Did you know that Sunshine Dizon, Iza Calzado, Karylle, and Diana Zubiri auditioned for another show before becoming the Sang’gres of Encantadia?
The four girls actually auditioned for the first GMA-7 adaptation of Darna.
Iza revealed this as their “common denominator” during the Sang’gres’ reunion on PEP Live on Monday, July 25, 2022.
Iza, who played Amihan in Encantadia, recalled, “We all auditioned for Darna, and the audition tapes for that...”
She turned to Sunshine and asked, “Or did you audition for Darna or you weren’t considered, Shine? Parang you were reading for something, I remember.
“Because that’s what Direk Mark told us, na parang the audition tapes for Darna is what they used to cast us for the role.”
Direk Mark is Mark Reyes V, the director of Encantadia.
READ: Iza Calzado reveals how she lost Darna role to Angel Locsin in 2005
Sunshine added, “Oh, alam mo, I don’t exactly remember if it was the Darna role, but I remember being there for something but not for the Darna role.”
Diana also said that it was in that Darna audition where she first met Karylle.
Iza then added, “Same day ba tayo? Because alam ko, same day kami ni Karylle, I went after Karylle, I remember.”
Diana said she was last to do the audition for Darna.
The role eventually went to Angel Locsin, who started her career in the youth-oriented series Click and later got a big break when she became the leading lady in Mulawin.
AFTER DARNA COMES ENCANTADIA
Today, Karylle admits that when Encantadia was offered to them, “parang we never officially knew the story, I just heard it na lang later on.”
In the series, Karylle played the role of Sang’gre Alena, the guardian of the water gem.
For Sunshine's part, she was already enrolled in a Business Management course and was geared to finish college when the role of Pirena was offered to her.
Sunshine related, “They called me to do Encantadia, and then I said na, ‘Naku, baka hindi ko matanggap,’ kasi magtutuloy ako dapat ng college noong time na yun, e.
“’Tapos sinabi sa akin na, ‘Ay, it’s something that you cannot refuse because this show is going to be very big and the biggest fantaserye that GMA will make, chuchuchu.’
“And true enough, noong nakita ko naman, hindi ko siya na-refuse and thank God, hindi ko siya ni-refuse.”
In Diana's case, she was on the set of Bubble Gang when she learned about the good news.
But she actually had apprehensions about accepting the role of Danaya, especially since it would be her first teleserye.
“Na-remember ko, Christmas party namin ng Bubble Gang, parang tinawagan nga ako na merong offer.
“E, first soap ko kasi yung Encantadia, so I cannot understand kung ano yung gagawin. 'Oh, basta, tanggapin na lang natin kasi maganda daw yung role,’ ganyan.
“But ang ano ko lang noon, ayoko lang kasi, siyempre, I don’t know them pa, hindi ko sila kilala personally, parang kinakabahan akong tanggapin.
“’Tapos sabi, ‘Sige na, first time naman, so parang gawin mo na.’
“’Tapos yun nga, nalaman ko rin na kami palang apat, e, na-audition doon sa Darna before.”
Though none of them bagged a role in Darna, playing the original Sang'gres in Encantadia turned out to be a career milestone for the four ladies.
Iza said, “This was really meant for us and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“I would not—I’m sorry, just where I was at that time—I would choose Amihan over Darna. Just me, because that‘s me, just how special that show was.
“You know, Darna was a very big project and it really seals the fate of a lot of whoever gets to play such an iconic role and it’s a great role.
"But personally, to share also the story of the Sang’gres and to have this kind of friendship, I mean down the line we didn’t know that, di ba?
“Years later, we’ll have this and just what that project meant, what that show meant at that time and even to this day, is for me more special, especially because we all got to play the first Amihan, Pirena, Danaya, Alena.
“Parang it was just so special and even just that show, at that time, so unforgettable.”
Interestingly, Iza was tapped to play the "original" Darna in the upcoming version of ABS-CBN.
Watch the Sang'gres' full PEP Live episode here: