ARRA San Agustin played lead roles in “Madrasta” opposite Juancho Trivino and in “Lolong” with Ruru Madrid, but she doesn’t mind playing a contravida in “Mga Lihim ni Urduja,” that replaced “Maria Clara at Ibarra.”
“I’m just happy to be working again with Sanya Lopez, Kylie Padilla and Gabbi Garcia,” she says. “Kasi when I was discovered sa ‘Starstruck,’ isinali ako agad in ‘Encantadia’ as the reincarnation of Kylie as Amihan. I enjoyed working with them and gained a lot of good experience from my participation in that show.”
So what exactly is her role in “Mga Lihim ni Urduja”? “I play Valencia, a bounty hunter who wants to get the magical necklace ni Hara Urduja. So viewers will hate me dahil kalaban ako nina Kylie at Gabbi.”
Her character is an expert in donning various disguises.
She says the character is her total opposite in real life. “Kasi very fashionista, very stylish and colorful, na hindi talaga ako kasi basic at simple lang akong manamit. So very challenging for me ang biglang switch from simple Arra to the very hip Valencia. Pero sobrang tuwang-tuwa ako sa character ko kasi ang sarap niyang laruin sa harap ng kamera as she’s also evil, complex. First time for me to play such a bad woman and it’s good the whole team helped me na buuin ang character ko. They tell me, ganito ka, ganito ang nuances. I listen to all their suggestions and they interpret my role kung paano mag-isip si Valencia.”
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‘It’s really an honor for me to be acting with three of the country’s best actresses: Nora, Gina and Jaclyn. — Alfred Vargas’
Quezon City Councilor Alfred Vargas has presented the main cast of the movie he is producing, “Pieta,” led by Nora Aunor and Gina Alajar. He now presents the other stars who are playing equally important roles in the film: Jaclyn Jose, Bembol Roco and Ina Raymundo.
Jaclyn Jose plays the mom of a young man who is with Alfred in prison, Bembol Roco is an elderly prisoner who becomes Alfred’s friend and adviser, and Ina Raymundo is Alfred’s girlfriend at the time he was arrested for allegedly killing his own father and with whom he reconnects after he regains his freedom.
Also in the cast of “Pieta” are Allan Paule as the prison warden, Tommy Alejandrino as Ina’s son who becomes close to Alfred and to Ate Guy, and Angeli Bayani as the young Ate Guy.
“We have a formidable cast and I’m proud kasi all of them are award-winners, including the young Tommy Alejandrino who was best actor at the last Cinemalaya for ‘The Baseball Player’,” says Alfred. “It’s really an honor for me to be acting with three of the country’s best actresses: Nora, Gina and Jaclyn. Ngayon lang sila napagsama-samang tatlo in one movie. May pressure for me to give my very best in my scenes with them and I promise pagbubutihan ko nang hindi ako mapahiya sa kanila and to our director, Adolf Alix Jr.”
Aside from “Pieta,” he is also in the cast of the new GMA afternoon drama series, “AraBella,” which is also directed by Direk Adolf. He plays the role of Ariel, the sympathetic neighbor of Camille Prats who helps her after she loses her daughter.
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Ayanna Misola plays a very challenging role in “Salamat Daks,” the story of an aging woman (Alma Moreno) who has not experienced love and falls in love with a vlogger played by Nikko Natividad. She then uses all her savings to get surgical enhancement. After the procedure, the character of Alma really changed and she is now played by Ayanna.
“Masayang gawin pero mahirap, kasi kailangan kong gayahin ang mannerisms ni Miss Alma,” says Ayanna. “To prepare for this, I watched many of her old movies. Sa shooting, nakipag-bonding ako with her and sabi niya, gayahin ko kung paano siya gumalaw.
Magkaiba talaga kami kasi introvert ako and she’s very outgoing. But I think I pulled it off naman. Sa movie, my lines were dubbed Miss Alma mismo herself para boses pa rin niya ang ginagamit.”
The title is supposed to be “Salamat Dok,” since her character became young again thanks to her doctor. But Direk Bobby played on it to make it suggestive. “Salamat Daks” refers to Nikko’s character who is supposed to be “daks” or well endowed. Is size really that important for her?
“Sa totoo lang, for me, size doesn’t matter. As long as love mo ‘yung tao, that’s what really matters. Alangan namang kapag hindi mo gusto ang size niya, iiwanan mo na siya? Aanhin mo ang daks kundi naman siya magaling sa kama o mabait na tao?”
What does she think of women who resort to cosmetic procedures to improve their looks?
“I’m very open minded about enhancement, kahit na nga ako mismo wala pa kong napapagawa kasi 20 pa lang ako. But among celebs abroad, like the Kardashians lahat sila nagpa enhance na ng hitsura nila. Wala namang masama kung makakatulong sa’yo, basta wag silang maging addicted to enhancements na ayaw na nilang tumigil.”
