She was never given a real big break on GMA so she moved to TV5 in 2010 and did “Basta Driver Sweet Lover”, “Utol Kong Hoodlum” and “Nagbabagang Bulaklak” with them. She even became a co-host of Willie Revillame in his shows then. Last year, she did a guest role in “Maalaala Mo Kaya” and also appeared on “ASAP”. This led to her being cast in “Pasion de Amor”. The rest, as they say, is history.
“I’ll never forget ‘Pasion’ as it really opened new doors and opportunities for me,” says Arci who turned 27 on January 12. “I owe it all to Direk Ruel Bayani who got me for ‘Pasion’. The offer came at a time when I was having second thoughts tungkol sa pag-aartista ko kasi parang walang nangyayari. But now, I can really feel may pinupuntahan ang career ko. I was still doing ‘Pasion’ when Star Cinema got me to play John Lloyd Cruz’ ex-girlfriend in ‘A Second Chance’. It’s a short role, pero markado, and I really had a great time working with him and Direk Cathy Garcia Molina.”
She then got the biggest surprise of her life when she was told she’d be Gerald’s leading lady in “Always Be My Maybe”. “Biglaan yun, e. Hindi nga ako makapaniwala at first. Shooting agad at tuloy-tuloy kasi nga may playdate na kami. Another big blessing for me kasi ngayon pa lang ako makakapag-lead role sa isang movie.”
What role does she play? “I play Tintin. Make up artist po ako. Si Gerald naman is a player and beach bum. I’m a typical woman who dreams of settling down someday. Hopeless romantic kumbaga. Kaso, itong boyfriend kong si Gerald, hindi naniniwala sa kasal-kasal. For him, yung relationship namin, walang label. Just go with the flow lang. So naiinip na ako kasi two or three years na kaming dating ng dating lang, pero ayaw naman niyang magbigay ng full commitment niya. I’m sure maraming girls na tine-take for granted lang ng mga boylets nila ang makaka-relate dito. Ang linyahan namin ni Gerald, maraming hugot lines. At natural lang yung batuhan namin. Ang director pa namin, si Direk Dan Villegas na kilala sa hugot lines niya in his movies like ‘Breakup Playlist’ and ‘Walang Forever’. So tiyak winner na naman itong movie namin.”
Is it possible for her and Gerald to fall for each other even off cam? “Ang guwapo nga niya, easy to work with at very comfortable na kami sa isa’t isa, pero hindi siguro.” We heard it’s because Arci is now in a relationship with a guy whose enigmatic name is Bones Frankenstein.
