September 21, 2024 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — When the pandemic happened, Fil-Am songwriter Rutherine Umali, who used to create music, produce, and perform in the entertainment industry, had to recalibrate and re-evaluate life itself.
Rutherine, who was born in the Philippines, left for abroad in 1996. Although acting is one of the things Rutherine wanted to do in life for a long time now, she thought it was about time to pursue it. Fortunately, she got involved in the film, “Boneyard,” because she happened to be friends with the producers themselves.
“The main producers and I were working on funding on a different project (which is still pending),” shared Rutherine. “Meanwhile, as they were working on ‘Boneyard,’ one of the stunt associates (and also executive producer on some of the film projects) called me to be one of the prostitutes who would die. I said sure!”
Rutherine didn’t have to audition for her role in “Boneyard,” which topbills award-winning actor-director Mel Gibson, with Bangladeshi filmmaker Asif Akbar at the helm.
The film tells about the tragic awareness of the West Mesa murders case and countless other victims without voices.
“I like how the director puts us in the mood before calling for action and gave us clear instructions on how he wants his film to look like,” described Rutherine about her megman.
“I liked how they would feed us breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in between. We were just too spoiled. We didn’t really do much when it came to backgrounds other than being a spectator of the wonderful things being done on the set.”
Rutherine didn’t get to meet the star of the film, Mel Gibson. Neither did she meet rapper-actor 50 Cent (Curtis James Jackson III), while doing her role in “Boneyard.”
However, Rutherine met the other actors in the cast such as Tom Sizemore, Neal McDonough, Bai Ling, Philip Tan and Arnold Chon. “They were not A-list actors, but they are great performers,” she said.
Rutherine moved to Libya first, then Italy then Las Vegas in the US. “My mom, dad, two brothers and a sister, we moved to the US from Italy for better opportunities. My dad’s an American citizen. We were his dependents back then. So, we just went where the flow was.”
When Rutherine’s family got to the US, her father died right away in a car accident. “So, I had to force myself to become independent at a young age,” she said. “My mom, at that time, lived in the Philippines and she was the dean of nursing at Emilio Aguinaldo College.”
Rutherine still speaks Tagalog 100 percent. She still associates with her Filipino friends, Filipino communities and Filipino churches in the US. “I perform in Filipino concerts, too,” Rutherine said. “I’m in love with the Filipinos for sure. The culture I take is neither Filipino nor American.”
Aside from singing and acting, Rutherine likes to tap into producing movies on a major scale.
“My family comes from the medical field,” she asserted. “They were probably frustrated that I chose show business when I was young and growing up. It wasn’t encouraged but it wasn’t put down.
“Show business is not something anyone could rely on, they say. Now that I’m grown up, they don’t really care what I do in life. They’re just happy that I’m doing something productive.
“I get pure satisfaction each and every time I act and do it well,” Rutherine added. “I also feel that way when I perform onstage. I don’t have acting idols. But my music influences are Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez. Among Filipino artists, I also like Donna Cruz.”
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