Lola Is a Marvel
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Mary Egida RIvera play Ned Leeds’ lola in Spider-man: No Way Home (Source: Sony Pictures)
A month ago, social media sites in Iloilo city, from those of local newspapers and the city’s tourism office, to that of the University of San Agustin were agog over a crucial scene in Spider-man: No Way Home, which featured an elderly Filipina, who, it turns out, is as Ilongga as La Paz batchoy.
The dialogue was so unexpected, with a comic twist, that people in the audience who understood Tagalog broke out in cheers. And it had NO subtitles—another actor translated the lines. No major Hollywood studio has ever featured Tagalog, so this was unprecedented.
When I saw her name, Mary Egida Rivera, it rang a bell. Iloilo media sources pointed out that she was from La Paz, and studied at San Agustin. Though I was just in the grades when she was in college, I remembered the name because she was a popular campus personality, having won in singing competitions and also being with the famed university cultural arts troupe, Kawilihan-USA.
On a hunch, I went off to the university library to look for old yearbooks—and found her high school and college graduation photos. Her contemporaries at the University, some of who were my High school teachers, describe her as being talented, a winner in vocal solo contests, cheerleader, dance troupe and the drama club member, and active in student organizations.
Mary from her high school annual (1960)
In February, Mary was interviewed by DJ Gabby Ginger, on Star-FM Baguio. I looked up the video on YouTube. Mary speaks Tagalog in a melodious Ilonggo lilt. The text below is transcribed from the interview.
[Here’s the YouTube interview:
DJ Gabby Ginger: What’s the story and how did you come to be in the film?
“Well, I use Facebook for connecting with family, and one day my daughter posted, ‘Mom’s destiny is to be a star.’ It turns out Disney was looking for Filipina actresses between the ages of 50-90, and my daughter encouraged me to try out for the role, saying, ‘I know you, Mom, this is something you could do, and even if you don’t get the role it will look good on your resume.’
So, with a grand-daughter helping and filming, Mary sent in a short video, introducing herself and why she was interested to audition – saying that she wanted her grandchildren to be proud of their beginnings, and quoted a line from “The Grapes of Wrath”: “How will you know where you are going unless you know where you came from?”
She sent it in, thought no more of it, but sometime later, the casting team got in touch.
“They gave me a script to read, which had a dialogue with another person; there were instructions on how to do a video. My granddaughter’s boyfriend volunteered to do the dialogues with me…after many attempts, because I kept forgetting my lines, we finally sent it in a few days before the deadline. My grandchildren were very excited, but I did not know much about MCU, I thought that I would be voicing for a character in a Disney cartoon!”
It was quite a surprise then, days later, when she was asked to call a number; this was the casting director for the film who told her – “Mary, you can celebrate…you were the choice of the producer and the director-- they were very impressed… we are looking for someone to play a good natured but strict grandma who is a stickler for cleanliness…
“The family was overjoyed; they were jumping up and down with glee, but my reaction was, “Lord, what have I done to deserve this?” I prayed, “if I can contribute something to bring some pride to the Philippines, I want to do it, but please guide me so I can do justice to the role…”
Several days later, Mary was given more instructions: she and a chaperone (she chose her granddaughter, “as she’s good with mobile phones and technology”) were to be picked up by a chauffeured limousine, and flown to the studios for the shoot. Mary learned that thousands of women of Filipino descent auditioned for the role, in San Diego, LA, and Hawaii, including well-known Philippine actresses, whom she once watched in films.
How was that like?
“Never in my wildest dreams… I was overwhelmed. I never was in a movie before…these are God’s blessings for me. It was the first time for me to fly first class and treated like VIPs, we were booked into large hotel suites; toured around to the studio sets, which looked like several large warehouses. The set where the scene was to be done was large—it was to be my kitchen in the film.”
“Recently, social media in Iloilo went crazy over a crucial scene in Spider-man: No Way Home, which featured an elderly Filipina, who, it turns out, is as Ilongga as La Paz batchoy.”
On shooting day, she met with the guy who plays Ned, Spider-man’s best friend, Jacob Batalon, and MJ, (Spider-man/Peter Parker’s girlfriend) played by Zendaya. Jacob is Hawaiian-born to Filipino parents; this is Jacob’s third film in the series since 2017, and he also has cameo appearances in two of the recent Avengers films. Mary plays his grandmother in the film.
During the shoot, the director asked her to speak in Filipino, saying, “Show them you are angry.” “So, I started scolding them: “Kayo! Ba’t kayo nagkakalat dito? (You! Why are you messing up my kitchen?).” The director asked for another take, saying, “Show more force.” Her grandchild told her: “Granny, you know what you should do? Scold him like you are scolding Daddy…” She nailed the take.
Mary comes from a large family of 11 children and grew up in La Paz district (the home of “Lapaz batchoy”). Her mother was a merchant in the public market. Mary recalled how she always loved to perform – singing, dancing, making up stories, gathering the kids in the market, performing for the other vendors, and they would be given food and other treats.
In high school and college, she attended the University of San Agustin, where she was with the Kawilihan - USA troupe, performing roles in West Side Story, dancing tribal dances as well as Spanish jotas. “It was a good time… and this helped as being with the troupe meant a partial scholarship.” She graduated in 1964 with a degree in Education, majoring in English and History.
Mary after graduating from college (1964) from the University of San Agustin.
After college, Mary worked with a radio station of the Kanlaon Broadcasting System (KBS) and became one of the youngest station managers, and the only female.
On what happened after the film hit the big screen: “People sent me messages, saying ‘Thank you for bringing pride to the Philippines,’ ‘You were hilarious!,’ ‘Awesome,’ ‘You were quite a character,’ ‘Amazing,’ and I ask myself, “Who are these people? I do not know them.”
Asked for words of advice and messages, Mary replied: “The youth should spend time also with their grandparents and parents, even if they place them in nursing homes – care for them, once a week visit for a couple of hours, hold their hands, listen to their stories, let them cry to you… let them repeat themselves over and over again…over the years, as you listen to older people, you learn so much!”
She was last in the Philippines in early 2020 before COVID hit. She divides her time between Calamba, where her husband is from, and Iloilo. She jokingly described him as a “country mouse” while “I am a city girl.” They have a mission – to share their advocacy for the gospel with the Ati (Negrito) tribes in the hinterlands of Iloilo. “My husband is a pastor…and he will usually end his talks with a reflection: Life is short, death is sure….so, aspire to inspire before you expire, use our lives to make a difference in the lives of others…”
Throughout the interview, Mary’s humility, simplicity and strong Christian faith comes through. “I don’t consider myself a celebrity – just one of those God blessed to be in this movie ….I wake up every day thankful for all the blessings …” Her interview is peppered with Biblical, self-help and inspirational quotes.
With their roles, Mary and Jacob make all Filipinos doubly proud. With the film’s revelation that Ned possesses superpowers too, it may not be too farfetched to imagine that future MCU movies might have an aswang, tikbalang, kapre, santelmo, or manananggal (folk supernatural beings) waiting in the wings!
Mary’s scene from Spider-Man: No Way Home (Warning: Spoilers)
Dr. Vicente Salas is a retired public health specialist who has worked for the UN and International NGOs in over 15 countries. He is now back in his native iloilo, after being away for 35 of the last 38 years.
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