How Dina chooses her projects
Say Dina Bonnevie, and you expect a lot: Great acting, eyes that speak volumes, flawless skin, among others.
The award-winning actress who moved us in Magdusa Ka and Tinik
sa Dibdib is the same person who sparkled with wit in the late ’90s celebrity talk show Ms. D.
But do you know that fate played a cruel trick on Dina years back? That flawless skin had discolorations. She gained unwanted weight, even if she went to the gym religiously.
“I had a bad case of asthma while shooting a project in Pampanga (which we all know is lahar country) years back,” she recalls.
The star of the upcoming actiondrama Across the Crescent Moon related how she behaved the minute she stepped into the set.
The doctor prescribed lots of steroids to control Dina’s asthma attacks. Dina gained weight. It didn’t help that she worked out at the gym while she was on steroids.
“I didn’t know working out is harmful when you’re taking steroids. It worsened my condition,” she recalls.
It took her years to flush out toxins in her body, and lose 15 pounds while weaning herself from steroids.
“My doctor prescribed medicine that inhibited the production of histamine in the blood. I had a very high amount of histamine in my blood,” explains Dina.
It kept Dina from getting allergic reactions from various sources ranging from toothpaste, chicken skin and shrimp.
“I didn’t even know I was allergic to them,” Dina sighs.
Thank goodness the medicines worked. Dina has since become less sensitive to allergens. She has removed allergycausing food in her diet, which now has more vegetables to ward off an asthma attack.
Dina admits she learned a lot from her bad experience.
“The doctor said I was too finicky. I used to be obsessed with hygiene. I’d spray the area with Lysol all the time. I also had an anti-mosquito spray.”
It was humbling for Dina, who learned to be more tolerant of natural elements in the air, and less wary of dirt. This has given her stronger immunity, not only against asthma, but other diseases as well.
When Dina met long-time media friends at the presscon of Across
the Crescent Moon, there was nary a trace of any kind of illness on her face and her flawless skin.
Now that she’s into various businesses Dina Bonnevie agreed to join the cast of Across the Crescent
Moon without even reading the script because she’s all for unity regardless of religious beliefs — shipping, manpower sourcing and export of Ilocos products like blankets and others — she doesn’t have to grab any movie or TV offer that comes along. She can choose to do only those she believes in. The devout Christian agreed to join the cast of Crescent Moon without even reading the script. Dina told writerdirector Baby Nebrida, “You’re the only one who can inject evangelization in the film.” As the mother of someone who marries a man from another religion — Islam — Dina’s character struggles with her own biases and pays the price for them. The character resonated with Dina because she’s all for unity regardless of religious beliefs. “The talent fee was lower (than those for commercial films) because this is an indie. But that’s okay. The movie has a socially-relevant message. It has an advocacy,” explains Dina. She’s also at home with Gabby Concepcion, who plays her husband in the film, which is now showing in cinemas nationwide. Remember, Gabby (along with the late Alfie Anido) was Dina’s co-star in her 1984 launching movie Katorse.