Dannyka Manangan

Lea Salonga resonates with her role in 'The Vale - Origins' short film

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E. Kristhoff Cagape

Lea Salonga is set to star in a new short film about a family who creates an AI-generated fantasy world and discovers new hope and meaning in life through their child’s imagination.The short film serves as a prequel to author Abigail Hing-Wen’s upcoming novel, The Vale, which is set for release on September 16. Abigail serves as the writer and director of the short film.In an interview with ABC7 News Bay Area, Lea shared that she will portray the mother of the family.When asked what made her say yes to the project, the Tony Award-winning actress said: &quot;I was asked really nicely, that&#x27;s pretty much it... And it felt like something that would be fun to do and given what&#x27;s going on with AI now, it seems that she was pressing it and predicting a world that a lot of young people would have access to, so it&#x27;s kind of interesting that she originally wrote it ten years ago and now here it is.&quot;As a mother herself, Lea admitted that the role resonated with her, though the circumstances were quite different from her own parenting experience.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17579938494011757993827990.jpeg" style="width:600px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Image Credit: thevalemovie IG</div>&quot;It does, I&#x27;m the mom to a pretty much an adult now. When he was younger, this was not the kind of thing that I think I had to be necessarily be concerned about because this kind of technology was not even in our purview and now here we are. Thankfully, he&#x27;s very savvy with this sort of thing and very good about his social media presence, and his access to technoogy, and seems to enjoy a lot of the analog world, thank goodness,&quot; she said.Lea, the first Asian to win a Tony Award for Best Actress, was also asked for her thoughts on the progress of Asian representation in film and theater.&quot;It&#x27;s remarkable but I don&#x27;t know that there are enough stories that are still being told... I mean there&#x27;s a lot that has definitely advanced as far as representation, and this year has been kinda great with KPop Demon Hunters but I don&#x27;t know if it&#x27;s enough,&quot; she said.The Broadway star went on: &quot;I think there&#x27;s just need to be definitely more stories told, and for more of are people to be able to see themselves on screen or on stage. I think that kind of representaton is incredibly important. And the more specific you are with certain stories, the funny thing is, the paradoxical thing is that, more people find them universal when this kind of specifity is introduced in storytelling.&quot;

Lea Salonga will star in a short film about a family who builds an AI-generated fantasy world and rediscovers hope through their child’s imagination.

Lea Salonga will star in a short film about a family who builds an AI-generated fantasy world and rediscovers hope through their child’s imagination.

Lea Salonga resonates with her role in 'The Vale - Origins' short film

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Lea Salonga resonates with her role in 'The Vale - Origins' short film

Toff C.

Published Sep 16, 2025 11:40 AM PHT

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Lea Salonga

short film

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Abigail Hing-Wen

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