Angelica Panganiban On Being Paired With A Former Addict JM De Guzman In 'That Thing Called Tadhana'

ANGELICA PANGANIBAN has won two best actress trophies for the rom com, “That Thing Called Tadhana”: the Cinema One Originals and the Gawad Tanglaw Awards. She plays Mace, a young woman who was just dumped by her boyfriend and gets so depressed. She meets JM de Guzman as Anthony at an airport in Europe and they immediately become good friends. The story then becomes a road movie as they travel together in Manila, then up north to Baguio and Sagada.

Has she herself experienced what happened to Mace, who gets so broken hearted? “Yes, na-experience ko na. But at this point hindi ko na maalala kasi masaya na ako,” says Angelica.

Was she able to relate with her role? “Kahit sinong babae, makaka-relate kay Mace. Kasi ganun naman talaga, kapag broken hearted ka, parang ang hirap mag-move on kasi ang feeling mo, it’s the end of the world na. Ang hirap mag-move on.”

It’s good she agreed to be paired with JM de Guzman in the movie when he just returned then from rehab? “To be honest, when I was told siyang makakapareha ko, ang reaction ko was: Ah, talaga? Wala na bang iba? First time ko kasi to work with him at hindi ko siya kilala. Pero lahat ng first impressions ko, binali ni JM when we were shooting na kasi magaling siya at okay katrabaho. You’ll see that for yourself when the movie opens in theatres nationwide on February 4.”

On TV, she’ll next be seen as Madame Claudia in the remake of “Pangako Sa’Yo”. Didn’t she have any reluctance playing mother to the likes of the Kathniel love team? “Noong una, I really can’t believe it. Tinanong ko si Tita Malou Santos, seryoso ba kayo? Noong una nga, Amor Powers pa ang role that was offered to me. But if they trust that I can do it and they really think I can make it work, e di sige, I will take the risk.”