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How has the MariMar experience been for the lady who’s portraying her? iGMA sat down with the busy Marian Rivera to talk to her about everything MariMar.
Since launching into our television sets and into our hearts last August of 2007, MariMar has become a daily habit for some and an obsession for others. But how has the MariMar experience been for the lady who’s portraying her? iGMA sat down with the busy Marian Rivera during one of the rare times she was resting on the set to talk to her about everything MariMar. Text by Jason John S. Lim. With interviews by Alula Love M. Dela Cruz. Photos by Mitch S. Mauricio. Last October 8, the crew of MariMar celebrated over lunch their highest rating achieved at the time: a flat 40% audience share. “Sobrang happy namin nina Direk Joyce,” Marian Rivera gushed, unable to express just how thankful she and the rest of the cast and crew were for the faith that viewers had placed on them. Marian opined that it must be the mature storylines of the show that’s pulling the viewers in. She only hoped that the support would continue when MariMar turns into Bella Aldama. The crew clearly earned the high ratings that their show had been gaining since it began almost two months ago -- especially Marian who had done everything humanly possible to make MariMar as believable as possible. Being MariMar During the first act of MariMar’s story, Marian didn’t have to explore a lot of complexities in the innocent character of MariMar. After all, the character hardly hides any of her emotions. But does MariMar’s excessive crying tire Marian out? Marian said no before revealing that it’s not hard for her to cry. “Unang-una kasi iyakin ako. Madali akong mapaiyak talaga, konting bagay lang iniiyakan ko talaga.” During rehearsals, she would prepare herself for an upcoming scene and when she starts to cry, she doesn’t stop. “Pag kasi umiyak ako, tuloy-tuloy na siya, umiiyak na talaga ako.” “Motivation lang talaga ‘yung kailangan. Siguro experience sa pag-iyak, ‘yung mga napagdaanan kong mga problema siguro.” “Hindi ako maarte eh,” Marian explained, saying that whatever their directors, Joyce Bernal and Mac Alejandre, would tell them to do she would follow, no questions asked. She shared that whenever a scene would call for her to cry or fall, she would just let herself go. “Wala akong buwelo. Basta hindi ko kino-control ‘yung sarili ko ke-masaktan ako, o mamaga ng konti.” But Marian fans should not fret! Marian also revealed that the production crew always made sure that all her scenes are safe. “Nakaalalay silang lahat. As in sobrang, nag-aalala talaga sila. Lahat sila, okay talaga. Safe naman talaga lahat ng nangyayari sa MariMar.” Marian did share one instance where she herself had problems during a scene: her underwater adventure with Sergio. “Sobrang sakit ng mata ko doon,” Marian disclosed. “Tsaka extensions ako! After n’un, numipis ‘yung buhok ko. Kasi salt ‘yun eh. Hindi pwede ‘yung extensions sa salt eh. Walang choice kundi tanggalin ‘yung mga buhol. Siguro sa 250 na nilagay (sa buhok ko), 50 na lang ang natira.” Her Co-Stars From her behind-the-scenes revelation on playing MariMar, Marian moved on to dishing out about her behind-the-scene relationship with her co-stars. “Si Dong (Dingdong Dantes) kasi, madali kaming nagkahulugan ng loob,” Marian divulged. “As in wala na talang wall. Bala ka sa buhay mo kung anong gagawin mo diyan. Wala talagang ilangan. Kaya kapag sinabi ni Direk, kailangan mag-isip kayo magkiss kayo. Automatic, mwah! Tapos.” And it certainly helped the two that they didn’t have to feel uncomfortable after every take. The two were very professional, making the atmosphere at the set very light. “Ang maganda doon, ine-enjoy namin parehas ‘yung trabaho.” “(Si Katrina Halili,) noong una, nagkakailangan kami.” But Marian was quick to explain that it was only because the show is their first project together, and their scenes were hardly the type of scenes co-stars could bond over. “Puro sampal, tulak, pangiinsulto, lahat ganoon! “Pero habang nagtatagal, minsan naga-approach na ako para maging maayos ‘yung situation. So okay naman kaming dalawa.” Marian also revealed that Katrina and she both enjoy chocolates, and that’s what brought them even closer. Aside from Dingdong and Katrina, Marian cited Sheena Halili, Richard Gomez, Leo Martinez and Caridad Sanchez as the cast members she became closest with. “Parang totoong MariMar kami na talagang stick (together) talaga sa kwentuhan... Lalo na si Lolo Pancho kapag nagpa-punchline. So sobrang masasaya kami.” Moving Forward Now that MariMar had moved on to a different circle and to a different identity, Marian had begun to face a different challenge: playing Bella, the wiser and more independent version of her initial character. “Actually, excited akong maging Bella,” Marian said, back to gushing. But the actress quickly turned serious when she relayed that she didn’t want Bella to be too mean. “Kasi parang image model ako ng mga bata eh. Ang tingin nila mabait si MariMar, magalang... What if mag-Bella na ako? “Siyempre ang tingin nila sa akin, mabait pa rin ako. Parang ina-idolize nila ang MariMar eh. Kung magiging salbahe, ay! (Baka isipin nila na) okay pala ang maging salbahe.” MariMar had already begun her transformation into Bella Aldama, don’t fail to watch her transition from the innocent young woman to the intelligent woman out for revenge. Tune in every weeknight on MariMar to catch the sensation that’s sweeping the nation after Zaido: Pulis Pangkalawakan. Talk about the Telebabad series at the iGMA forums! If you’re not yet registered, take the time to register now! Who knows? You might even get to chat with your favorite Kapuso star! And don’t forget that you can Feel the Fun with Fanatxt by texting MARIAN to 4627! (Each Fanatxt message costs PhP2.50 for GLOBE, SMART, and TALK 'N TEXT, while it costs PhP2.00 for Sun subscribers.)