pangarap Kong Holdap”), to direct his dream project.

Great curiosity

The actor, however, said he never dreamed of replacing the comedy king. “I want to be identified, not necessarily as a king, but someone who is good with what he does, be it in comedy or drama. I can’t think of any particular Dolphy movie that I want to remake, but there’s one film that he was able to prove that he wasn’t just a comedy actor. This was the one with Niño Muhlach,” said Pepe of the film “Ang Tatay Kong Nanay.”The 37-year-old said he would also like to do the biopic film of Pepe Smith, frontman of the iconic Pinoy rock group Juan dela Cruz. “My entire family idolizes him and the band. I’ve long wanted to make a biopic, or a tribute to a performing artist. I also have this great curiosity on the life of Pepe Smith, who is my namesake. I’m actually named not after him, but after the late senator Pepe Diokno. My father, who used to be an activist, once had Sen. Diokno as one of his lawyers when he was jailed,” Pepe recalled.

Meanwhile, Pepe said he was grateful to director Joey, who even became a good friend while working on the film, because “I can say without bias that he had the best system in filmmaking that I’ve experienced so far. We would start at 10 a.m. and end at 10 p.m., sometimes, even earlier. His system has been the smoothest. Preprod is the key—this was his foundation. With how we did this movie, I can say that it’s doable.”

A family

To this, Joey said: “It’s also because I worked with good and intelligent actors,” referring not only to Pepe, but also with costars Melizza Jimenez, Johannes Rissler and Karl Gabriel.

“We all got close because it was just us doing the movie. I thank Pepe for the kind words, but this system is something I’ve learned from the late Peque Gallaga—his being organized, the division of labor, selection of people, the timetable, and time traffic. I was able to develop my own system and modify it through the years. Also, the people I work with have been with me for the past 15 to 18 years. We’re no longer a company, but a family. Besides, I value my sleep. Lack of sleep is bad for the skin,” the director quipped.

“Bantay-Bahay,” which Joey wrote with Pepe in mind, also features Rolando Inocencio and Casie Banks. INQ