Up Close with the Stars
/Book Review
Through A Writer’s Lens by Ruben V. Nepales
Queen-B Multi-media Productions, 2020
Ruben V. Nepales and his new book Through a Writer’s Lens (Photo by Janet Nepales)
1. Don’t drop it on your foot. It’s a hefty book by any standard: 6 pounds 9 ounces (just like many newborns), 12 x 14 inches, 254 pages of heavy book paper. On your coffee table, it will dominate other coffee table books that you may have, not just for its size, but also for its famous faces on the cover. It’s a perfect conversation stimulator.
2. Don’t pre-judge the book as just another celebrity photo collection. The pictures are different and refreshing: movie celebrities coming across as regular, accessible people sans the mask of make-up and manipulative lighting. Imagine Ruben just clicking away with his not-exactly professional grade Canon Rebel T7i while doing face-to-face, one-on-one (or in some cases two-on-one) interviews.
Ruben calls Through A Writer’s Lens his “pandemic baby” because he was only able to work on this book during lockdown in LA, after a three-year-long prodding by publisher Bessie Badilla. A long-time close friend of Nepales and his wife, journalist and co-equal partner, Janet, Bessie wanted a coffee table book “that would be a delight to the eyes of anyone who sees it.”
Bessie Badilla, Janet Nepales and Ruben V. Nepales at the 2016 Ten Outstanding Filipino Americans (TOFA) reception in the residence of Loida Nicolas Lewis. (Photo by RJ Ensalada)
The germ of the idea started when Nepales interviewed Sarah Jessica Parker and featured the photo he took of her. “I’ve never seen her look so good,” Bessie told Ruben. That sparked her interest in putting together all of Ruben’s mostly candid shots of the celebrities he has interviewed through his more than two decades of being a Hollywood reporter writing a regular column called “Only IN Hollywood” first in the Philippine Daily Inquirer and now in Rappler.
“It was always Ruben’s photos of the celebrities that caught my attention before reading his columns,” Bessie explains. “His photos made me curious and made me want to find out more about people he interviewed. It was a ‘come-on’ to get to know the stars. His photos helped me imagine and visualize what the person was like while reading his articles.”
Despite Bessie’s “un-refusable” offer to publish the book herself, Ruben couldn’t find the time to sift through his already burgeoning trove of celebrity photos while continuing his work for his columns, his involvement in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA, the purveyor of the Golden Globe Awards and one of the most generous philanthropic organization in Hollywood; Ruben served as chair of its board in 2012 and now serves as its executive secretary) and just the grind of negotiating the famously horrendous LA traffic.
And then the pandemic struck, and his hectic schedule ground to a halt. Holed up in their LA condo, Ruben and Janet were able to embark on the tedious task of sifting through all the celebrity photos he had taken from 2009 (because that was when he started archiving the photos in digital format) to the present, and digging up his interviews to get the best quotes from each celebrity.
Bessie, on her part, was stuck in Manila during lockdown and had all the time to work on the book, not just as publisher, but also as art director and layout artist. (Bessie, it should be noted, is one of those super-achievers who never stops re-inventing herself: she was a supermodel for Balenciaga in Paris; mother of two daughters; Carnival Queen in Sao Paolo, Brazil; philanthropist; actress; singer; film producer; photographer; social media influencer; and an in-demand cover girl for fashion magazines, among others.) To learn how to do layouts, Bessie crammed with Adobe IN Design for two weeks, studying the program until dawn to be able to reach a level of confidence that allowed her to take on the challenge.
The result is this 256-page book that features more than a thousand photos of 241 celebrities and took a record four months to finish. During those four months, Ruben and Bessie exchanged more than 7,000 emails and managed to work so seamlessly with just two Facetimes between them. “Working with Bessie via long distance was one of the most enjoyable, pleasant collaborations I’ve ever experienced,” Ruben now says.
Feast for the Eyes
Through A Writer’s Lens is every celebrity junkie’s dream book. Each featured star has either a full-page, 12 x 14 close-up or several frames showing them in various stages of animation, laughter or pensiveness. Each one is revealing in its candidness and accessibility. Stripped of the trappings of stage-managed photoshoots, they come across as “everyday people” (Bessie’s term) and, IMHO, appearing more beautiful in the process.
