It’s not everyday that a Filipino director gets to work with a Hollywood celebrity. Oh, there have been dabblings with actors before: from Steven Seagal to Zhang Ziyi, with Jet Li currently being the most prominent. But certainly none with the same caliber as Academy Award best actress nominee Penelope Cruz.

“The whole thing happened very quickly, really,” recalls Martin Arnaldo. “When I was in Paris a few months ago, I was called in by the general manager of the Premiere Heure group. After the meeting he wanted me to meet François Delage, the executive creative director of McCann Erickson Paris.

“The second meeting happened a month later. About two hours after that meeting, my producer gets a call. She then asks me, ‘Do you want to work with Penelope Cruz?’ I immediately said yes, of course.”

Within the next few weeks, Arnaldo met with the Paris-based client who signed the beautiful Spanish actress, and with the agency. However, the shoot wasn’t yet quite a sure thing, as the top secret project was bidded out to some of the world’s top directors, including director-cinematographer Pascal Lebègue, known for shooting many of Madonna’s music videos as well as Cruz’s previous commercial. Intimidating competition indeed. To aid his chances, Nose, a label of Première Heure, provided Arnaldo with an art department to help him prepare.

But the real deal clincher was his talent.

“I think it was the Asian approach that got me the project,” offers Arnaldo. “We’ve been doing hair and beauty in a completely different way, and, slowly, that approach has been getting into Europe. So when my reel popped up, it made sense to call me. I am both French and Asian.”

As McCann Erickson Paris handles every thematic ad in the world for this particular client, they generally fly the team to where the star is located. “Barcelona was their initial location of choice as Cruz was there shooting Woody Allen’s latest flick,” Arnaldo recounts.

“But then it was moved to Paris. Still, I wanted to meet her personally before the shoot. But when I got to her hotel suite at the Plaza Athénée, there were already three clients, two agency people, her stylist, her two managers …all those people.

“She was difficult to approach and a bit cold, but when I talked about an Asian touch in the film, her face really opened up. It felt like she was discovering a new territory.”

Arnaldo only had ten hours to shoot the 20-seconder spot. But for that amount of time, he also had to allot three hours just for the hair, make-up and wardrobe. Quite the challenge, considering that European salaries for production people are higher, which translates to less people on the project. Even so, all concerns were forgotten once the actual grind started.

“She’s a tough cookie,” remembers the director. “She really knows what she wants. If she doesn’t like something, you’ll feel it. Everybody was aware of that and so there was some electricity in the air. But when the camera started to roll, she would give so much. She projected tremendously. I have to say, every first take was incredible. I took no more than four takes. Actually, the three extra takes were more for the benefit of the agency and client, only because they expected it. And we still wrapped up fifteen minutes early.”

Arnaldo adds. “The agency was very happy. In Paris, it’s not uncommon for close friends regardless of gender to kiss you on both cheeks as a sign of deep friendship. Of course, you wouldn’t do that with, say, someone you just started working with. But when we wrapped up, the agency people came up to me and kissed me and thanked me.”
Quite the moment suprême, n’est-ce pas?