RHEN ESCANO joined showbiz when she was only 13 years in TV5’s “Lipgloss” where Lovi Poe was one of the leads.
Now, they’re together again in the sex-thriller “The Other Wife” where they play rivals for the attention of Joem Bascon. She played many supporting roles on TV and also joined the late Kuya Germs’ midnight show, “Walang Tulugan”.
Her career wouldn’t take off, so she agreed to accept daring roles in “Untrue” and “Adan” where she showed off her bare chest.
She even did sizzling love scenes with Xian Lim in “Untrue” and with Cindy Miranda as her lesbian lover in “Adan”.
“I felt ilang taon na ako sa showbiz but walang nangyayari sa career ko, it’s not growing, so I should do something out of the box,” she says.
“So yun, nagpa-sexy, and I’m glad napansin naman ng mga tao. That’s when I realized I really need to be brave and daring for me to realize kung ano talaga ang mga kaya kong gawin sa harap ng kamera.
"But in all fairness, hindi naman ako basta naghuhubad. Importante talaga ang mga eksenang ginawa ko. Because of what Xian did to me in ‘Untrue’, naghiganti sa kanya ang sister kong si Cristine Reyes.
"In ‘Adan’, crucial yung love scenes namin ni Cindy to show yung bond namin sa isa’t isa. Ganun din dito sa ‘The Other Wife’, where I play Joem Bascon’s lover na ititira niya sa bahay nila ng wife niyang si Lovi Poe.”
But she’s hoping she’d be given the chance to play other roles where she won’t be required to disrobe. “Yes, sana makagawa ako ng different movie genres and different kinds of challenging roles.”
In “The Other WIfe”, she plays Luisa, a childhood friend of Joem as Ronnie, who is trying to fix his shake marriage with Lovi Poe as Janis, so they go to his beachhouse in the province to sort things out.
But Luisa joins them and soon, strange things start happening to Lovi. Is she going mad and imagining things or is Rhen just plotting something sinister against her?
“We have a number of love scenes and they’re not easy to do so I’m thankful inalalayan ako ni Joem. First time ko to work with him and he’s a real gentleman.
"Thanks din to our director, Prime Cruz, who made sure that everything would be worth it. When we watched the movie, ang ganda naman talaga ng pagkakagawa and I’m sure viewers would appreciate it.
"I love what I’m doing and this film helped me in improving my craft. Grateful din ako to work again with Lovi Poe as we worked together well, lifting each other up and empowering one another in our respective roles. Pati si Direk Prime Cruz, napakagaang katrabaho so sana makatrabaho ko sila ulit.”
So what does her boyfriend say about her sex scenes?
“Wala po, e. Masaya po ako kahit single ako. Kung may karelasyon ka, babawalan ka lang magpa-sexy, so huwag na lang kasi ngayon pa lang bumubuwelo yung career ko. Mas priority ko na lang ang projects na binibigay sa akin and I always give my 101 percent best at lalo kong ginagalingan.”
What can she say about reviews saying that her acting in “The Other Wife” is pang-award?
“Nakakatuwa that they appreciate my work and it inspires me to strive and do better in my next assignments. Maganda naman kasi ang role ko.
"Sabi nga ng isang line niya, marami akong kayang gawin na hindi mo aakalaing kaya ko palang gawin. I’m really happy I did this psychological thriller na kakaiba at may twist na you’ve never seen before.”
