MAX COLLINS’ last teleserye was the hit afternoon soap, “Bihag”. She’s now back on primetime in the GMA Telebabad drama series, “To Have and To Hold”, where she plays Dominique, the wife of Rocco Nacino as Gavin.
“My character is very fragile and vulnerable kasi her parents both died when she was very young,” she says.
“Dominique is really so different from me, but I’m glad that as an actress, we are given the chance to play roles na malayo sa buhay at personality natin in real life.”
She found playing Dominique on screen very challenging.
“Dominique is lovable in some ways kasi she can be very spontaneous, but you also won’t like her in some ways. Ang maganda sa ‘To Love and To Hold’, walang bida or kontrabida among us.
"The viewers will see both the good side and bad side of marriage and I hope people will be able to relate to our stories and characters.”
“To Have and to Hold” is the first series she did now that she is a mother.
“This is the first project that I truly worked so hard on, as I really wanna prove myself, lalo na nga nanay na ako ngayon and I want my child to be proud of my work.
"It gives me more of a drive to prove myself so I dug deep emotionally to play Dominique, to portray her feelings truthfully, and hopefully, the viewers will like it as I’m very proud of my performance.”
But she found doing lock in taping for the show quite difficult.
“Sacrifice nga ito kasi nalayo ako sa family ko. I really missed my baby. Pine-face time ko lang siya. But being married has helped me a lot to connect with this role emotionally.
"I felt I have a lot more things from my jar na puede kong mahugot kasi I’m not an emotional person, but being married now helped me to portray my role well.”
Since she’s married now, what advice would she give to her co-star, Carla Abellana, who’s getting married next month?
“Number one is communication. Very important yun kasi once you stop talking to each other, mas lalaki ang problem. Number 2 is to appreciate more the little things you have and be thankful for the happy moments that you experience together.
"Number 3 is you have to make a conscious effort to make ur partner happy. That’s very important in any relationship.”
Their show is about infidelity. Can she forgive a cheating partner?
“Oh yes. I can forgive. Marriage and love should be stronger than infidelity. You should be ready to give a second chance. But it all depends on your partner, if he wants to be forgiven.
"Ang importante, huwag ka lang abusuhin ng partner mo sa pagpapatawad mo. Our show will help you assess your own relationship and see kung may pagkakamali ka rin ba sa partner mo and you can try to work things out.”
Earlier, there was a rumor that she and hubby Pancho Magno were having kinks in their marriage but she just shrugs this off.
“Tahimik kasi kami sa social media, but I’m so grateful to have a husband who supports me and my career and who really understands me. We filter what we show to other people because we like to keep our lives private.
"Okay lang naman if people wanna talk about us. As they say, publicity is still publicity. Basta kami lang talaga ang nakakaalam how our lives are doing and how we are as parents to our son, Skye.”
