SUNSHINE Dizon is sad that the ECQ has stopped the tapings for their hit GMA afternoon soap, “Magkaagaw.” But she’s glad that replacing it is also a show that starred her before, the mammoth hit, “Ika-6 na Utos,” which she did with Gabby Concepcion.
”At least, nawala man ang ‘Magkaagaw,’ they can still see me in one of my favorite shows na nagawa ko ever, ‘Ika-6 na Utos’,” she said proudly.
Fans of “Magkaagaw” say they miss Sunshine’s dramatic confrontation scenes with Sheryl Cruz, who plays Veron, her arch enemy in “Magkaagaw.” “So I was told. Enjoy silang pinapanood na nagtatarayan, nagsasasampalan at sabunutan kami. Some of them ask me kung hindi ba raw kami nagkakasakitan when we do such scenes. Siempre, hindi maiiwasan, but we’re both professionals who do it para sa ikagaganda ng aming show.”
What Shine cannot understand is why some quarters are now pitting ABS-CBN against GMA-7 after the former’s operations were shot down due to non-renewal of their franchise.
“This is not a time for us to think we’re in opposing camps,” she said. “In the final analysis, we are all in the same entertainment industry so we should just be united at huwag nang pagsabungin ang mga Kapamilya at Kapuso.”
She’s always been a Kapuso but she feels compassion for the Kapamilya people. “I’ve been with GMA for more than two decades now, but ever since, I never seriously considered na may network wars. Personally, I feel bad and I sympathize with the ABS management and its stars.”
She considers them as friends, colleagues in the industry. “When we see each others sa labas, we don’t consider naman each other as rivals. Some of them, nakatrabaho ko na in the movies that I and wala sa amin ‘yung we belong to different networks. And I really feel sad for the 11,000 employees daw na nawalan ng trabaho. Mahirap talaga.”
**
Jonjon Briones is one Pinoy actor now doing well in Hollywood. He was part of the original West End production of “Miss Saigon” in 1989 as part of the ensemble. When the show was revived in 2014, he finally got the chance to play the lead role of The Engineer, for which he got nominated in the Laurence Olivier Awards. He later played the same role on Broadway. Since he started his career in musical theater, he has managed to get major roles on films like “Anyone Home?” and on TV in Hollywood.
We’ve seen him in two productions by top producer Ryan Murphy, “American Horror Story” (where he played the role of Ariel in 3 episodes) and “The Assassination of Gianni Versace” (as Modesto, the father of killer Andrew Cunanan in two episodes). He really did an outstanding job in these two shows.
Aside from this, he also played the role of a Prime Minister in the hit action-drama series, “Designated Survivor,” starring Kiefer Sutherland. The other shows he also acted in are “The Mentalist,” “Bones,” “Las Vegas,” “Law & Order: LA” and “Criminal Minds.”
He’s now appearing in a new series again produced by Ryan Murphy, “Ratched,” meant for Netflix. This is based on the character of Nurse Mildred Ratched played by Louise Fletcher (for which she won an Oscar best actress award) in the award-winning 1975 film, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” Nurse Ratched, the domineering nurse in a mental asylum, will be played by Sarah Paulson, who won the Emmy and Golden Globe best actress awards for a mini-series for her role as the feisty prosecuting attorney in hit courtoom drama, “The People V. OJ Simpson.”
Jonjon is happy to be part of the show’s big cast and you can say that he’s now a regular member of Ryan Murphy’s stable of stars, which includes Darren Criss, the Fil-Am actor who played his son, Andrew Cunanan. He will be playing a big role as a doctor in the mental hospital where the story is set.
Jonjon is married to an Irish-Swedish actress named Megan Johnson and he now has a 21-year old daughter, Isabella or Isa, who’s also into acting like him. She was born in London in 1999 when Jonjon was still doing various roles as part of the ensemble of the original production of “Miss Saigon.” She has done theater work in musicals like “Hamilton” and “Next to Normal.”
She’s now a mainstay in the new “Star Trek” TV series. We’re proud of this father and daughter team with Filipino roots now making a name for themselves in Hollywood. It would be nice to see them working together in one project in the future.
**
Coco Martin seems to be the Kapamilya star most affected by the non-renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise and NTC’s order to shut it down after Solicitor General Jose Calida threatened to file a case against the NTC if they’d give ABS a provisional authority to operate. As we all know, Calida is said to be the alter ego of Pres. Duterte.
But naturally, so many folks sided with ABS-CBN, but pro-government trolls quickly bashed the stars who are against the shutdown. Coco Martin said Kapamilya stars should just ignore the trolls and don’t make any comments at all because the trolls are paid based on the number of comments they make, so it’s best to just delete them right away for them not to get any income. He added that it’s best to just block all those who rejoice with the closure of ABS-CBN.
He wrote: “Ganito kasimple ‘yan. Lahat ng ayaw sa amin at galit sa ABS-CBN at nagdiriwang ngayon, huwag nyo kaming i-follow. Hindi namin kayo kailangan sa buhay namin para laitin at pagtawanan kami sa pinagdaraan naming lahat ngayon. Hindi kami mamamatay kapag umalis kayo! Hindi namin kayo kailangan sa buhay namin!”
And to that, we totally agree.
Coco also vehemently bashed Calida, but in a later post, he relented and apologized, saying: “Alam ko po na mabuti kayong tao. Kung ano man po ang inyong nagawa, maaring tawag po ‘yon ng inyong tungkulin. Pasensya na po kayo kung may mga nasabi po kami na galit sa aming dibdib at sana maunawaan niyo din po ‘yon. Ipagdarasal ko na lumiwanag po sana ang inyong isipan at kung sino man po ang nag utos na inyo! Kung sakaling ‘di na po kami makabalik maraming, maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat! Sa lahat ng sumubaybay sa halos limang taon sa aming teleserye!”
A lot of people were surprised by his sudden turn around. They feel he should have stuck to his guns and didn’t back track to show that he’s really the man of principles that Cardo Dalisay is in “Ang Probinsyano.” Here are the comments of some netizens about his about face:
“Bakit biglang nag-iba ang ihip ng hangin?”
“Idol kita, Coco, pero ano nangyare sayo?”
“Lagi mo sinasabi sa posts mo na may nag utos na ipasara ABS-CBN, bakit hindi mo tukuyin kung cno ‘yung nag utos? Matapang ka ‘d ba? Dapat laban lang! Kaya sabihin mo kung cno ang nasa likod ng pagpapasara ng ABS-CBN. Dami mong daldal, para kang babaeng bagong raspa.”
“Aminin mo munang kayo na nga ni Julia Montes bago ka magalit.”
Obviously, they feel disappointed that Coco softened up after his initial fighting stance. We’re also rooting for ABS-CBN and we feel that all of them Kapamilya stars and employees have all the right to show their resentment for what happened and should not apologize at all for voicing out what they honestly feel.
