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| sue ramirez as adela johnson |
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| director rod marmol with sue ramirez, RK bagatsing and mother lily monteverde |
SUE RAMIREZ had an entry in the Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino last year, “Ang Babaeng Allergic sa Wifi”, where she plays the title role and which is now being shown on Netflix. Recently, she was seen playing a wholesome role in the Korean comedy, “Sunshine Family”. She now admits she plays her most daring assignment to date in her role as a “pokpok” in Regal’s “Cuddle Weather”, an entry in this year’s coming Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino that opens in theaters on September 13.
“But hindi siya daring in terms of hubaran lang but more so in the language used in the movie that most people would find bastos kasi we use Tagalog words for sex organs and the sex act, mga ganun,” she clarifies. “Malaking bagay talaga that we had a heart to heart talk muna ng leading man ko, si RK Bagatsing who plays Ram, with our writer and director, Rod Marmol, and we had a two-day workshop before we shot the movie.
"This helped para ma-orient kami nang husto sa roles namin and the very frank dialogue that we’re supposed to deliver. Alam na namin kung ano ang kaya at hindi namin kayang gawin. Ako naman, it’s no big deal for me. Kasi I grew up with my dad sick and nakikita ko siyang umihi sa bote so sanay ako sa ganyan. Di ako nao-offend saying the private parts ng mga tao even in Tagalog.”
Didn’t she have second thoughts accepting the role? “Not really, kasi may tiwala naman akong poprotektahan ako ng Regal at ni Direk Rod. Hindi naman basta porno ang ginagawa namin, e. We also had an immersion sa Poblacion and interviewed actual sex workers there. We get to understand their plight and it helped us a lot in interpreting our roles.”
She fell in love with her role in “Cuddle Weather”. “Yes, maganda talaga ang role ko as Adela Johnson. At binabasa ko ko pa lang yung script, natatawa na ako by myself. Ibang klase siya. Basta kung anong hinihingi ni direk for the role, ibinigay ko and aking 100 percent. Na-in love din kasi ako agad sa story after reading the script, the unusual relationship of a call girl and a call boy. Sexy romcom at love story ng dalawang pokpok.”
Her and RK’s roles are said to be very sympathetic. “That’s what exciting about this film, because people wouldn’t know what to expect in this movie. You will definitely see something that you’ve never seen before. Kasi prostitutes sina Adela at Ram. They do the act with your customers and pretend they are having pleasure. Pero pag-uwi mo sa bahay, mag-isa ka. Wala kang kayakap, wala ibang taong nandiyan para maka-share mo ng feelings mo.”
The movie is also about loneliness and about real love. “Ganun ako rito, akala mo matapang but soft inside, until I meet nga si RK na baguhan lang sa sex business at ako ang naging mentor niyang nagturo sa kanya ng mga dapat niyang gawin kasi mas veteran ako sa trabaho namin. What we’ll show here are not just the sensitive, sexy scenes.
"The movie is more than that. It’s for mature audiences and is about the real feelings of people who have to sell their own bodies just to earn a living. So when you watch, don’t pass any judgment agad on Adela and Ram because you don’t what they are going through. Just watch muna their whole story, their real story.”
So how is it working with a new director like Rod Marmol and with RK as leading man? “Magaling si Direk. He wrote the script himself, so he knows what he wants, but he’s very collaborative, open to suggestions.
"Si RK, he really surprised me. We’ve never worked together before and I don’t really know him. First time namin to work with each other but he’s fun to work with. Pati mga adlib niya rito sa movie, ibang klase. We really helped each other para mapaganda ang scenes namin together.”
