Maricel is busy again
BY MARIO BAUTISTA
Maricel is busy again
By Mario Bautista
Maricel will be busy as she celebrates her 45th birthday.
THE character played by Carla Abellana in "The Last Prince," Sonia, finally appeared last week after Prince Javino (Geoff Eigenmann) succeeded in escaping from the kingdom of Paladino as a frog and jumping into the world of mortals. Because of this, she and Geoff now see each other again frequently during tapings. The fans of their love team will be glad to know that they have become closer than ever. But how come there’s a rumor that she reconciled with her ex-boyfriend, Ginebra cager JC Intal, last December and they were even seen together on Valentine’s Day.
"That’s definitely not true," she says. "We’ve remained friends even after we broke up and we do communicate, pero hanggang friends na lang talaga. Noong Valentine’s Day, I was busy with work kasi last elimination na sa ‘Starstruck V’ which I’m hosting with Dennis Trillo at almost 10 p.m. na kami natapos sa studio. This Sunday, we’ll be busier kasi nga, finals na ng ‘Starstruck V’ sa Araneta Coliseum. Ako mismo, excited nang malaman who’ll be the two winners so don’t miss it."
JC de Vera is excited that after the heavy drama "Sana Ngayong Pasko," he’s now doing an action-adventure, "Panday Kids," GMA-7’s newest telefantasya to replace "Darna" that ends tomorrow. Is it true JC got so jealous when he saw Rhian Ramos and Akihiro Sato so sweet to each other in a recent social gathering that he walked out?
"No, I didn’t walk out," he says. "I left early kasi medyo tinamaan na ako sa ininom ko. Ayoko namang malasing nang husto. Wala akong dapat ipagselos sa kanila kasi friends lang kami ni Rhian. Up to now, we text each other every now and then."
Matteo Guidicelli gets his first lead role opposite Andi Eigenmann in ABS-CBN’s "Agua Bendita." "I’ve done soaps before like ‘Ligaw na Bulaklak’ and ‘Kung Fu Kids’ but this is my most challenging role so far as Ronnie, a rich boy who went blind when he met an accident at sea and Andi saves me," he says. "To prepare for the role, I watched movies with blind characters like ‘Scent of a Woman’ and ‘Blindness.’ I also talked to blind masseurs."
Born in Cebu on March 26, 1990 Matteo’s dad is a businessman from Venice who established a toy business, Tateri, in Cebu.
Matteo’s mom is from the well-known Fernan family of Cebu. The eldest of three kids, he has a younger sister who’s 18 and a brother who’s only 3 years old. He really wants to be a star so he majored in musical theater in Columbia College in Chicago and did plays like "Pippin," "The Boor" and "Memory of Two Mondays." He got numerous awards as a kart racer but his mom told him to stop this as it’s very dangerous. "I got hospitalized twice na," he says.
Paul Jake Castillo, the second placer in "Pinoy Big Brother: Double Up," admits that growing up with a wealthy family in Cebu, he’s not fond of local showbiz and that he was so surprised when he came out of Kuya’s house and people were mobbing him. "I was overwhelmed,’ he says. "May banners, people wearing T shirts with my name on it. Inside PBB, we didn’t have an inkling of what’s going on outside so I was really shocked to find out that we’ve become so popular. And okay lang with me to be second placer as being big winner entails bigger responsiblities."
Johan (pronounced Yohan) Santos, the fourth placer who used to be a waiter in TGIF, admits he joined "Starstruck 3" (the late Marky Cielo won) before but didn’t make it to the finals. "Sobrang mahiyain pa kasi ako noon," he says. "Hanggang ngayon, mahiyain pa rin ako kaya sinasanay ko na ang sarili ko na maging mas makuwento ngayong nasa showbiz na ako."
Fifth placer Tibo Jumalon is tagged "Dad of Steel of Cagayan de Oro" as he has a wife and three kids. His mom had five children with five different fathers. Kris Aquino is his crush and he’d want to be her personal bodyguard.
Greggy Santos was one of the finalists of GMA-7’s "Are You the Next Big Star?" He’s now cast in the movie "Pitas" as the best friend of Sid Lucero. "We’re both snatchers here at ako ang sidekick niya," he says.
Was there was no offer from GMA after the show?
"Wala po. ‘Yung winners lang ang nabigyan ng show in ‘Banda Oke.’ I really want to try acting when the offer to do this movie came, tinanggap ko agad."
Negotiations for him to be handled by Perry Lansigan are now on-going. Come to think of it, how come GMA didn’t get some of the finalists in "Are You the Next Big Star?" to join "SOP." A handful of them are really much better than some of those who are given the chance to do musical numbers in their Sunday show.
What makes "Ina, Kasusuklaman Ba Kita?" engaging to watch is not only the fine acting of its stars but also the twists and turns in the story. The conflict here is not only between the mother, Jean Garcia as Alvina, and her daughters Jennica Garcia and Iwa Moto as Rizzi and Rosan, but also between the two sisters who have different fathers. The sisters are rivals over Cito (Paolo Avelino). At one point, they figure in a violent catfight because of him. Rizzi is secretly in love with Cito who courted Rosan not knowing she’ll just play with his heart. When Cito learns this, they break up and he becomes closer to Rizzi, then Rosan wants to get him back so the sisters fight again. Their mom intervenes, giving them a knife each saying: "Sige, magpatayan na kayo." The three of them are all good in this very intense sequence. Walang nagpatalo.
We remember seeing Maricel Soriano as a child star in "John en Marsha" and "Kaluskos Musmos." In 1980, Mother Lily Monteverde invited us to her contract signing with Snooky Serna for them to be launched as Regal babies in "Underage," a huge hit. She was 15 then. We’ve seen her blossom to be one of our finest actresses in local cinema and we still believe she should have won even just a single best actress award for her tour de force performance in "Ikaw Pa Lang ang Minahal" in 1992. And now, she’s turning 45 on February 25 and we’ve realized that we have been witnessed to the rise and fall of so many showbiz careers. That really dates us. Maricel will be busy as she celebrates her birthday. She’ll soon start taping her new show on TV 5, "Five-Star Drama Special," with real-life friend Roderick Paulate as her special guest in the pilot episode that’s a comedy. The show will also feature drama, horror and romantic stories. This will be shown in time for TV 5’s big launch in March. It’ll be recalled that her former drama anthology, "Maricel Drama Special" ran for years so this really is her forte.