Rita’s character in “Innamorata” has an ugly scar on one half of his face and she was still wearing the prosthetic make up applied to her when she faced the writers who are on a press visit at their beautiful set in Antipolo. We ask her how it feels to have latex make up like that? “Okay lang ito compared sa nilalagay kay Max dahil buong face niya, pinapapangit. Ito, madali lang alisin kapag tapos na ako mag-taping. I just wipe it off with wet tissue. Pero mawawala na ito kasi ipapa-opera na ako sa story kaya hindi na ko lalagyan ng make-up in future episodes.”
She’s been doing soaps only on GMA-7 now. Her last show with ABS was ‘Walang Hanggan’ where she resigned due to health reasons. Did ABS feel bad about this? “I don’t know. Basta for me, okay pa rin ako sa kanila. Kaya lang, nagkasunod-sunod nga ang soaps ko sa GMA: ‘Sana ay Ikaw na Nga’, then ‘Kahit Nasaan Ka Man’ and now, itong ‘Inamorata’. But my husband (FM Reyes) is still with ABS. He’s now directing ‘Moon of Desire’ na nakakatapat namin sa afternoon slot nila.”
How do they feel that they have rival shows? “Wala. Tinatawanan lang namin. E, ganun talaga. It happens.”
Rita is one of the good friends of Marian Rivera. “Una kaming nagkasama sa very first soap niya, ‘Kung Mamahalin Mo Lang Ako’, with Camille Prats, produced by TAPE. Since then, naging malapit na kami sa isa’t isa. When she heard na mayaman ang role ko sa ‘Walang Hanggan’, she sent me clothes na puede kong gamitin doon. Puro bagong damit yun. Ang sweet talaga niya. Malayong-malayo sa mga tsismis about her na mataray siya. Very supportive siya maging sa dolls na alaga ko. Bilib ako sa loyalty niya, pati ang ibang mga naging anak ko, sina Katrina Halili, Melissa Ricks, Andrea Torres at Max Collins, sinusubaybayan nila ang postings ko sa Instagram about my dolls.”
Rita has just finished her third book for children, “The Invisible Wings”, about children who dream of being angels on earth. It will be published by St. Paul’s and to be released a couple of months from now.
