THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 12, 1994 TAG: 9408100126
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
He's a champion weight lifter who can now be seen on television.
Not only is Danny Transfiguracion one of the all-time top-10 bench-press lifters in the 132-pound class in the nation, but he's now a TV star . . . sort of.
If you look hard enough, you can see Transfiguracion - who works in the business office of Chesapeake General Hospital's Comfort Care home health service - in several bit parts and fighting scenes in the made-for-TV movie series ``Vanishing Son, Part III.''
The choppy-socky film series about two Chinese brothers, one law-abiding and the other descending into a life of crime, was partially filmed in Hampton Roads and is part of Universal Studios' ``Action Pack'' series of slam-bang action films shown on independent television stations nationwide.
Locally, the movie was broadcast last week on WGNT-Channel 27 (TCI cable channel 7). But check local listings, it may repeat on WGNT and it's also being shown on several cable channel superstations.
Besides being a champion lifter, the former Greenbrier resident also is expert in martial arts.
He said while growing up in Angeles City in the Philippines, he began his training in tae kwon do, a Korean form of martial arts with an emphasis on kicks, when he was just 3 years old.
``I've self-studied all my life,'' the soft-spoken 28-year-old Virginia Beach resident said. ``Studying martial arts was a natural school requirement for us.''
Transfiguracion said since he's up to a black-belt level in skill and efficiency, he decided to answer a January newspaper ad calling fighters to appear in ``Vanishing Son.'' Auditions took place at Pembroke Mall in Virginia Beach and drew several hundred Asian Hampton Roads martial arts experts.
``At the auditions, they wanted us to show moves in front of a camera,'' he said. ``You actively had to go out and show what you could do.''
Transfiguracion showed them plenty and was hired to play the part of a member of the Triads Chinese street gang.
He said the filming schedule was as grueling as the stunts they had to do.
``They wanted us at the set at 4 a.m. and filming dragged on until about 10 p.m.,'' he said. ``Plus, we had to wear the same clothes everyday, of course, and we got pretty stinky there on the set.''
Most of the scenes were filmed last April at Fort Wool, an abandoned fort by the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.
``It was freezing out there, I wore several layers of clothing and it was still cold,'' he said. ``We were out there from eight to 12 hours doing spinning kicks and other fight scenes. Often I wondered if it was worth it getting kicked all day. For example, it took about three to four hours just to shoot a scene that lasted all of five seconds.''
But Transfiguracion said the experience was worth all of the fighting, freezing and re-shoots. All the extras were well fed and treated well by the actors, producers and directors. He even got to know one of the film's actors, Louyong Wang, a Chinese actor/martial arts expert who has appeared in such films as ``Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story'' and a few Jean-Claude Van Damme flicks.
``He gave me his address on the set, and I wrote to him. A month ago, he wrote me back,'' Transfiguracion said. ``He told me he enjoyed working with me; he was impressed with my kicks.''
Transfiguracion said he's featured in several background fighting stunts and a couple of times the camera pans on his face as he surveys a fight or other action scenes.
Naturally, he taped the film off of television as he, his mother, his wife, Sherry, and their 7-year-old daughter, Channing Elyse, watched. But while the film was being broadcast, the phone rang off the hook with friends, family, neighbors, colleagues and co-workers calling to offer congratulations.
``Finally, we had to cut the phone off so we could watch the film,'' he said. ``Later, when I went to work out at Bally's in Greenbrier this guy yelled at me and said, `Hey, I know you! I saw you on `Vanishing Son.' ' That was a great feeling, I really enjoyed that moment.''
In between his martial arts film ``career,'' his work for the hospital, his weight training and power lifting competitions, he's busy earning his B.A. degree in health management service from a St. Leo College satellite classroom at the Little Creek Amphibious Base in Norfolk.
But he'd love to face the cameras again.
Transfiguracion heard the film will soon be made into a weekly television series. There's a good chance it will again be filmed in Hampton Roads. If that happens, you can bet he'll again change from a mild-mannered family man to a savage street fighter.
``I'll go for it again,'' he said. ``I'd love to get into more karate acting. I've trained long enough for it.'' by CNB