Ayra Mariano admitted she got stunned and shocked after her slapping scene with Gladys Reyes in the GMA-7 series Inday Will Always Love You.
As reported by PEP Alerts' Cabinet Files column last August 7, Ayra cried for almost 15 minutes after receiving 3 loud, consecutive slaps from Gladys.
The confrontation of Ayra as Sunshine and Gladys as Amanda was seen in the episode aired last August 3.
In an interview with PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal), through Instagram direct message, Ayra recalled what happened in the scene, wherein she tried to slap Gladys three times but to no avail.
She said, "So yung eksena, dumating ako nang galit na galit kay Amanda kasi sinabi niya sa media na si Sunshine ang may kasalanan at dahilan kung bakit nagkakaroon ng welga ang mga empleyado and kung bakit may mismanagement sa Philip's Lechon.
"Naramdaman ni Sunshine yung betrayal ni Amanda sa kanya, na akala niya partners sila so dapat lalaban na siya.
"Pero dahil pro nga si Amanda at amateur lang si Sunshine, alam na niya ang choreography ng sampal, napigilan niya yung 3 slaps na yun, advance mag-isip!"
According to Ayra, she is already used to getting slapped in acting projects, after experiencing it with Jaclyn Jose and Glydel Mercado from her StarStruck exercises, and with Odette Khan for an episode of Wagas.
Ayra further explained, "Siyempre, pumayag din naman ako sa sampal kaya ready din ako tanggapin kung gaano man kalakas at bago din naman kami mag-eksena, tinanong nina Direk Rember Gelera and Ms. Gladys kung payag ba ako sa sampal."
Despite anticipating the pain from the slap, Ayra was not spared from shock after shooting the scene.
She recalled, "But noong mismong moment na natanggap ko yung kambal na sampal, parang tumigil yung mundo ko nang saglit. Haha!
"Hindi ko na naramdaman kung gaano kasakit kasi parang manhid agad yung feeling.
"Then yung one last slap sa dulo ng eksena, doon talaga...
"Hindi na kinaya ng powers ko! Haha! Napaluhod na lang ako—pero hindi na napakita ito on-air, e—kahit hindi nakalagay sa script kasi nanghina na ako talaga, dala ng sobrang emosyon at nung sampal. Haha!"
Did she really cry for 15 minutes after taking the scene?
The StarStruck 6 First Princess answered, "Hindi ko na matandaan kung gaano katagal yung pag-iyak ko basta ang alam ko matagal-tagal din, kasi after ng sampal, hindi ko na nadinig yung cut ng assistant director namin.
"Ang alam ko lang, nakaluhod na lang ako then iyak ako ng iyak.
"Naramdaman ko na lang may mga yumakap sa akin at nakita ko si Ms. Gladys, nag-so-sorry siya and talagang sobrang kin-ocomfort nya ako.
"And sa pagkaka-tanda ko, ang sinasabi niya sa akin, 'Nak, sorry,' then yakap nang mahigpit.
"Pero hindi agad ako nakarecover. Haha! Hanggang sa dumating ‘yung mom ko, ayun, lalo pa ako naiyak.
"Nakayakap lang ako kay Mommy then may nagpa-inom sakin ng water, and nag-di-deep breathing ako and shine-shake ko yung kamay ko para matigil na yung sobrang pag-iyak at panginginig ng katawan ko."
In order to recover from what happened, Ayra even joked about her situation.
"Nung tumayo na ako at medyo naka-relax na ako, nandoon ang director namin and AD, pati ang EP and AP na nag-thank you at nag-sabing pack-up na. Hehe!
"Then pinilit ko na din mag-joke para matigil na yung raging emotions, sabi ko sa mga tao, 'Akala ko, mako-comatose na ako.'
"Pero matagal talaga yung recovery, yung alam kong relaxed na talaga ako kasi hanggang sa maka-sakay na kami ng van, medyo may kuryente pa yung katawan ko, e. Haha!"
Ayra also said that she had a happy relationship with Gladys, who she first worked with in the 2016 prime-time series Poor Senorita.
She added, "Masaya sya kasama kasi komedyante din sya off-screen."
With her experience, which she called as "one for the books," will Ayra still do slapping scenes in her future TV shows?
She answered in jest, "Uhhhm, siguro, oo. Haha!
"For the love of the craft, at sa ikagaganda ng kwento at ng show.
"Pero I just have a reminder for the viewers, na sana huwag maging daan yung mga eksenang ganun para gawin din nila yun sa totoong buhay.
"We just play our characters, we act out the scenes with truthfulness, and real emotions kaya mukha at ramdam mo talagang totoo.
"But at the end of every sequence, ako, as an actress, balik na ako with being the REAL me, I get out of the character as quickly as possible dahil mahirap na pumasok sa sistema at maisabuhay ko talaga ang karakter ko (lalo na, kasi kontrabida haha)."
Ayra's Sunshine character in Inday Will Always Love You is her first kontrabida role in a teleserye.
Her other teleserye appearances were in Poor Senorita (2016), Mulawin vs. Ravena (2017), G.R.I.N.D. (2017), The One That Got Away (2018), and Ang Forever Ko'y Ikaw (2018).
Here is the video of Gladys and Ayra's slapping scene in Inday Will Always Love You: