For highly-respected actress Cherry Pie Picache, to be spat on by no less than Susan Roces herself is still a big honor and a rare privilege.
In ABS-CBN's upcoming drama teleserye Iisa Pa Lamang, one of the most talked about scenes is the confrontation between Cherry Pie's character Isadora and Susan's Aura. The scene showed a heartless Isadora evicting Aura and her granddaughter Catherine (Claudine Barretto) from their own property. Angered by the wickedness of her tormentor, Aura spat on Isadora, right on her face.
The scene was loudly applauded by the entertainment press at the special screening conducted last July 4 at The Block, SM North EDSA, Quezon City.
Last night, July 8, during the grand press conference of Iisa Pa Lamang held at the Plaza Ibarra in Quezon City, Cherry Pie recalled the scene and the story behind it.
Despite her background as a seasoned thespian, Cherry Pie revealed that she was daunted when she read the script and that particular sequence. She even consulted her directors anxiously on how she could effectively carry out the part.
"'Direk, sabi ko, paano ba ‘to?'" she recalled asking directors Ruel Bayani and Manny Palo when they were about to shoot the part.
After a few rehearsals, the scene was successfully completed in "one take" according to Cherry Pie. She added that Susan's spit onscreen was real.
"It has to register on screen," laughed Cherry Pie, "kung hindi, we won't be able to achieve the objective of the scene... I'm really glad it turned out well."
Cherry Pie's role in Iisa Pa Lamang requires her to play villain to the hilt. Much has been said about the experiences of some local actors who portrayed villain roles effectively in the past. They were so effective that die-hard followers of the soap often took it personal and tend to react violently against the actor in public. Cherry Pie took note that she's not bothered by such stories neither would it affect her desire to effectively portray the evil role of Isadora.
"So ‘yon yung unang challenge kung paano ko talaga magiging effective as kontrabida. And one of the most challenging scenes for me is 'yong pinalayas ko nga sila Tita Susan kasi if I'm not mistaken ‘yon yung first sequence, first taping day tapos dinuraan na kaagad ako ni Ms. Susan Roces," shared Cherry Pie animatedly.