It might just be a split-second exposure or a featured extra stint but the mere presence of a Filipina in the box-office Marvel Studios’ project “Thor: Love and Thunder” could send a positive message anew of internationalism and multiculturalism among community of nations and the diversification of ethnicities in a field which is usually dominated by white people.
Eileen Dolina Novak, a first generation member of The New Minstrels—a popular Filipino singing group in the 1970s—got a fair share of screen appearances however fleeting in the company of Chris Hemsworth, Matt Damon, Natalie Portman, among others.
Eileen might not be recognizable as one of the members of the council of Thor but it’s worth the backdrop ensemble.
“I won’t be recognized as a Filipina because I was made up and looked so different. I also wore wigs and costumes,” informed Dolina Novak in an exclusive online interview Saturday afternoon. “Oh! I haven’t seen the movie. Our scene might still be edited out,” she candidly admitted.
According to Eileen, she shot her scenes for five days at Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia, her home city.
"I'm the only Filipino in the role" she quipped but she added that there were also a few Asian actors.
Asked if she ever had a chance to talk to any of the main stars like Hemsworth or Damon, Dolina Novak said it’s a no-no.
“There’s a protocol. You don’t just exactly approach and talk to them,” she informed. “No, hindi sila suplado (they’re not snobs),” she qualified.
These Hollywood actors, she described, were just confined to themselves—concentrated on their reel characters—on the set.
“Parang malayo lang ang tingin nila (They’re just like looking far and away),” she remarked.
“Puwede naman na hindi sinasadya like bigla ka lang magsalita sa kanila (It’s fine if you just say something unmindfully to them) and they would surely react,” Eileen chuckled.
Like when Matt passed by them extras, she recalled, he smiled at them naturally.
“Nagtanong siya sa AD—Assistant Director—kung saan ang toilet. ‘Yong AD naman, sinamahan siya. Naku, ‘yong AD, kilig na kilig. Sabi namin, ‘akala namin, sanay na sila sa mga Hollywood stars’ (He asked the AD where the toilet was. So, the AD, led him to the toilet. Oh! The AD was star struck. We told her ‘we thought you’re already at home with them’),” she giggled.
“Thor: Love and Thunder” was shot at the height of the pandemic and health protocols were observed all throughout the shoots.
“May PCR test kami. Lahat. May nurses (We had all precautions. There were nurses) on the set,” said Eileen.
Cellphones and other communication gadgets weren’t allowed in the set, though.
“We put them all together in a bag with IDs,” she recounted. “That’s why there were no photos taken during the making of ‘Thor’.”
At the moment, Dolina Novak has an agent who looks and books for her acting career.
Before she got to do TV shows for SBS Australia and broadcast ads, Eileen was offered to undergo acting workshops. “But I told my agent I didn’t want to be stressed out,” she shared as she was just enjoying every moment of her film, television and ad appearances.
Until a series of screen jobs knocked on her door. Still, she hasn’t done acting workshops, only instinctive role playing.
“Thor: Love and Thunder” came as a nice offer when Eileen has added screen acting to her show business portfolio since her illustrious international singing career with TNM.
Dolina Novak is soon reunited with her fellow multigenerational Minstrels when their virtual concert billed “Remix” is released online this September.
TNM has popularized the songs “Ikaw Ako Tayo Magkakapatid,” “Smile,” “I Don’t Love You Anymore” etc.