LJ’s Former Flame

LJ Reyes makes a return to the afternoon drama block—and a return to the arms of Alfred Vargas. And she shares what she thinks people should look out for in the newest ‘Sine Novela’ from GMA: ‘Una Kang Naging Akin’. Text by Jason John S. Lim. Photos by Mitch S. Mauricio. LJ Reyes is no stranger to the afternoon soaps—in fact, she’s already been involved with two productions previously: the now defunct Now and Forever and one that was TAPE-produced. “Pero different naman kasi 'yung Now and Forever from Sine Novela.” Unlike the former, the latter takes classic movies and gives them a more modern spin for the more modern audience. And LJ is happy that unlike her colleagues, she’s not going to have to live up to expectation on her first outing in a Sine Novela! “Nagkataon kasi na 'yung character ko wala doon sa original story,” the actress explains. “So wala masyadong pressure towards 'yung acting, 'yung attack, ‘di ba? So I can play with it. Unlike sina Maxene [Magalona], kailangan siyempre somehow similar doon sa totoong sa unang version.” But, she continues, even if there’s no original actress to live up to, there’s still the pressure of living up to the original movie. “The fact na nagawa na siya, na remake siya, siyempre 'yung mga expectation ng mga tao na same drama pa rin, same story—so siyempre kailangan maibigay namin sa kanila.” As Liway, LJ will be antagonizing the life of Maxene’s character Jessa. The two are half-sisters, but Liway feels as if Jessa is the one loved more by their father—and it doesn’t help that Ronnie (Alfred Vargas), the man Liway loves, is in love with Jessa. “Nakakatawa,” LJ laughs, when she is asked how it feels to be working with Alfred, her ex-boyfriend. She clears up that there’s no bad blood between the two of them, so there will never be a problem on set between them. But she does say that it’s funny how they've been partnered up onscreen now when they’re no longer an item. Liway and Ronnie are additional characters that would flesh out the romance between Jessa and Darwin (Wendell Ramos). LJ says, “kaya naman nadagdag ‘yung character namin, para magkaroon ng kaibahan 'yung ngayon sa noon—at tsaka for soap purposes na rin, kailangan mahaba siya.” Also, she hopes, their characters would be able to explain more of Jessa’s backstory that were never touched upon in the movie; small things that would make the story more complete and more concrete for the viewers. “Kasi, parang ang mangyayari lang, nilagyan lang nila ng mga back story—pero ganoon pa rin naman 'yung mangyayari [sa story]. “Sana ‘yung magawa namin, e mabuo namin lalo 'yung imagination nila—lalo na 'yung mga nakapanood na dati ng movie.” And veering away from the usual answers, LJ says that what television viewers should watch out for in this show is the cast’s chemistry with one another. “Kasi kami-kami, ngayon lang kami magkakasama-sama. And madalas kasi, kung ano 'yung chemistry ng characters, yun 'yung talagang nagpapaganda sa show eh. Sabihin natin, kunwari hindi ako 'yung nandito, iba 'yung magiging kalalabasan, kung ako 'yung ilalagay dito, iba rin ang kalalabasan. Para sa akin, sana abangan nila 'yung magiging magandang output naming lahat, from our collective efforts, sa hardwork namin.” Una Kang Naging Akin airs every weekday afternoon after Daisy Siete, part of GMA’s Dramarama sa Hapon. It also stars Mel Martinez, Gina Alajar, Racquel Villavicencio, Ricardo Cepeda and Ms. Angelika dela Cruz. Talk about the show at the iGMA Forums! Or learn more about the show from LJ through Fanatxt! Here’s how: just text LJ to 4627! (Each Fanatxt message costs PhP2.50 for GLOBE, SMART, and TALK 'N TEXT, and PhP2.00 for Sun subscribers. This service is exclusive to the Philippines.)