Andi Eigenmann to shoot film her late mom Jaclyn Jose was meant to do
It’s really difficult because it’s a void that cannot be filled,” said filmmaker Adolfo “Adolf” Alix Jr. as a message to Andi Eigenmann on how to deal with the loss of her mom, Jaclyn Jose, who died in March.
Adolf, whose first movie, “Donsol,” featured Jaclyn, still has two unfinished big-screen projects with the late Cannes best actress. Incidentally, Adolf’s own mom died in 2018. “I guess what we can do is honor them by moving on with our lives with the ways we were brought up, and make them proud along the way,” he told Inquirer Entertainment on Monday.
Jaclyn still had a few scenes in Adolf’s “Acetylene Love,” a story based on the notorious gang that ransacked pawnshops and banks in Luzon in 2014. It also features Rosanna Roces and Allen Dizon. “We just thought of making the film as some sort of tribute to Ms Jane (Jaclyn’s nickname). I asked Ms Osang (Rosanna’s nickname) to take over, since they have a similar vocal timbre, anyway. We will just make it a two-part film. I was still young when I noticed that ‘Curacha’ (starring Rosanna, released in 1998) is like a continuation of ‘Private Show’ (starring Jaclyn, 1984). I told Ms O, ‘It’s like you’re just looking in the mirror!’ We’re just waiting for Ms. O’s schedule to clear up because she’s taping a show for ABS-CBN,” Adolf reported.
Jaclyn only has very few unfinished scenes in another film, titled “Poon,” and so Adolf said he spoke with the late actress’ sister, Veronica Jones, to simply work on them. “Ms Jane had already shot all of her highlights. I told Ms Vero, ‘Since you’re the first sister to become an actress, why don’t you just finish the scenes?’ We’re just waiting for the other cast to free up their schedules because these are big scenes,” he said.
Adolf, who was close to Jaclyn, said he misses their late-night phone conversations. “When she wasn’t busy, she’d call me and we’d just talk about anything for two hours. Our topics would be about her work, the industry, her being a mom, or being a sibling. While working on my first film, ‘Donsol,’ she brought Andi, who was still very young then. I remember Andi’s curly hair,” said Adolf, also recalling a young Andi running by the beach and playing with half-sibling Sid Lucero, who was the movie’s lead actor.
“Ms Jane would always call Andi to say, ‘Adolf has a project for you now,’ probably as a way for her to tell her daughter to go back to acting. When Andi and I saw each other at her mom’s wake, we agreed that the film she was supposed to do with Ms Jane would just be with her brother Sid. Andi said she is open to doing it because she never really closed her doors to acting,” he pointed out. “Let’s just give her more time to deal with the loss of her mom. My mom died years ago, but I’m still grieving. I can only imagine how painful this is for Andi at the moment.”
Adolf said he and Jaclyn got tattoos with a similar design at the same time. “I had my mom’s eyes tattooed on my arm to remind me of her. Ms Jane had her son Gwen’s eyes,” he recalled.
Adolf also reported that Jaclyn was supposed to return to Cannes this year to attend the film festival and “reintroduce” herself. Former actress Evelyn Vargas, who is based there, was supposed to help Jaclyn schedule some meetings with foreign producers who had expressed interest in working with the late actress. “I guess it was really her time to go,” he said. INQ Director Adolfo “Adolf” Alix Jr. (right) and late actress Jaclyn Jose got their arm tattoos inked at the same time, also with similar design. —ADOLF ALIX JR./INSTAGRAM
