“It’s tiring but I enjoy doing it to help my husband,” she says. “I particularly want to thank Gov. Joey Salceda of Albay for all his help to us ng husband ko and also Sen. Grace Poe. He used to be with the Liberal Party but is now supporting Partido Galing at Puso as he believes they can do more for our country.”
Still, she does not neglect her duties as stepmom to Sen. Chiz’ twins, especially the girl Chesi who’s so close to her Heart. “Siempre, I have this special sense of responsibility for them,” she says. “I want to see them doing okay all the time. As election time gets nearer, nakaka-pressure at nakaka-tense, but when I’m with the twins, nakaka-relax at sila pa rin ang priority ko.”
In “Juan Happy Love Story”, Heart goes out of her usual comfort zone in doing something more naughty, more daring. She plays Happy, a hopeless romantic who’s looking for the One, her own Mr. Right. Then she meets Dennis as Juan, who’s a carefree playboy with whom she is poles apart. But they fall in love and get married. It turns out they can’t bear their own children. They adopt a little girl, Leanne Amber as Katkat, who’s not enough to sustain their relationship and so they separate. But they have to live together again so they can legally adopt the girl.
The show’s director, Lord Alvin Madridejos, says he uses a different style in his treatment of this off beat love story. “Iba-ibang devices ang ginamit namin and some of them are sexy, risque para maiba naman, but still, laging very tasteful ang treatment,” says the director. “Ibang-iba ang Heart na mapapanood nyo rito. She has to attack her role without any inhibitions, like yung scene na naghubad siya sa harap ni Dennis or yung dominatrix ang dating niya with a bullwhip na hinahagupit si Dennis.”
Didn’t Heart have any reluctance in doing this role? “Siempre, sobrang naiilang ako. I never had a show like this before showing my naughty side. But si Dennis, relaxed lang siya. Pero after a while, nasanay na rin ako. This is actually a welcome change for me dahil puro heavy dramas ang ginagawa ko before, like my last, ‘Beautiful Strangers’, na puro iyakan. This one, nakakatawa.”
What did Sen. Chiz say about it? “Wala, very supportive siya. I made him read the script muna at natatawa nga siya sa sexy but funny situations that I get into.”
So how’s Dennis in their second team up after “Dwarfina”? “Ganun pa rin. Very quiet pa rin. Mahiyain talaga siya, e. HIndi pa rin kami masyadong nag-uusap. But in front of the camera, ang galing-galing pa rin niya.”
Supporting her and Dennis are Gloria Romero and Nick Lizaso as Dennis’ doting grandparents, Gardo Versoza and Lotlot de Leon as Heart’s parents, Joross Gamboa as Heart’s friend who’s in love with her, Ericka Padilla and Vincent Magbanua as Heart’s siblings and Dominic Roco as Heart’s brother in law. Being introduced are GMA’s new talents: the sexy Kim Domingo as Dennis’ business partner who’s seducing him, Rob Moya (the son of Seiko actor Jovit Moya who says he hasn’t seen his dad for 10 years) and Vince Gamad as Dennis’ good friends, Arianne Bautista and Coreen Medina as Heart’s best friends. “Juan Happy Love Story” has Hazel Abonita as program manager and it starts airing on May 16 to replace “Because of You”.
