Maxene's Afternoon Challenge

Maxene Magalona admits that her role as Jessa in 'Una Kang Naging Akin' is her toughest role to date because of the show's mature content. But she also says that she's not as worried as she would be—find out why! Text by Jason John S. Lim. Photos by Mitch S. Mauricio. This is Maxene Magalona's second turn on an afternoon soap; her first since the Dramarama wave of hits began. "Hindi ba before primetime lang talaga 'yung nagre-rate? Now, pati Dramarama sa Hapon, talagang ang dami nang nanunuod! So talagang excited ako to be part of it, and at the same time, nervous din." And the young actress is all praises for the plot, the characters and the script they’re being given; so much so that she’s looking forward to giving justice to the role. "I'm really very new to this,” Maxene admits, saying her latest role is very different from the one she has done before. But because of the material she's being given, she only feels excitement right now. "I don't want to think of the pressure," she reveals, explaining that she'd be more conscious of what she's doing if she thinks about it. "I'm going to do my best; I want to please all the viewers na nanunuod and nag-aabang ng story—on my part, talagang gagawin ko 'yung best ko para maganda 'yung kalabasan nung show, together with my co-actors." The excitable young actress continues that she's very much looking forward to learning from her co-stars; "I expect to learn new things from them. Kasi with every actor I work with, I try to learn some tips from them, or what they do, watch them how they do it— "Kasi nga, sila rin may mga alam sila na siyempre hindi ko alam; and mas experienced din naman sina Kuya Wendell [Ramos] and Miss Angelika [dela Cruz]." Maxene says it's her first time to work with veterans like Wendell and Angelika, "kasi nga first time kong sumabak sa mature role. [And] since sila [ang may] experience na in that department, I’m gonna try to learn from them and what they’re gonna do." She continues that she's also very glad that Director Joel Lamangan will be directing her for her first mature turn— "kasi talagang heavy drama, so I'm glad that Direk Joel is—hindi siya 'yung nag-gi-give up na pag hindi ko magawa ng tama 'yung isang eksena, he's gonna push me talaga para magawa ng tama. Kaya I’m very thankful." And this being her first mature role, Maxene says she]s ready to do more daring scenes — to a point. She is also happy to report that the staff recognizes this, "alam nila na hindi pa ako ready to go all out—na talagang out there, na daring talaga. I don't think I'm gonna be ready for that anytime soon. "But definitely, iba talaga 'yung makikita nila sa akin. Ibang-iba." Maxene says she wants to show "kung ano 'yung magagawa ko, and abangan nila kung ano ang kaya kong gawin sa show na 'to." She adds that she hopes the viewers would enjoy the story, "kasi ang ganda ng story talaga. It’s very different from what people have been seeing in the past. So ibang-iba 'yung story nito. "And it's a great movie that we're remaking, so tingnan na lang nila if we can stay true to the movie, or kung paano magiging pareho sa movie, or ano 'yung mga differences." Catch Maxene as the artist Jessa in GMA-7’s Una Kang Naging Akin, weekdays after Daisy Siete, part of GMA's Dramarama sa Hapon. Talk about the show at the iGMA Forums! If you’re not yet registered, register now ! Find out more about the show from Maxene herself! Feel the fun through Fanatxt by texting MAXENE 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 for the Philippines.)