Bago pa lumabas ang trailer ng Revirginized, inaasahan na ni Sharon Cuneta na medyo violent ang magiging reaksiyon ng ibang Sharonians na nasanay sa usual roles na ginagampanan niya.
“From Dear Heart, always the simple, the true, the good, the beautiful, the wholesome, the sweet, the matino, the disente, you know,” pasakalye ni Mega sa virtual mediacon nitong Agosto 4, Miyerkules.
“But I said, after more than 60 movies actually, medyo I think I have already earned the right to play around and experiment with other roles.
“And, you know, at my age especially, a role like this comes along, written by the genius Direk Darryl Yap.
“Alam niyo, ang mali lang sa mga tao, ang napapansin lang nila lagi, yung controversial na mga eksenang lumalabas sa trailers ng movies ni Direk Darryl.
“Pero if you watch his movie, mano-notice niyo po, sa umpisa puro kalokohan 'yan, puro ganyan. Pero in the end, laging merong tusok sa puso.
“Nung ikinuwento niya sa akin ito actually, nung pinitch niya sa amin… napaluha ako, e. So, hindi ko mahindian.
“And I said, ‘Tapangan ko nga yung sarili ko,’ sabihin ko, and in my own way, but I’ll try to… do it in my own way.
“Iyon ang pinakabastos na kaya ko! Pero, ahhm… I think once in a while, when an actor does a movie that is outside of his or her usual genre, na inaabangan ng audience niya at kinasanayan…
“Then that makes the audience appreciate the other skills of the actor. And then makes the audience miss the usual kind of movies na ginagawa ng artistang yun.
“So I look forward to doing the usual, let’s just call it the usual Sharon movie, na mas medyo deeper na ngayon. Mas mature na, because so am I.
“But this movie is truly special to me because the role gave me the freedom to become a totally different person.
“Totally… medyo halos opposite ng character ko, except for the strength, sa inner strength.
“So, I’m very excited actually over Revirginized. When we were shooting it, alam ni Direk, minsan may mga eksenang…
“‘Diyos ko, Direk! Talaga bang gagawin ko ‘to?! Talaga bang sasabihin ko ‘to?! Pero hindi… artista ako. Susundin kita!’
“I trust fully, totally in my director, in the story. Tinanggap ko dahil gusto kong gawin, hindi dahil sa kailangan kong gawin.
“I wanted a challenge, and so I got it. And I think that… I hope I did justice to the role.
“And I hope my Sharonians will… ahhm, give it a chance, and try to see beyond just the mga pagmumura, at iyong mga salitang hindi ko usually sinasabi kahit sa tunay na buhay! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
“Iyong mga body parts. Iyong usual na mga salitang hindi ko kinasanayan, I hope na malagpasan nila 'yon sa panonood nila ng pelikula.
“At makita nila yung core at yung puso ng movie. Iyon ang hope ko dahil talagang… it’s special to me.”
SHARON IDENTIFIES WITH HER ROLE IN REVIRGINIZED
Sa istorya ng Revirginized, 16-anyos si Carmela nang magkaanak. Sa totoong buhay, secretly married na si Sharon nang ipagbuntis si KC Concepcion sa edad na 19.
“Medyo naka-identify ako nang konti kay Carmela dahil parang nawalan ng… Hindi na-experience ni Carmela fully yung pagiging dalaga,” sambit ni Shawie.
“So, sa buong movie, before she meets Morph [Marco Gumabao], talagang si Bart [Albert Martinez] lang ang naging boyfriend, at una at huli sa buhay niya na nakapiling.
“Nainlaban, at pinakasalan, hanggang iniwan. Kasi, mahal niya talaga. And then… and then, in the trailer, nakita niyo naman, iniwan siya ni Bart.
“So, ayun yung ano… baligtad naman yun, dahil hindi naman ako iniwan. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
“Pero I can identify with the… parang nawala yung experiences ng pagiging dalaga ni Carmela.
“Ako, na-experience ko ang pagdadalaga, after my first marriage broke up. And… I already had a child. So, we were a package deal.
“But this time, it’s different. And I was also working. So, nakaka-identify ako kay Carmela nang konti, although… ahhm, yeah… hindi ko na-experience… sayang!
“Hindi ko na-experience yung na-experience ni Carmela, Direk! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Yung nag-party nang ganun nung araw.
“Kasi, hindi ako lumalabas ng bahay! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Good girl ako, e!”
ON LEADING MAN MARCO GUMABAO
Na-enjoy ni Sharon, 55, ang pakikipagtrabaho kay Marco, 26, bilang leading man niya.
“Marco is a dream to work with. He’s a… much… naku, Diyos ko! Anak ko na iyan, e, di ba?!” saad ni Shawie.
“Pero… younger than KC pa! But in the movie, ahhm, actually, up to now, I call him Pawie. Usually, when it’s someone his age that I work with, I call him ‘son.’ Anybody, ‘son.’ Or ‘anak’ if it’s a girl.
“With Marco, I tried to keep it really straight, ‘no? This is Pawie, this is my honey in the movie.
“So, hanggang promo, pinaninindigan ko 'yon. For the sake of the movie. But he’s a dream to work with because he’s professional.
