Philippines actor Bea Alonzo will play a “she-devil” female lead in upcoming Filipino-Hollywood feature “Angel Warrior” by Inspire Studios. Principle photography will commence in mid-2022 and the film is slated for a U.S. and worldwide release in late 2022, Variety has learned.
Based on a fact-based WWII story, “Angel Warrior” will be produced by Inspire Studios’ founder and CEO Francis Lara Ho and executive produced by John Shepherd (“The Stoning of Soraya M.”) and Manny Pacquiao, the renowned Filipino boxing champion, politician and media personality. The screenplay is penned by Cyrus Nowrasteh (“The Stoning of Soraya M.”).
A previous recipient of the Asian Stars: Up Next prize from the International Film Festival & Awards Macao and Variety, Alonzo will portray Tala, a pre-war era Filipina whose near-death experience transforms her into an underground fighter aiding the poorly-equipped Filipino and American guerillas on the island of Panay that was part of the country’s resistance movement against the Japanese occupation during WWII.
Alonzo was born to a British father in the Philippines and a Filipina mother in the Philippines. She has more than two dozen box office hits as well as primetime soap opera titles. Her showbiz career began in 2002 as an actor and a host of the long-running musical variety show “ASAP” with ABS-CBN, one of the largest entertainment groups in the country.
Alonzo made her screen debut in 2003 with “My First Romance.” Her 2015 film “A Second Chance” became the highest-grossing Filipino film of all time. She also bagged the best actress award at the 34th Luna Awards for her role in “The Love Affair,” also released in 2015.
The new project will be shown at an event in Los Angeles, as part of the Filipino American History Month. This event will celebrate Filipino culture and the history behind the immigration of Filipinos to the U.S.