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Sumalee Montano pays tribute to Filipina mother in 'The Deal'

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Yong Chavez | TFC News Hollywood

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IJOZskAMaro?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>American actress Sumalee Montano paid tribute to her Filipino mother in producing and starring in her new film &quot;The Deal.&quot;</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Sumalee Montano and Linda Montano. Photo credit: Sumalee Montano" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/tfc/12/03/sumalee-mom.jpg"/><figcaption>Sumalee Montano (left) and Linda Montano (right) <em>Sumalee Montano</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Montano shared that her mother Linda Montano raised her as a single mom in America. Her latest action-drama film is primarily about a Filipina hero named Tala Bayani.<br/><br/>&quot;This project is really dedicated to her and to women, to people like her, who will do anything for the people that they love,&quot; said Montano. &quot;My mom passed away nine years ago and so really this is my love song to her.&quot;</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Emma Fischer and Sumalee Montano in ‘The Deal’. Photo credit: The Deal" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/tfc/12/03/the-deal-sumalee-and-emma.jpg"/><figcaption>Emma Fischer (left) and Sumalee Montano (right) in ‘The Deal’ <em>&quot;The Deal&quot;</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>“The Deal” marks the first time that a Filipino character is leading in a dystopian action-drama film.<br/><br/>In it, Montano co-stars with Emma Fischer, who plays her daughter Analyn, as well as with actress-producer Lisa Brenner, who’s married in real life to Filipino-American Hollywood producer Dean Devlin.<br/><br/>&quot;The mother-daughter story is what struck me the most,&quot; Brenner said. &quot;At some point it was becoming too much of an action films like no, this is not just an action film. We&#x27;re gonna have intelligent smart, love-driven women.&quot;</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Sumalee Montano at the Asian World Film Festival. Photo credit: Sumalee Montano" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/tfc/12/03/asian-world-film-fest.jpeg"/><figcaption>Sumalee Montano at the Asian World Film Festival <em>Sumalee Montano</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Montano previously received praises for her performance in the Peacock series &quot;Dan Brown&#x27;s The Lost Symbol.&quot;<br/><br/>The Filipina-Thai-American actress went to Harvard for college but left a career in investment banking when she realized that acting was her true passion.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Sumalee Montano plays Hira in Dragon Age: Absolution. Photo credit: Netflix ‘Dragon Age: Absolution’" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/tfc/12/03/sumalee-montano-plays-hira-in-dragon-age-absolution.jpg"/><figcaption>Sumalee Montano plays Hira in &#x27;Dragon Age: Absolution&#x27; <em>Netflix “Dragon Age: Absolution”</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Montano also has a successful career in voice acting in several high-profile animation projects, including as a regular cast member of “The Ghost and Molly McGee”.<br/><br/>Her latest project, coming out on Netflix on December 9, is “Dragon Age: Absolution” where she’s one of the lead characters.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Sumalee Montano at the premiere of ‘Nanny’ during AFI Fest. Photo credit: Sumalee Montano" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/tfc/12/03/afi-nanny-premiere.jpg"/><figcaption>Sumalee Montano at the premiere of ‘Nanny’ during AFI Fest <em>Sumalee Montano</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>She is also the co-founder of LinLay Productions, together with Grace Lay. One of their projects as executive producers this year is the award-winning film “Nanny” coming out on Amazon Prime on December 16.<br/><br/>&quot;Getting to be a producer is different for me and it’s wonderful because I could really put more intentionality into how the story was crafted,&quot; Montano said. &quot;When you&#x27;re an actor, you don&#x27;t necessarily get to do that. People of color have been relating to white centered-stories for decades. So I don&#x27;t think it&#x27;s too much to ask for people to find themselves in this story.&quot;</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="The Deal poster. Photo credit: “The Deal”" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/tfc/12/03/poster-(1).png"/><figcaption><em>“The Deal”</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>&quot;The Deal&quot; is now streaming on the Roku Channel.</p>

Actress Sumalee Montano pays tribute to her Filipino mother in writing and starring in her new film 'The Deal.'