Why Claire Danes and her movies were banned from the Philippines: “She should not even be allowed to set foot here”

Posted On July 24, 2024July 24, 2024

Even though the old divides between a television actor and a film actor have been almost completely eroded by the ongoing ‘Golden Age’, Claire Danes has never quite been able to replicate her small screen success on the silver one.

In terms of TV stars, she’s undoubtedly one of the best of this or any other generation. She’s won three Primetime Emmys and four Golden Globes from a combined total of 14 nominations covering four different projects, but her movie career hasn’t been anywhere near as fruitful.

That’s not to say she’s been a bust on celluloid, but a full three decades on from her feature debut in 1994’s Little Women it’s probably safe to say the best-known film she’s ever been a part of remains Baz Luhrmann’s lavish Romeo + Juliet, which released two years later.

She’s been in plenty of movies since then, not that the Philippines knows or even cares. Since 1998, there’s been a blanket ban in place that covers not only Danes being denied entry to the country under any circumstances, but any of her work being shown in multiplexes nationwide.

The long-running issue stems from intimate drama Brokedown Palace, where she played a recent high school graduate who ends up being sentenced to 33 years behind bars for smuggling drugs. Even though it was set in Thailand, the production used the Philippines as its primary location, and the star didn’t care for what she found.

Doing a stellar job of promoting tourism in the country, Danes referred to the city of Manila as “ghastly and weird”. She also insisted the capital “smelled of cockroaches with rats all over, and that there is no sewerage system, and the people do not have anything; no arms, no legs, no eyes”.

Then-president Joseph Estrada decided that enough was enough and declared she was officially persona non grata. “She should not be allowed to come here,” he said, per CBS. “She should not even be allowed to set foot here. Her remarks were uncalled for.” The storm surrounding her barbed remarks gathered such speed that it even became a matter of national concern.

In addition to Danes being outlawed from entering the Philippines and her entire filmography being outlawed from public screenings in Manila, local councilman Kim Atienza declared the ban would continue on for an indefinite amount of time, and the ratification was passed by an overwhelming 23-3 vote in Manila’s local chambers.

She did issue an apology, but Atienza said it was an “excuse made by Hollywood press officers and not a genuine apology.” He stated the ban would be lifted “only if we are satisfied,” and because it hasn’t been publicly or officially rescinded, it remains in place to this day.

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