DIAMOND star Maricel Soriano, or Marya as she is fondly called in the Philippine entertainment industry, just finished her taping duties for the Kapamilya series, “Ang Sa Iyo Ay Akin.”
Recently, she has been sporting a slimmer figure and seems to be happy and contented, according to a recent article in the Philippine Star.
In the series, Marya pits her renowned acting skills against young co-stars like Jodi Sta. maria, Iza Calzado, Sam Milby, Joseph Marco, Grae Fernandez and Kira Balinger. She is complementary of her co-stars and thinks they were not intimidated by her presence.
“They are all brilliant at masaya silang katrabaho. We all get along fine on the set kasi lock-in taping kami so masaya kami na nagkwe-kwentuhan after work,” she related. “Laki ako kay daddy (Comedy King Dolphy) na lahat ay nadadaan sa usapan. It’s not right to get mad just because of minor issues kasi lahat tayo may pinagdadaanan kung minsan at dapat intindihin natin kung may mga pagkakamali man.”
When asked if she ever gives acting tips to fellow stars, especially the younger ones, Marya responds: “It feels good when they tell you, ‘Nay, how do you do this?’ Nand’yan ako para ituro kung ano ang gagawin but I only give tips when they ask. When I am asked, I will answer and I will help at talagang tuturuan ko sila pero kung hindi, huwag kasi s’yempre baka may sarili silang idea how to attack a particular scene. Hindi ko sila pinapangunahan.”
For her role in the teleserye, Maricel had to undergo a physical transformation to portray her role, which she had no problems with.
“It’s my responsibility to the audience (to live up to my character),” she said in the same article. “It’s also because of them why I needed to lose weight. But even if I don’t lose weight, I know they still love me and I’m sure, mas marami pa ang magmamahal ‘pag pumayat ako (laughs).”
Throughout her career, Maricel has always given her all in portraying every character and every role that she has taken on, whether in movies or in television. At this point, she looks for the challenges she will take on whenever she is offered an acting project.
“Sa akin kasi, hindi ‘yung kung ano pa ang gusto kong gawin kundi kung ano ‘yung offer na magugustuhan ko. That for me is more challenging because it will truly put my acting to the test. So, if there is an offer, na kunwari ito ang role, ganito, titingnan ko muna and then from there, I will decide,” she revealed.
Maricel is really happy that projects still keep landing on her lap. She may even do theater one day, but not until the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
Recently, some people have imitated her roles in TikTok, complete with dialogue from those movies. This is probably due to the movie restoration efforts by ABS-CBN, which have put films from yesteryears back into shape and in high-definition color.
“Sobrang natutuwa ako kasi parang kahapon ko lang ginawa ang mga pelikulang ‘yun,” she said, tickled pink by this development.
As for her wishes and hopes for 2021, Maricel has this to say: “I just wish that I will continue to be busy with work dahil maganda ‘pag busy ako kasi pumapayat ako, hahaha.”
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Former Miss Universe winner (2015) Pia Wurtzbach has this advice for women when it comes to relationships: “We cannot be ‘yes’ girls all the time.”
This was brought up in a recent podcast Wurtzbach participated in, which was written about in Inquirer.net.
Pia described having been lost in a relationship before, where she followed the wishes of an unnamed boyfriend prior to joining the pageantry world.
“I didn’t fight back even when I knew something was wrong. I didn’t really have a voice.” Wurtzbach said.
It even came to a point where she chose him over family and career.
“I picked that over my job, over my career. I picked him over hanging out with my friends.
I picked him over spending time with family, as if he became my world,” she related, while adding that she was left with no income as she quit her job to keep the relationship at that time.
It was only through the advice of her sister that she realized that something was wrong – and at that point she felt that she had lost her own identity.
“I gave it everything, all of my time, my efforts, my heart and then napagod ako (I got tired). One day, I just woke up and I left,” Pia said. She only had Php100 in her wallet when she decided to walk out of that relationship.
For Pia, she considers this as a lesson on what to avoid when you get in a relationship. For her breakups don’t have to happen due to big fights, but can take place due to a “gradual decaying of your soul” so it is best to leave some love for yourself.