“He is, ahh… obviously, he is the heartthrob of Viva now. He’s a good boy, we’re both Christian.
“And, ahh, you know what, he is a friend of mine. I made three new friends in this movie. Three real new friends.
“Direk Darryl, Miss Rosanna Roces my love-love, and Marco… I enjoy being friends with Marco, I enjoy being friends with Direk, and of course, I’m very close now to Osang.
“Osang and I constantly keep in touch, like Marco and Direk and I do.
“Marco, for a relatively newcomer compared to me, magaling siyang umarte. Marco, magaling kang umarte! Si Pawie!”
MARCO ON SHARON'S COMPLIMENTS
Tuwang-tuwa si Marco sa magagandang sinabi ni Sharon tungkol sa kanya.
Masayang reaksiyon ni Marco, “Grabe, ‘no… parang hindi ako sanay na nakakatanggap ng compliments of course coming from Pawie, of course Miss Sharon.
“And sobrang nakakakilig lang, di ba? Because of course, it’s a dream to work with you. Parang nagulat ako when you said it’s a dream to work with me.
“Pero parang… I should be saying that towards you, di ba? Kasi, I’m sure that every artist’s dream talaga here in the Philippines is to at least work with you, and what more to be paired with you, di ba?
“So, I’m just thankful of course to you, and sa Viva for giving me this opportunity to work with you, and to showcase my talent also.”
Bago mag-shooting ng Revirginized, hindi pa napanood ni Sharon ang alin mang pelikula ni Marco.
Lahad ni Sharon, “So because I trust in Viva, alam ko namang hindi nila ako bibigyan ng leading man na, you know…
“I just asked a few questions. OK. Where he’s from? Oh, he’s the son of… OK. I’ve always been a fan of his mom.
“Si Miss Loli [Imperial], nang makilala ko sa live namin ni Marco, kinilig ako dahil lumalaki ako, she was really one of the… siguro, one of the top three most beautiful in the country.
“She did all these commercials, so it’s no wonder Marco looks like this. Also his dad is good-looking, you know.
“So I said OK, but I’ve never seen any of his movies. But I knew Viva wasn’t going to give me, and Direk was not going to allow a newbie with no experience who didn’t know how to act, ahhm, to be in his movie.
“So, OK. So the first day I met Marco, he was wearing a mask. Kasi, naka-lock in na kami. Kaming lahat, na-swab na.
“And then he just arrived. And then, we were talking. And then, someone said, ‘Remove your mask so she can see your face.’
“And then… oh my God! He’s so handsome. So I said, ahhm, ‘O, napakaguwapo ng batang ito.’
“Actually, nung panahon ko nung pagka-Venus ko, na mga ‘90s, siguro malamang, naligawan ako nito. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
“Pero sabi nga ni Delfin, ‘Ikaw kasi, Georgia, huli ka nang ipanganak!’ Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!”
Si Georgia ay karakter ni Sharon sa 1990 Viva movie na Kahit Konting Pagtingin na pinagtambalan nila ni Fernando Poe Jr. (gumanap na Delfin). Ang sequel nito na Minsan Pa (Kahit Konting Pagtingin 2) ay noong 1995 ipinalabas.
Maliban kay Marco, ang isa pang young actor today na napalapit kay Sharon ay si Joshua Garcia, na nakatrabaho niya sa Star Cinema movie na Unexpectedly Yours (2017).
“Joshua Garcia is really like my son, but we lost touch. But Marco has become my friend,” matamis na pagngiti ni Sharon.
“Because nga pinanindigan namin yung pagiging Pawie couple namin in this movie. But after this movie, I can be your other mama. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
“I’ll always be here for you, honey, you know. I’ll always be here for you, also guiding you, if you need my guidance in your career.
“You have good guidance in your life because of your mama, and your faith.
“But si Marco talaga, he was a dream to work with. Kasi, gwapo, mabilis turuan ni Direk. Masarap kaeksena, kasi…
“Sabi ko, OK, the first time he’s working with me, and I know some people become a little bit uncomfortable when they’re working with a veteran.”
Singit ni Marco, “Intimidated.”
“Dahil bago lang sila. Yeah, I didn’t want to use that word, but they’re a little bit intimidated,” pagpapatuloy ni Sharon.
“So, ahmm… but I’m the type that really makes… I like a happy, comfortable set.
“So, it’s really my nature… throughout the four decades I’ve been in showbiz, I befriend everybody…
“Si Marco is such a good boy. I’m very proud of the way he handles his career. And you know, most of all, kaya kami naging magkaibigan—yung kind of son he is.
“He’s the man of the house now. And it’s very touching to me, and… I don’t wanna get emotional about it, but…
“I would wish for a son like Marco.
“He’s really taken on the responsibility of being man of the house, and taken care of his mom, and his family, that makes me so proud to be called his friend.
“I mean that from the bottom of my heart.”
Pinatawan ng life imprisonment ang ama ni Marco, ang aktor na si Dennis Roldan, matapos mahatulan ng guilty sa kasong kidnapping ng isang Filipino-Chinese na batang lalaki, noong 2005.
Streaming na ang Revirginized simula ngayong Agosto 6, Biyernes sa KTX, iWant TFC, TFC IPTV, SKY PPV, at Vivamax.