Max carries torch for female Eigenmanns in showbiz
MAX EIGENMANN has achieved an actor’s feat for the coming Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival, scheduled in early August. She is the lead character in two of the 11 film entries in competition this year, something rare for this festival that took a pause for two years because of the global Covid-19 crisis.
In Kargo, directed by filmmaker-cinematographer T.M. Malones from a script of the late Joseph Israel Laban, Eigenmann releases all levels of complicated emotions to bring to the big screen the plight of a provincial lass who exacts revenge on the person who caused so much pain in her life.
“My character Sara believes that her husband and daughter were murdered, so she is bent to avenge this tragedy by searching for the assailant to be able to find closure. Along the way, she discovers something she did not quite expect that could change the course of her life forever,” Eigenmann lets us in on the movie shot in Maasin, Guimaras, Iloilo City and Antique.
Eigenmann, who won the best actress plum at the 2019 Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Brisbane, shared that she had to learn the Hiligaynon dialect for the movie. “I was given a dialect coach. Most of those who worked on this movie are Ilonggo and I love how hardworking everyone was, and how beautiful sounding their dialect is, and how sweet they were during the filming. I am also glad to be able to share screen time with my amazing coactors Jess Mendoza and Ronnie Lazaro. Oh, and I had to learn how to drive a cargo truck and a motorcycle, and the entire experience was just so amazing.”
Now almost in her mid-30s and a mother of two boys, Eigenmann also plays the lead character in the entry 12 Weeks, the debut feature of Anna Isabelle Matutina from her own screenplay.
The film is about a middle-aged lady who discovers that she was impregnated by a man she just ended a turbulent relationship with. “Most of her conflicts are internal so I, as an actor playing this very complex role, had to go very deep into her, get into the different spectrum of her emotions, and try to get to the core of her being, you know, what makes her think the way she does and what makes her want to consider terminating the pregnancy. It’s so humbling to be entrusted by new filmmakers to carry their first full feature film, and I’m so thankful they chose me to play the lead character,” she told us.
In the film, Eigenmann also gets the chance to act alongside her mother, the former model and beauty queen turned award-winning actress Bing Pimentel. “It’s such a joy working with mom. I have to admit nakaka-pressure before we shot some of our highlycharged mother-and-daughter scenes because my mom is just so focused and prepared, and such a professional who is always on point and in character on the set.”
During our conversation, Eigenmann let us in on her desire to continue the immense contributions of the female artists in their illustrious clan to the entertainment business. “Our grandma [Rosemarie Gil] is now retired and living a happy, quiet life with my granddad [Eddie Mesa], and my tita Cherie [Gil] is now based in New York. My sister Andi [Eigenmann] has chosen the quiet, domesticated lifestyle with her beautiful family, raising her kids in far away Siargao Island, and I’m the only one who is a full-time actress at this time. The male Eigenmanns are all very active—my brothers Timmy [Sid Lucero] and Gabby, and my tito Mike [Michael de Mesa] and cousins Ryan and Geoff. So I wish to continue carrying the torch of the female Eigenmanns in this business that I have learned to love so, so much.” n