Jen Rosendahl picked for American B-movie

When the word 'international' is mentioned, Jen Rosendahl probably isn’t the first name one would think of. But for popular B-movie maker Roger Corman, Jen Rosendahl is the only name he even considered! B movies rarely get respect from movie aficionados, not realizing that most of the cult films considered as classics today used to be known as B movies as well. For Jen Rosendahl, though, work is work and she doesn’t care if the film she’s doing will be her big break or not. The important thing will always be getting work—and having the time of her life doing it. In Road Raiders, Jen plays the leader of a tribe with access to fresh water. In a world devastated by an apocalypse, fresh water is a limited commodity; this puts her tribe in a dangerous place. To portray her role, Jen shares that she had to undergo some training—one of which was archery. "Three days," the actress counts, referring to the number of days she took up archery. Although she initially thought it would be difficult to learn the sport, she admits to being surprised at how easy it was. The challenge, she shares, came when they were already shooting the archery scenes. "Na-shock lang ako sa set, may apoy!" The film is being made by an American producer for American audiences, and as such, aside from Jen and a couple of local actors, the rest of the cast is made up of Americans as well. "Yung dalawang kapatid ko [sa movie], mga playboy playmates," she says. Aside from the playmates, Jen also lists down Kevin Stapleton of Law and Order fame and Michael Madsen as two of her co-stars. And the reason she got included in the film, she reveals, was because the producer already had a reel of her from a previous project. "Kasi I was supposed to do an HBO Movie in 2005, when I was still with VIVA," Jen explains. She says the project didn’t push through, but the producer still kept her reel around. And when the producer began to plan to shoot in the Philippines, her involvement became a given. That’s when her preparations began, which included the aforementioned archery and some American slang tutoring. After all, Jen is half-German and not American as some people would think. "Working with the foreigners, the actress adds, was an experience all in itself. Their production was very different to how Filipinos approach television or film production: "Eight hours lang talaga sila a day." She also lists down that the food they serve is buffet style—where even extras can get food, and trailers and services are provided for the whole cast and crew. “Ay, wala akong reklamo—sobrang maalaga. 'Yung mga foreign actors, ang babait." And Jen is happy to report that while she is pleased with her experience with the Americans, they’re just as pleased with her performance. "Pag fighting scene ko, tuwang-tuwa sila—take one!" She also adds that going through workshops really help, too, especially in heavy crying scenes. There was even one particular scene where their director commended her acting more than her co-star. "Kasi namatay 'yung kapatid namin—‘yung [American] walang emotion daw." But Jen defends her co-star, saying the girl was just nervous. She even gave the American actress some tips in crying: "Naaliw siya!" Road Raiders tells the story of a post-apocalyptic world, and it will soon hit Philippine theaters on a limited run. But you can spot Jen Rosendahl at the Kapuso network through her various guest appearances! - iGMA.tv