High Denzity

You can recite all the showbiz clichés and all of them aptly describe Maricel Soriano: Mellowed like wine…From Taray Queen to santa-santita…A changed woman now.

At fortysomething, Maricel is at peace with herself and the world, a Diamond Star basking in her shining moment. She has all the awards that attest to her versatility as an actress but, more than the awards, the most important thing is that she is truly, truly happy, and she shows it.

Short of wearing a halo over her head, Maricel has got that Christian spirit and she wants to spread it by sending “inspirational” text messages (actually, quotations from the Bible) to her friends at the stroke of midnight. As I write this, I get one such message from her: This Christmas, let us celebrate with the Celebrant in mind. He deserves no less than our very best offering. I want to lavish You with praise and offering this Christmas, Lord. My very best for You. My sincerest affection for you. My deepest gratitude to You. Happy birthday, Lord!

It shows even in her choice of roles. After a brilliant, “award-winning” turn as the title role in Inang Yaya, she plays another “values-oriented” role in Bahay Kubo (A Pinoy Mano Po), directed by Joel Lamangan for Regal Films in this year’s Metro Filmfest, as a mother who beautifully balances life between her one biological child (played by Shaina Magdayao) and a house-ful of adopted children until, due to unavoidable circumstances, the children leave one by one, turning the once happy bahay kubo sad and empty.

“The movie’s plot is like that of All Mine To Give which is about a mother who gives away her children so that they have better lives,” said the Regal Matriarch Mother Lily who started the Regal Empire 44 years ago with that weepy movie which she bought for P10,000 she borrowed from her older brother Jessie and which made a hundred times more than that at the tills. “Bahay Kubo is full of heart, full of emotion. It will entertain and touch hearts and hopefully make families who will watch it together closer than ever.”

“I don’t make as many movies as I used to,” said Maricel (who co-stars with Gloria Romero, Marian Rivera, Mark Herras, Yasmien Kurdi, Rayver Cruz, Eugene Domingo, Jiro Manio, Bearwin Meily, Isabella de Leon, Rita Iringan and Eric Quizon as her husband. “But when I do, I want to leave a piece of me in the moviegoers.”

Let’s have more “pieces” of Maricel by asking her five questions each “Who, what, where, when, how” style.

WHO

Who is your role model?

“My manager, Wyngard (Tracy). Our relationship goes beyond business. It is based on mutual respect, mutual love and affection, mutual trust.”

Who do you miss most during the Christmas season?

“Myself when I was younger. I miss myself when I was small and I was carefree, with no problem to think of.”

Who is your favorite leading man?

“There are several of them. But I can name three — Aga Muhlach, my leading man in A Love Story, the only movie I have ever done with him; Richard Gomez, with whom I did several movies, including Inday Bote, his first movie; and Christopher de Leon, whom I call Brother Bo.”

Who would you like to be if you were not Maricel Soriano?

“One of God’s angels.”

Who is your most trusted person?

“Also my manager, Wyngard, for the same reasons I mentioned earlier.”

WHAT

What is your biggest achievement as a woman?

“My children (Marron and Sebastien).”

What is your biggest achievement as an actress?

“I think I have a lot, but one of my best performances was in Ikaw Pa Lang ang Minahal (co-starring Richard Gomez and directed by Carlitos Siguion-Reyna).”

What do you consider your biggest mistake?

“I don’t consider even my mistakes as mistakes because I prefer to look at them as learning experiences. I take as positive everything negative that has happened in my life because if I didn’t survive them, I wouldn’t be what and who I am today.”

What’s your biggest frustration and your biggest fear?

“My biggest frustration? Not having enough time for and with my children. My biggest fear? When they get married, magiging lola na ako…Oh, by the way, I’m a lola now, by golly! I’m the lola of my niece Meryll Soriano’s child (by estranged husband Bernard Palanca).”

What is it that you still want to achieve?

“Peace and happiness. I think mayroon na ako n’un, but I wish that for everybody else.”

WHERE

Where do you want to retire?

“Abroad…no particular country. Basta, abroad.”

