Dennis Trillo and Solenn Heussaff are only two of 10 big stars acting in ‘Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow.’

Just a thought: Christmas will always be as long as we stand heart to heart and hand in hand. – Dr. Seuss

MANILA, Philippines — What am I doing here?: Thrown into a cast composed of veteran actors who have stayed the longest in the industry and have reaped numerous awards in their lifetime, upstart star Solenn Heussaff wondered aloud, “What am I doing here?”

Her opinion was shared by newcomer Eula Caballero, winner of TV5’s “Star Factor” reality talent search. Solenn and Eula form part of a giant cast made up of 10 big stars who headline “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow.” The movie is one of two Regal films competing in the forthcoming Metro Manila Film Festival.

At the movie’s media launch Dec. 6 in Quezon City, Filipino-French mestiza Solenn said she was in disbelief she had been cast in the film. She admitted to having only limited knowledge about acting and Filipino, but look at her now, doing a tagisan ng acting with Maricel Soriano, Gabby Concepcion, Dennis Trillo, Jericho Rosales, et al.

For her part, Eula, the champion Cebuana, said she couldn’t get any more lucky. After having trained under Nora Aunor in “Sa Ngalan ng Ina,” she receives further training in acting from Maricel Soriano, who plays her mother in the movie written and directed by Jun Lana.

Solenn and Eula’s dwarfism complex as actors stems from having to share scenes with, aside from the aforementioned big stars, the likes of Ronaldo Valdez, Lovi Poe, Agot Isidro in the biggest family drama come festival season.

Jericho and Dennis: It’s unfortunate that Jericho Rosales and Dennis Trillo, who come from opposing TV channels, don’t share too many scenes in “Yesterday.” The two are known for being passionate actors and watching them in common scenes would have been a great treat to followers of Filipino melodramas.

Jericho and Dennis play it out in different episodes of the movie, although the episodes, according to director Lana, are neatly tied together by a common thread.

Dennis seems to have a more demanding role. He starts out as a macho dancer, later transformed as a private lover to the character played by Agot Isidro, who has a daughter, played by Solenn. Solenn herself becomes Jericho’s love partner.

Agot says she did a few sensitive scenes (meaning love scenes) with Dennis in the film shot after she parted ways with her real-life husband, off camera, of course.

Star News: Cebu is the next stop of GMA-7’s Kapuso Christmas concert series today, Dec. 10.

The Christmas concert series had earlier brought joy to Iloilo on Nov. 5, Naga on Nov. 13, and Davao on Dec. 2.

Its final destination will be Dagupan City in Pangasinan where a show will be mounted on Dec. 17 at the CSI City Mall.

Today, the concert series “Jammin’ sa KapuSONG Pasko” will be held at the SM City Cebu with guest artists Dennis Trillo, Solenn Heussaff, and the La Diva together with “Kung Aagawin Mo Ang Langit’s” Mike Tan and “Sisid” actress Jackie Rice.

Highlights of the “Jammin’ sa KapuSONG Pasko” will air on Christmas morning, Dec. 25 at 8 a.m., on all eight regional stations of GMA Network – Naga, Dagupan, Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, and General Santos.

(nescuar@yahoo.com)