YASMIEN Kurdi was only 14 years old when she joined “Starstruck” in 2003 and won as first runner-up to Jennylyn Mercado. She has yet to attain the kind of success Jen got in her career (doing hit films and winning acting awards), but her consolation is she is happily married to a pilot, Rey Soldevilla, and a doting mom to their 8-year old daughter, Aquisha.
As far as her career is concerned, GMA has not neglected her through the years. She stars as one of the title rolers in the new GMA afternoon series, “Las Hermanas,” the whole show of which they’ve completed shooting in two lock-in tapings with only a short interval in between.
“‘Las Hermanas’ took two lock in tapings of one month out of town, so na-miss ko talaga ang family ko,” she said. “Mahirap for a mom like me.”
She’s just thankful that in the midst of the pandemic, we have modern technology to help us out. “I really missed my husband and our daughter. Buti na lang nga talaga we have cellphones to help us do face time, allowing us to always get in touch with each other.”
So what’s the story of “Las Hermanas” or “The Sisters”? “Tatlo kaming magkakapatid dito,” she said. “Ako ang eldest as Dorothy Manansala, then si Thea Tolentino as Minerva Manansala and Faith Da Silva as Scarlet Manansala. We’re still kids when our dad, played by Leandro Baldemor, died and our mother, played by Rita Avila, got jailed naman due to estafa cases.”
The tragedy made them tough as they try to solve the problems that come their way all by themselves. They are grieving over the loss of their dad but they also have to find some income to earn bail money to get their mother out of prison. They live with their Lola Josefa (Madeleine Nicolas) who’s very strict with them.
The powerhouse cast includes Albert Martinez as Lorenzo, a rich mysterious businessman, and Jason Abalos as Gabriel Lucero who’s in love with Dorothy. Aside from their leading men, the supporting cast is led by the comebacking Jennica Garcia after her separation from Alwyn Uytingco. She plays Brenda, the former girlfriend of Jason who’s contravida to Yasmien.
Also supporting them are Melissa Mendez as Divine Sarmiento who helps Yasmien and Jason, Coleen Paz, Rubi Rubi, Robert Ortega, Christian Vasquez and Lucho Ayala.
“Las Hermanas” now airs at 2:30 p.m. on GMA.
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‘Writers say it’s obvious with the way he held Ivana’s thigh that something romantic is going on between them’
Marco Gumabao was needled in the press con of Viva-TV5’s Saturday night drama, “Di Na Muli,” because his photos with vlogger Ivana Alawi were all over the internet that day.
Writers say it’s obvious with the way he held Ivana’s thigh that something romantic is going on between them, but Marco was non-committal.
When someone quipped that he looks like he is in love, he just laughed instead of making a concrete reply. And doesn’t he also look so inspired? “Lagi naman akong inspired,” he said, without elaborating any more.
His leading lady, Julia Barretto, came to his rescue. “Hayaan nyo na lang muna si Marco,” she said. “I’m sure he will talk about it when he is ready. I think everyone is still in shock with the revelation and he is still overwhelmed. Marco kasi is the type of guy na kapag private life niya ang pinag-uusapan, he wants it to remain private lang. ‘Di ba, Marcs?”
To which Marco wholeheartedly agreed. It’s obvious that the two of them are really good friends, but they won’t be romantically linked as Julia’s romance with Gerald Anderson is now an open book.
“Julia and I have been friends for a long time,” said Marco. “We used to get invited sa birthday parties when we were kids with our respective parents. Then when Julia had her 17th birthday, she invited me and we kept our friendship through the years. Nagsasama pa nga kami sa aming vlogs.”
But it’s only now that they got to work with each other. “Di Na Muli” is Julia’s first teleserye project with Viva since she left ABS-CBN and Marco was with Viva earlier than her.
“Di Na Muli” is now being shown on TV5 every Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and also on Cignal and in Vivamax streaming.