Indeed, Bessie’s original concept for the book is faithfully executed: “I wanted to ‘humanize’ them, make them look more accessible and less of a celebrity. I wanted to highlight the other side of celebrity, their real side only lucky people like Ruben get to see and experience.” Ruben echoes the intent: “I’d like readers to see the ‘human-ness,’ the humor, compassion and empathy of these human beings, often seen as larger than life.”
Ruben sent direct quotes from each interview to Bessie for her to choose from; these became the proverbial icing. Again, in making her choices, Bessie adhered to the book’s goal. “I chose quotes that made each star just like us, like normal everyday people.”
Thus, we see Johnny Depp, with uncombed hair and glasses, looking happy and un-menacing while talking about how he has always been an outsider.
George Clooney, captured relaxed, describing his scrappy beginnings cutting tobacco for a $3.33/hour wage and not being able to see a dentist for 10 years because he didn’t have insurance.
There’s Keira Knightly revealing that she doesn’t do nude scenes but insists on choosing her body double; Benedict Cumberbatch admitting his being “incredibly lazy”; Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda sharing a spread and talking about their long-running friendship; Michael B. Jordan talking about the burden of having the same name as the basketball superstar; Mark Wahlberg telling the story of how he was mobbed by Filipinas in Hong Kong because he knew Manny Pacquiao; Robert Redford graciously showing his wrinkled face while talking about not being told he was handsome when he was young; Eddie Redmayne recalling his first meeting with the genius Stephen Hawking (whom he played in “The Theory of Everything”) and making a major faux pas.
Among the memorable pictures: Sophia Loren, resplendent in her seniorhood; Raquel Welch, Ruben’s adolescent-years crush, appearing not having aged at all; Judy Dench, laughing animatedly and talking about how she got a tattoo at 80 years old (unfortunately no picture of the tattoo, one of the very minor failings of this book); Ian McKellen, Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Walken, Quentin Tarantino who talks about collecting Cirio H. Santiago movies; Jack Black stripping to his undershorts; Lily Collins affectionately recalling the first time she watched her father Phil Collins in concert; Keanu Reeves being Keanu Reeves (naturally gorgeous).
Ruben names his favorites: Meryl Streep, “so spontaneous, playful and down-to-earth” (captured in 11 frames, the most for any featured star); Angelina Jolie “has that smoldering movie star presence and yet, like Meryl, she is approachable”; the late Carrie Fisher “was so naughty, crazy and fun.” Of the late Robin Williams, the author is effusive: “He was always hyper ‘on’ at interviews that it was like being treated to a private one-man show. He was hysterically funny with his anecdotes – he himself sometimes cried from laughing so hard over his humorous quips. Imagine having a camera and being in the front row for that.”
Nepales and Meryl Streep (Photos courtesy of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association)
Filipino Americans are included in full force, of course: Darren Criss, Lea Salonga, Hailee Steinfeld, Nicole Scherzinger, Jonjon Briones, Isa Briones, Dave Bautista, Robert Lopez with his wife and collaborator, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Matthew Libatique, Lav Diaz, Ramona Diaz, Ronnie Del Carmen, Paul Abadilla, Gini Cruz Santos, Dante Basco, Ella Jay Basco, Nico Santos, Reggie Lee and Vincent Rodriguez III.
Behind these celebrity revelations in pictures and words, this book spotlights what is obvious – Ruben is a superb interviewer with that most sought after skill: the ability to make his subjects feel relaxed and safe in his presence, the better to draw out their real selves. That he is also able to capture such animatedness in his pictures likewise speaks of his photographic skills.
Nepales and Darren Criss
Through A Writer’s Lens by virtue of its format is not a mass-market book, especially in this pandemic year. But it is a treasure and a keeper. For those who can spare the money, it is definitely a legacy purchase. Like a Chanel purse, it can be handed down to the next generation but at a much lower cost.
To order a copy, PM at: http://www.facebook.com/throughawriterslens
