She then graciously answered all the questions we’ve been meaning to ask her. What can she say about the observation of some folks that her movie is an imitation of Meryl Streep’s “The Devil Wears Prada”?
“Hindi naman,” she says. “Malayo naman ang story roon. Siguro dahil pareho lang kaming strict boss, but yung character ko rito, si Vivian Zapanta, nagkasakit siya at kumuha ng caregiver, si Angel Locsin. Tapos may anak siya, si Xian Lim, at matindi ang conflict nilang mag-ina. Wala namang ganun kay Meryl Streep.”
She also played a woman dying of cancer in the 1989 movie, “Pahiram ng Isang Umaga”. What’s the difference between that and “Everything About Her”? “Sobrang magkaiba rin sila, kahit parehong Bernal ang mga director. Yung movie namin ng late Ishmael Bernal is a serious, heavy drama. This one with Joyce Bernal is much lighter. Kasi ayaw raw ng audiences ngayon ng sobrang mabigat na drama, so maraming touches of comedy and situations dito na nakakatawa, like yung pagsuka ko sa mamahaling handbag pa. Also, sa ‘Pahiram’, bata lang yung anak ko, played by Billy Crawford then. This time, binata naman yung anak kong balikbayan, si Xian, so may puso rin kasi hindi lang kami ang may issue kundi si Angel Locsin as my caregiver na may conflict din sa sarili niyang ina.”
In the scene where she got so angry with Angel and started hurting her physically, didn’t she have any hesitation in striking Angel? “Naku, naka-five takes yun kasi sabi ni Direk Joyce hindi convincing yung pressure ng paghampas ko Angel, e. Siempre, ayoko namang masaktan siya so ayokong maging mabigat ang pressure ng kamay ko. Pero pinapaulit so sabi ni Angel, sige na, tita, totohanin nyo na, okay lang, walang problema. So ayun, nung ginawa namin ulit, hindi lang hampas ang ginawa ko sa kanya kundi may kasama pang sabunot. Pero may pinagmulan kung bakit ko ginawa yun. She revealed a big secret to my son na sabi ko, huwag niyang sasabihin, kaya sobra ang galit ko sa kanya. Basta panoorin nyo kasi tiyak na madadala rin kayo sa ganda ng eksenang yun.”
