Celeste Legaspi Enjoys Playing Maricel Soriano's Mom In 'Ang Dalawang Mrs. Real'

THE FIRST TIME we interviewed Celeste Legaspi was in 1979 when she did a movie based on her hit song then, “Mamang Sorbetero”, with Erap Estrada as her leading man. She first ventured into singing as a member of the Ambivalent Crowd then hit it big as a solo singer with “Saranggola ni Pepe”. The late director Lino Brocka got her to do her first movies, “Santiago” (1970) and “Stardoom” (1971).

Now 64 years old and already a grandma to her 3-year old grandson Diego, Celeste is back on TV playing the mom of Maricel Soriano in GMA-7’s “Ang Dalawang Mrs. Real”. “Before this, I was with Lorna Tolentino in TV5’s ‘Glamorosa’,” she says. “On stage, I last appeared in March at the CCP for Joel Lamangan’s ‘Mga Ama, Mga Anak’. When I’m not acting, I’m with my husband (Nonoy Gallardo) in our herbal garden at Leisure Farms in Lemery, Batangas.”


Why doesn’t she color her hair black to hide her gray hair? “There’s no need for me to do that, I enjoy my age and being retired. I’m glad to be part of ‘Dalawang Mrs. Real’ kasi maganda ang role ko as the wife of Robert Arevalo na mabait. Matapobre yung mister ko at inaapi ang son in law naming si Dingdong Dantes. In one scene, we’re having a family dinner when he insulted Dingdong, so he walks out, kasama si Maricel. Then tumayo rin ako and told him, ‘Ang galing mo. You ruined our family dinner.’ Sympathetic yung role ko, kind and understanding. Mahirap siya gawin kasi before, ang roles ko, laging mataray. The challenge is to find what is really the truth of this family and what makes it special, what it makes work, na hindi ka mataray. And I find it a big challenge.”
GMA-7 is so pleased with the positive feedback the show is getting. Fast-paced and well acted, we won’t be surprised if it would be a big hit. As for Celeste, she’s also in the film version of “Larawan, the Musical” which will star Rachel Alejandro and Joanna Ampil as sisters Paula and Candida, with Tom Rodriguez as Tony, the opportunistic young man who comes between them.