Vin Diesel, Sarah Jessica Parker woo Filipino fans, promise to be back

Two of Hollywood biggest stars have taken a liking to Manila and their adulating Filipino fans so much that they want to come back to the Philippines soon.
 
Fast and Furious 6’ star Vin Diesel, whose twin brother Paul is married to a Filipina, even urged his fans in Manila on Thursday to lobby for the shooting in the Philippines for any of the future instalments of his blockbuster series on underground street racing, where he plays the lead character Dom Toretto. 
 
“When I go home, I want to hear about it,” the 45-year-old action star said during his movie’s red-carpet premiere on Wednesday night at the Mall of Asia Music Hall, stressing that Filipinos may do their campaign through social media. “I want the studio to come to me and say that the request to go to the Philippines is so strong…”
 
On Thursday, the fashion icon and lead character in ‘Sex and the City’ Sarah Jessica Parker graced the opening of SM Aura Premiere, a high-end shopping mall in Metro Manila’s Taguig City and owned by tycoon Henry Sy, owner of the retail chain Shoe Mart.
 
Parker, a fashionista who plays the New York newspaper columnist Carrie Bradshaw in the TV drama series as well as its movie-series adaptation, was just as charmed with Manila during her first visit to the country as her fans were by her fictional character.
 
Diesel, who spent three days in Manila from Tuesday, said Universal Pictures, producer of the highly successful franchise may do three or more sequels of ‘Fast and Furious’, whose latest instalment was shot in key cities in Spain, Japan and Britain.
 
“All the locations in the saga have come from someone’s suggestions,” he said, as quoted by the ‘Philippine Daily Inquirer’. “All started with somebody requesting that the saga go to their home country. I guess what I’m saying is that [you should do something] if you want the saga to come to your homeland.”

Should Filipinos take on Diesel’s challenge, they could once again experience watching the sights and sounds of Manila and other parts of the Philippines on screen as they did in ‘Bourne Legacy’, a 2012 movie starring Jeremy Renner, who also top-billed the war film ‘The Hurt Locker’.
 
The 48-year-old Parker, who looked stunning in a sleek, sheer black dress, vowed to come back to the Philippines, as she found Manila “exciting and interesting,” including its horrendous traffic.
 
“I’ve heard about the beautiful beaches, but I love the city, too,” Parker, who is married to actor Matthew Broderick, with whom she has three children, said, as quoted by the ‘Philippine Daily Inquirer’. “Maybe you don’t see how interesting it is because you’re always here, but I think it’s exciting. “I don’t mind the heat because New York is hot too, though we cannot compete with this.”
 
She said that having been identified with the popular character she plays in ‘Sex and the City’ is like “living two lives”, as she’s not as bold as Bradshaw. “She throws all ideas to the wind when it comes to fashion,” she stressed. “It would be foolish to say that the lines have been blurred between me and her.”

Diesel and costars Michelle Rodriguez, Luke Evans and Gina Carano arrived in the Philippines on Tuesday morning for the Manila leg of their film’s world tour that included stops in London, Beijing, Seoul and Mexico’s Cabo San Lucas. Manila was the last stop for their campaign for the movie, which opens in Philippine theatres on May 24.
 
In a black long-sleeved dress, Rodriguez signed autographs during the premiere night together with Carano, who was wearing a backless evening gown, while Evans sang some lines of the Filipino classic ‘Kailangan Kita’ (I Need You). Evans played Chris in the Manila production of the world-famous musical ‘Miss Saigon’ about 10 years ago.
 
Revealing that he has always wanted to come to the Philippines “my whole life”, Diesel said: “I have to say I wouldn’t trade this trip to the Philippines for anything. The people here are so wonderful and they don’t even realise it… They have this kind of warm and welcoming energy that you don’t see everywhere.”
 
He thanked Filipino world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao for signing boxing gloves for him and is costars, as he also noticed the warmth of other Filipinos, who always gave them a welcoming smile wherever they went.
 
Diesel had been spotted in various locations around Metro Manila, signing autographs and interacting with fans at the Glorietta Mall, in Makati City; strolling along Bonifacio High Street, in Taguig City; and even riding a jeepney, the popular mass transportation being used by majority of the Filipinos.
 
“I loved riding the jeepney,” he said. “Those are the coolest buses I’ve ever seen. You have to understand that I grew up riding public transportation. I grew up with New York City subways. Coming from a dirty subway to a jeepney in a tropical island is a big upgrade.”

 

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