Maricel Soriano to star in international movie to create awareness against Asian hate

Diamond star Maricel Soriano is off to Hollywood as she is set to do an international romantic-comedy movie in the U.S. titled Re-Live: A Tale of an American Island Cheerleader likewise headlined by fellow Filipino actors.

The award-winning actress will star alongside Filipino-American actresses Rain Valdez who has been nominated for the Emmy's and award-winning director Rachel Leyco as revealed by Variety.

Maricel will be playing the character of Thelma, mother of Valdez and Leyco's characters, Rowena and Rochelle.

Re-live is about the life of Rowena, a transgender Hollywood actress who returns to her hometown in Guam to participate in her high school reunion's activities. However, her mother's ailing health soon affects her commitment to her task.

“Having a legendary Filipino actress like Maricel Soriano strengthens our commitment to telling our stories from our authentic experiences and for our Filipinx diaspora," Rachel and Rain said in a statement.

“Now more than ever, this empowers us to further highlight our communities at a time when visibility must be taken to new heights to fight against the rise of anti-trans and anti-Asian violence,” they added.

On Instagram, rain expressed her happiness at finally working with the legendary actress whom she has watched and followed growing up.

She said, “We have a mom! Philippines Legendary 'Diamond Star' Maricel Soriano just signed on to be in my movie playing my mom! She was always our first choice and my mom and I would watch all her movies growing up. I remember saying to my team very early on, 'We need somebody like… Maricel Soriano.' And a year later, here we are! I am completely besides myself with excitement and happy tears.”

Meanwhile, here are other Filipino stars who have starred in international movies: