
For the first time, Winwyn Marquez will play the title role in the 2021 Metro Manila Film Festival entry Nelia.
The daughter of Joey Marquez and Alma Moreno has been in the industry for more than a decade. She has played several roles in TV series and movies, but most of these were support roles.
This was one of the reasons the 29-year-old actress was very eager to play the lead role in Nelia, which is produced by a new film company called A & Q Productions.
At the press conference of the movie held recently, Winwyn related that she personally asked the producers to wait for her as she was still inside the lock-in taping of GMA Network's romantic-comedy series Owe My Love at the time the project was offered to her.
"Na-receive ko yung script when I was locked in for Owe My Love. Patapos na rin kasi yung Owe My Love, few days na lang talaga," she recalled.
Winwyn also mentioned that more than the title role, it was the story of Nelia that made her want to do the movie so much.
"Noong nabasa ko, parang binasa ko yata ng mga three times. Parang ako, 'Tama ba yung nabasa ko? Ito yung story, ito yung ending?' I was hooked with the story already.
"I asked naman if it's possible that they wait for me. Siyempre, kung kailangan nang gawin yung film, okey lang din naman. Pero I'm very fortunate na they waited for me talaga. Kakaiba yung story, unique, parang wala nga akong mai-compare na... Di ba, Asian films ngayon ang [gumagawa ng] suspense-thriller films ngayon? Korean, Japanese, so I'm very proud to say that this is a very unique film na feeling ko rin naman ngayon lang din nila mapapanood na ganito. Happy naman ako na hinintay nila ako," she said.
According to one of the producers and screenwriter of the movie, Atty. Honey Quiño, she personally picked the Kapuso actress to play the lead role while they were planning to produce Nelia.
She explained, "Kasi, naniniwala ako na kapag ang artista naging kontrabida, magaling. Ang hirap kasing maging kontrabida. Kapag magagaling din naman talaga ang mga bida. Pero kasi, yung mag-transform ka ng character from good to bad, medyo challenging yun, e. Nakita ko kay Winwyn, may talent siya, for me. Kaya sabi ko, kaya niyang i-portray yung role ni Nelia sa movie."
How was the transition from playing the role of Trixie in Owe My Love to portraying the character of Nelia?
"One week lang ang pahinga ko tapos lock-in na ulit agad," Winwyn answered.
"Sabi ko nga, it's was very difficult to transition kasi from pagiging komedyante na kontrabida, 'tapos biglang suspense thriller. Uulitin ko nang uulitin, if it wasn't for our producers or director, co-actors, super hard talaga. Baka nga ma-delay pa kasi nga hindi naman madali ang mag-suspense thriller din. So, sa tulong ng cast, ng mga napakagaling na aktor, naitawid naman kahit papaano."
Directed by Lester Dimaranan, Nelia is also the only film in the suspense thriller genre that has entered the upcoming film festival.
Meanwhile, here are other Kapuso stars to watch for in the 2021 MMFF: