ROSANNA ROCES is no doubt the Pandemic Queen of the movies. Whereas other stars are jobless, the pandemic has not stopped her from doing one movie after another.
She was just seen in “Gusto Ko Maging Pornstar” directed by Darryl Yap, then she did “Kontrabida” with Direk Adolf Alix and is now shooting “Huling Birheng Bakla sa Balat ng Lupa” with Direk Joel Lamangan.
For Darryl Yap, she has also finished “Revirginized” with Sharon Cuneta and also “Kung Pwede Lang” which is now about to be shown on Vivamax staring April 9.
“Kung Pwede Lang” is originally a series called Rantserye made by Vincentiments, where people can voice out their opinions and express their personal sentiments about any kind of issue, personal or otherwise. They now air it as a regular series in Vivamax.
Why is Osang so close now to Direk Darryl that she’s in the cast of all his projects? We ask the young director if Osang is really his favorite actress.
“Oo, bumubuo kami ng sindikato ni Mama O,” he says laughing. “Ever since, dream ko talagang makatrabaho siya. Kasi gusto ko siya sa past films niya, like yung ‘Babae sa Bintana’.
"E, ngayon pareho kaming may malaking pangangailangan kaya lagi kaming magkatrabaho. And when you're working with her, everyday is sunshine. With her, you don’t have to give too much instructions.
"Napakagaan niyang katrabaho at matalino siya. E, yun ang siya kong laging request sa Viva, give me stars na matalino kasi mas madaling makatrabaho.”
“Si Direk kasi, para siyang si Adam Sandler,” says Osang. “Sa kanya, kung sino ang kasundo ko ng loob, siyang lagi kong kinukuha.
"Personally, nage-enjoy ako sa kanya kasi new breed ng filmmaker, bata, matalino, masarap kausap. Ambilis magtrabaho.
"Sabi nga ni Mega (Sharon Cuneta), sobrang bilis, kasi natapos agad ang ‘Revirginized’ namin. At napansin naming swerte kami kapag magkasama kami. We chat everynight, kung anu-ano lang pinagcha-chat namin.
"After this, we will shoot na rin ‘Porn Star 2’ na kasama na sina Gardo Versoza at Leandro Baldemor.”
In “Kung Pwede Lang”, Osang gets to co-star with two veteran colleagues, Dexter Doria and Dennis Padilla, and three new stars, Loren Marinas, Carlyn Ocampo and Bob Jbeili who play her three children in the movie. How did Direk Darryl cook up the concept for ‘Kung Pwede Lang’?
“Batang 90s ako, e,” he says. “I grew up watching ABS-CBN teleseryes. Doon ako lumaki at naging dream ko to do a teleserye.
"E now, Viva allowed me to have a playground to do my own teleserye about a family.
"‘Kung Pwede Lang’ is an everyday scenario tungkol sa buhay ng isang imperfect filipino family na araw-araw nating nararanasan.
"We call this a rantserye kasi lahat ng family members, gusto ko marinig ang sinasabi nila tungkol sa lipunan bilang nanay, tatay, anak, ate, kuya.
"Gusto ko marinig ng viewers ang opinyon at saloobin ng bawat family member.”
Direk Darryl’s movies are known for its gross, irreverent humor. How does he feel when some quarters call his humor “bastos, baboy”? It’s Osang who replies for him:
“Alam nyo, impresyon ng tao dahil sa movies niya, bastos siya at mayabang, ang content niya puro kababuyan. Pero sa totoo lang, mabuting tao siya. Ang mga magulang niya mismo ang nagsasabi, napakabait niyang anak.
"Nang magkapera siya, ipinagawa niya agad ang bahay nila. His parents said na bata pa, matalino talaga na siya. Sa school, kahit hindi siya nag-aaral, nakakapasa. They told him matalino siya so he should leave Olongapo.
"He then went to Manila at nag-click siya. Pero hindi niya iniwan ang theatre group niyang Sa Wakas sa Olongapo. Hanggang ngayon, full support sila sa kanya kasi hindi niya sila kinalimutan.
"Yung rants naman niya sa social media, defense mechanism niya yun. Nagmamatapang siya, pero ang puso niya, napakabait. Basura raw ang movies niya, pero kumikita. Sa totoo lang, panahon niya ngayon.
"Kaya sa bashers niya, you cannot argue with success. Hanggang next year, fully booked na siya sa projects niya. So sabi niya, hayaan mo silang mambash, kasi ang bash equals to cash.
"You really can’t please everyone. Laging may matutuwa, may magagalit diyan. Basta yun ang technique niya, yung pagiging totoo, natural. Ayaw niyang basta comfortable lang ang audience niya.”
She herself is known for her rants that antagonized people before.
“Ever since, alam mo naman ang bunganga ko, ma-rant talaga ako, lalo na kapag hindi totoo ang sinasabi mo sa’kin.
"But I mellowed na in 2017, nakaka-drain kasi ng energy. The best is huwag mo na lang silang pansinin, wala rin namang pupuntahan.”
What are her other plans now?
“Balak ko sanang mag-adopt with Blessie (her transman partner). Nakaka-miss kasi yung may baby sa bahay. Pero ayaw niya, hintayin ko na lang daw ang magiging apo sa anak kong si Onyok, kasi at least, kadugo ko pa.”
