ANGELINE QUINTO is very thankful to Mother Lily and Regal for reviving her acting career. It’s common knowledge that her home studio didn’t give her any new movie anymore after her “Born to Love with You” and “Beauty in a Bottle” didn’t do so well at the box office. Now, Regal is reviving her movie career in a a major, major way with not just one but two new film projects at that.
First is the riotous gay comedy, “That Thing Called Tanga Na”, where she is the only female member of the cast co-starring with Eric Quizon, Billy Crawford, Martin Escudero and Kean Cipriano, who all play gay characters. She is paired with Timothy Lawrence Yap, discovered by Regal after he became a runner up in the Mr. and Miss Chinatown search. The second movie is “Never Been Kissed, Never Been Touched”, where she’s paired with Jake Cuenca. Both projects are directed by Joel Lamangan.
“I feel so blessed being able to work with Direk Joel,” she says. “Noong una, natatakot ako, kasi lahat, nagsasabing naninigaw at nagtataray siya. So sa first shooting day pa lang namin in ‘That Thing Called Tanga Na’, tinanong ko agad siya, Direk, anong gusto mong ipagawa sa akin dito? At natuwa siya. Sabi niya, yung ibang artista, naghihintay lang kung ano ang gusto ko mangyari sa eksena. Pero ikaw, nagtanong ka agad, so okay ka. Kaya nagkasundo kami agad. Nagulat siya dahil akala raw niya, singer lang ako, pero magaling daw pala akong aktres, lalo’t mag-comedy.”
How is it working with the all male cast? “Masaya. Tawanan nga kami ng tawanan sa set. Secretary ako ni Eric Quizon dito. Married ako kay Timothy at may baby kami, pero irresponsible siya at nagdududa ako na may babae siya. Ang hindi ko alam, ang babae niya pala, si Kean Cipriano, ang baklang designer na kaibigan ko pa naman, pero yun pala, inaahas ang mister ko.”
How come the earlier reported romance between her and Erik Santos seems to have fizzled out? In an interview with Boy Abunda, Erik said he sends her text messages but she doesn’t reply. “E, kasi, hindi naman niya ako pinapasahan ng load,” she says. “Joke. Ang totoo, masyado nga kasi akong na-busy sa shoot ng ‘That Thing Called Tanga Na’, and right after this, biglang sinunod ang shooting ng ‘Never Been Kissed’, so tuloy-tuloy ang trabaho ko. Pasencia na, kailangan lang pong kumayod.” Since her movie is about gay characters, is she in favor of same sex marriages? “Oo naman.
Dalawang beses na akong nakuhang singer para sa gay marriages at yung isa, sa abroad pa, kaya nakabiyahe pa ako ng libre. At mas malaki sila magbayad, ha. Nang sinu-shoot ko nga itong ‘That Thing Called Tanga Na’, may offer to sing sa isang gay marriage sa Canada, kaya lang, hindi ako makaalis dahil sa shooting, so hindi ko natanggap.”
Has she ever been “tanga sa pag-ibig”, like what their films title says? “Oo naman, more than two years ago, non-showbiz. But I’m sure marami namang nagdaraan sa ganyang experiences. Ako kasi, kapag nagmahal ako, hindi ko na iniisip ang sarili ko. Nagiging priority ko yung love ko, hanggang sa matauhan kang bigyan mo rin ng priority ang sarili mo. Pero kung naging tanga man ako sa pag-ibig, no regrets kasi marami akong natutuhan doon. Hindi ko na babalikan ang ganung experience kasi mas nag-mature na ako.”
