Ruben Nepales - FishbowlLA

Albuquerque Sun Sets on Bryan Cranston’s No-Pants Rule

Richard Horgan — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 09:30:54 +0000

After watching Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston do his thing on location in New Mexico for the upcoming final season of the AMC program, in the bitter January cold, visiting LA reporter Ruben Nepales sat down with the actor in a nearby hotel suite. What followed was a most unusual line of questioning:

I told Bryan what his co-star Aaron Paul (Jesse Pinkman) told me earlier. “No one knows this,” Aaron said, relaxing with a drink after a day’s shoot, “but Bryan never wears pants in close-up shots. He is very proud of what is happening down there and he thinks it is intimidating for all of us, in a loving way. From the belly down, he has nothing on.”

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HFPA’s Golden Couple Gets Sweet Downtown Write-Up

Richard Horgan — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 05:00:59 +0000

The real-life script bonding Hollywood Foreign Press Association members Ruben and Janet Nepales reads more like the rom-coms they both sometimes cover for their respective Filipino outlets. They first met in journalism school in 1976, but she thought he was a “nerd”; a few years later, they reconnected at a Paul Williams press conference and started dating; today, as husband and wife, they playfully compete on behalf of their native country’s top two newspapers for Tinseltown scoops.

All this and more can be savored in a breezy profile of the HFPA power couple by Downtown News city editor Richard Guzmán. The Nepales have been back in the city core for five years now, living in a Bunker Hill apartment complex after raising two daughters in the San Fernando Valley:

Ruben pens three columns a week dubbed “Only IN Hollywood” for the Inquirer. He is also a contributing editor for Balikbayan, a magazine published for Filipino expats in the United States and other parts of the world…

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CBC News Network Goes Straight to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Source

Richard Horgan — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:00:21 +0000

Before and after the Golden Globes, one of the best sources of inside info about the 70th annual awards telecast remains, not surprisingly, the chairman of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Ruben Nepales and his wife Janet (also an HFPA voting member) beamed in very early PT time this past Saturday to chat on Canadian cable channel CBC News Network’s program News Now about the next day’s big awards show. And today, in his latest Inquirer column, Ruben shares this fascinating tidbit:

Now it can be told — the original plan was for Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey to co-host the show but that did not pan out (he reportedly declined). That’s when the Tina Fey-Amy Poehler combination was suggested. The idea was immediately met with excitement. The duo lived up to expectations and more.

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Itemizing The Bourne Legacy’s Filipino Connections

Richard Horgan — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 10:00:46 +0000

Taking advantage of a rare bit of geographical synchronicity, HFPA member Ruben Nepales was able to make his native country the focus of a dispatch about the upcoming sequel The Bourne Legacy (Universal Pictures/August 10).

The final 40 minutes of the film takes place in Manila and other parts of the Philippines. Writer-director Tony Gilroy explains that it took ten weeks of first and second unit work to film a motorcycle chase involving the characters played by Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz. He also acknowledges the value of a versatile local acting community:

“I wish we had more for both of them to do.,” he said. “I really do. We take a great deal of pride in casting great actors in small parts. In the Philippines, it was just an embarrassment of riches… You’re taking these stars and saying, ‘Will you come and do bit parts in our film?’ But for us, it was a big advantage because everybody was so talented…”

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Johnny Depp on How He Navigates the Dark Shadows of the Internet

Richard Horgan — Thu, 10 May 2012 11:30:52 +0000

One of our favorite Hollywood Foreign Press Association reporters Ruben Nepales has a cool interview piece with Johnny Depp. He leads with several interesting observations made by the reluctant mega-star about dealing with the white noise of the Internet.

While 13-year-old daughter Lily-Rose thinks it’s weird that she has various Facebook and Web fan sites, dad takes it a step further, deeming the phenomenon “somewhat ugly.” He says both she and 10-year-old brother Jack have access to the Internet, but that when it comes to the wild-west standards of Web journalism, he tries to occasionally give them a friendly heads-up:

“They are able to read truths, lies, fiction and rumors. This whole thing has become this mulch of fodder. I’ve decided to just stay hush-hush about anything and everything. If the rumors spin, let the rumors spin.”

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HFPA Journo Back in the Philippines for Hollywood Book Launch

Richard Horgan — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 17:00:21 +0000

Tuesday afternoon local time at Powerbooks in Makati City, Philippines, Hollywood Foreign Press Association member Ruben Nepales (pictured) will be joined by Tony DeZuñiga, a pioneering artist with Marvel and DC Comics, for the launch of his book My Filipino Connection: The Phillipines in Hollywood. This collection of updated Inquirer interviews showcases several dozen individuals with ties to the country who have found Tinseltown success.

Alongside DeZuñiga, others covered in the book include: Pixar animation artist and co-director Ronnie del Carmen, part of a group of Filipinos at the studio affectionately known as “Pixnoys;” Ronnie’s brother Louie (who works at Dreamworks Animation); and True Grit Oscar nominee Hailee Steinfeld. There’s also a bonus, never-before-published profile, which Nepales tipped over the weekend:

Darren Criss, the hot Glee actor who took over Daniel Radcliffe’s role in a limited three-week run on Broadway’s How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying last January… It’s an extensive interview about his Filipino roots and many other facets about the actor.

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Rupert Murdoch, Golden Globes Good Sport

Richard Horgan — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:15:54 +0000

Throughout the 69th Annual Golden Globes telecast this past Sunday, there were frequent audience shots showing Rupert Murdoch seated at one of the tables, next to his wife Wendi Deng.

Murdoch may be instantly recognizable to FishbowlLA, but apparently it was a different story for some on the Beverly Hilton red carpet. Here’s what happened when the media mogul crossed into the pre-show real estate where HFPA member Ruben Nepales was working. Per Nepales:

Our instruction at the red carpet entrance was to ask arriving guests for their IDs only if they didn’t look familiar. Well, an assistant helping us asked Murdoch for his ID. Before we could say, “Not necessary,” the media tycoon had whisked it out.

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$1.5 Million in Grants Donated Thanks to Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Tina Dupuy — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:25:28 +0000

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association broke their own record for donations at their annual Installation Luncheon last night.

Release in full:

Hollywood Foreign Press Association Donates Over $1.5 Million at 2010 Installation Luncheon

Financial Grants Given to 41 Film Schools and Non-Profit Organizations

BEVERLY HILLS, CA–(Marketwire – July 28, 2010) – The Hollywood Foreign Press Association celebrated their annual Installation Luncheon today at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. The star-studded luncheon presented a record $1,541,000 in financial grants to 41 film schools and non-profit organizations. The event also celebrated the election of the HFPA’s 2010-2011 officers.

Eva Longoria Parker joined returning HFPA President Philip Berk to announce grants. Acceptance remarks on behalf of the grants were made by Nicole Kidman (The Film Foundation), John Slattery (UCLA), Annette Bening (Sundance Institute), Aaron Sorkin (Higher Education Fellowships & Institutional Support Grants), Bryan Cranston (Professional Training & Mentoring Grants), Ryan Phillippe (FilmAid International), Jane Lynch and “Glee” Co-Creator Ian Brennan (Outfest), Carla Gugino (LA Conservancy, MOMA, UC Berkeley, LACMA and other Preserve The Culture & History Of Film Grants), Matthew Fox (American Cinematheque, Levantine Cultural Center, and Latin American Cinemateca), and Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco (Pre-Professional Training & Education Grants)

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