Marie Dinolan is Making Impact from the Philippines to New York
Thomas Burns Scully
What does it take to work in the arts on both sides of the world? It’s not a question that many of us can answer, but for Marie Dinolan, it’s simply a fact of life. “I was born in Cebu City in the Philippines. I’m half Filipino, a quarter English, and a quarter Chinese,” Dinolan explains, “and before I ever came to the States, I was a TV personality in the Philippines.” The twenty-seven-year-old actress, now known for her work on the New York independent stage, and the BET network, got her start in the Eastern Hemisphere on daytime TV.
“I was a VJ on ‘Around Town’ with Alexis Yap,” says Marie, detailing her early career, ”I would cover all the big events happening in Cebu, restaurant openings, celebrities appearances, that sort of thing.” ‘Around Town’ was Cebu’s number one rated Billboard Show, and host Alexis Yap was one of Cebu’s most popular personalities, causing Dinolan’s star to rise fast. “I was in my late teens when I started, but after just a couple of years they offered me my own show,” she enthuses.
She and co-host Dan Miranda created ‘Scene Around Town’ which ended up replacing its predecessor, causing a frenzy in the media around Cebu. “We were on magazine covers everywhere, we started getting recognized. It was a little crazy,” she says bashfully, “What we were doing wasn’t all that different, but the way we did it was ours, and people seemed to really love it!” One show led to another, and the pair ended up on Filipino channel MyTV with ‘Life in the Park’. The show was funded by my MYTV and the Ayala family, one of the Philippines’ most prominent and wealthy families. Her hosting duties saw her partnering with international business powerhouses like Marriott Hotels, Shangri-La Resorts, and even the Krispy Kreme corporation. “It was a fantastic experience,” says Dinolan, before adding, “but I knew I wanted to do something else.”
Dinolan’s heart lay in the world of legitimate acting. After a transformative performance in a sold-out showing of ‘The Vagina Monologues’, the next step became clear. “I packed up my things and made the big move to New York,” she divulges, “I got into the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and I didn’t look back.” The Academy, known for such graduates as Robert Redford, Anne Hathaway, Paul Rudd, and Danny DeVito, was exactly what Dinolan had been looking for. “I really got to work while I was there,” she says enthusiastically, “I was really pushing myself in a way that I hadn’t had to before, and so I grew tremendously.”
Marie quickly moved into the world of professional performance, taking roles in Off-Broadway revivals of Theresa Rebeck’s ‘Spike Heels’, and Paul Rudnick’s ‘Regrets Only’. But it wasn’t long before she returned to her native television. “BET came along with ‘Situationships’, and it just seemed like a great step for me,” explains Dinolan, “I feel like in real life I’m quite gentle, and in the show, I got to play against that. I also get to work in that ethnically ambiguous casting space, which I love. I quite like it when people can’t tell who I am and where I come from just from looking at me. The future of TV is diverse, and I’m thrilled to be part of it.”
Working with BET has led to a further season of ‘Situationships’ as well as a role on the upcoming ‘Damsels’ with Afroland TV, and the series ‘Such is Life’ which is in post-production before heading to the festival circuit. “It’s been a blessing to get all this work,” Dinolan says gratefully, “This is what I wanted when I left, and it’s a great thing to realize I am where I wanted to be. Life’s not perfect, especially right at the minute with everything on hold, but I feel like my career is in the right place right now.” Her ventures have even taken her into new innovative territory. She was recently cast in ‘Overrun’, a series billed as the first scripted sci-fi/horror series on IGTV. “It’s certainly something new,” she says candidly, “But if I didn’t try new things I wouldn’t have had my own TV show, I wouldn’t have left behind everything to come to the States, and I wouldn’t be working as successfully as I am now, so… new things seem to be the way to go.”