Where do you go when you want to get away from it all?

“To the beach, with a mountain nearby. It’s the best place and the best time to talk, to let go and to come to terms with whatever doubts are there inside you. Lahat-lahat masasabi at mailalabas mo ng walang pag-iimbot at buong katapatan, di ba? But I never ask why. Ayaw ni Lord ng nagwa-why.”

Where will you spend Christmas?

“Abroad? Where? I’d rather not say where kasi if I do, nabubulilyaso. I’m spending Christmas away from home, definitely, with my two boyfriends…my sons. Is it going to be a White Christmas? Ayokong sabihin!”

Where’s your Achilles Heel?

“My heart. It’s the most vulnerable part of me. Am I the ‘heart over head’ type of person — you know, emotion over reason? I must admit that, yes, oftentimes I am. That’s why kung minsan, tanga ako, eh! So I tell myself, ‘Kung minsan, gamitin mo ito (Pointing to her head. — RFL), Mary!’ But I’m learning to reverse the equation — you know, head over heart, reason over emotion.”

Where’s your favorite hideaway?

“My bathroom. I linger in the bathroom. I would spend hours inside the banyo, sitting on the floor, reading scripts. I don’t know why I’m like that. Sometimes, parang gusto ko mag-Jackstone sa banyo. Ha, ha, ha!”

WHEN

When are you happiest?

“When I’m with my two boys, pag naglalaro kami. We use codes that only we can understand.”

When are you saddest?

“When I’m not with my boys. It has to be with both of them. When Marron was in the States, I felt incomplete. Nag-e-emote ako when he wouldn’t call me. Feeling niya girlfriend niya ako; feeling ko naman boyfriend ko siya. When he failed to call me, I felt bad, masama ang loob ko, it was as if I couldn’t breathe. Totoo!”

When do you blow your top?

“When I’m being pushed too hard. Like when we are at the mall and my kids insist on going to a place na ayaw ko, I would make a little taray, ‘Bakit pa tayo pupunta doon?’ Ganoon. Ha, ha, ha!”

When did you decide to be an actress?

“The truth? I’ve always wanted to be an actress ever since I was small because I wanted to help my family. At a very early age, I saw how hard-up we were, nakita ko kung gaano kami kahirap, so I began asking myself, ‘What kind of work can I do so I can help my family?’ At a young age, I was willing to embrace the responsibility of being a breadwinner — and I have never regretted it.”

When did you have your first heartbreak?

“Oh, I have had a lot of heartbreaks! I don’t remember now when I had my first heartbreak; what I remember is that my mother talked to me and consoled me. I’m a product of a broken family and, I tell you, that can be very painful. I was very young when my parents broke up and, yes, that was the first experience that broke my heart.

HOW

How are you as a mother?

“I’m an average mom. There’s no such thing as a perfect mother. Well, I’ve tried to be one but I just couldn’t be. I don’t think that’s possible at all.”

How are you as a friend?

“I am very loyal — and very honest. If you’re my friend, I will tell you the truth even if it hurts. That’s how friends should be, di ba?”

How are you as a daughter and as a sister?

“Mabait daw akong anak, sabi ng Nanay ko! And, ask my sister (Becbec, Meryll’s mother) and she’ll also tell you na mabait akong kapatid.”

How do you cope with problems?

“I pray. Try it. It helps. Before, when I had a problem or I was put to the test, whether concerning family or friends or affairs of the heart, my first impulse is to try to be on top of the situation, to be in control of everything. But now, it’s not like that. What I do is, I tell Him, ‘Bahala na Kayo. I surrender myself to You!’ And then I feel the burden lift from my shoulder.” (As the song goes, Cast your burden upon me, those who are heavily-laden; come to me all of you who are tired and carrying heavy load… — RFL)

How do you see yourself 10 years from now?

“By then, I will be 53. I guess I will still be doing what I am doing now because I love my job. I also want to spend more time with my boys. Maybe by then, we will be living away from here, pero gagawa pa rin ako ng pelikula.”

RICKY F. LO
The Philippine Star