Rufa Mae Quinto: The stunning sea witch

Playing a sea witch in Mars Ravelos’ Dyesebel, Rufa Mae Quinto admits that her role as Amafura reminds her of her previous show Marinara.She shares her experience with iGMA and narrates how she is enjoying her stint in the top rating show of GMA’s primetime telebabad block. Amafura grants the wishes of the merpeople in Serenea for a price. She took Dyesebel’s beauty in exchange for the feet she longed for. As the sea witch, Amafura will continue to ask for the most important things that a mermaid/merman can offer in exchange for their granting their dreams. Though her character may seem evil at first, Rufa Mae Quinto clarifies that her role is neither good nor bad. A mermaid story “Si Amafura, hindi masama at hindi rin mabuti. Sa kanya lalapit ang mga taga-dagat para humiling ng paa. Humihingi ako ng kapalit para sa paa nila. So laging may kapalit, ‘yun kasi 'yung culture namin doon. I just follow the culture’s rules and regulations (laughs)," describes Rufa Mae rather mischievously. Indeed the viewers will agree to her description of Amafura. But there’s more. She forgot to mention that Amafura has this sense of humor that even if you know that she is taking Dyesebel’s beautiful face; you can’t help but be amused by her. Truly, if any other actress portrayed the role of Amafura, you might readily decide that she is an evil sea witch who takes advantage of the merpeople’s wish to live a mortal life. But since Rufa Mae is playing the part, she gives a bit of herself to the role making it more colorful and entertaining to the loyal followers of the show. Reminiscing the life of a mermaid Playing a mermaid is a hard role to bring to life. Aside from being exposed to nature’s elements, having a fish’ tail and losing the ability to walk are the biggest challenges an actress could ever encounter in a mermaid role. Rufa Mae shared her experiences with iGMA. “Alam ko 'yung feeling ni Marian. Hindi lang dahil sa Marinara, nag extra pa ako sa Dyesebel ni Charlene. Sirena din ako doon kaya lang na-edit na 'yung lines ko so sirena lang na nakatampisaw (laughs)." The hardships and difficulties that this new mermaid role entails is no laughing matter though. "Hindi ganoon kadali ‘yan, biruin mo sa laot kayo maghapon hanggang gabi. Doon lang kayo sa bangka mula morning hanggang magdilim. Tapos babae ka pa, nakabuntot, binubuhat ka ng kung sinu-sino," explains Rufa Mae, who, after donning a fish tail twice before is becoming a veteran when it comes to playing mermaid roles. But despite her extensive experience in this role, she did not give Marian Rivera pointers on how she should portray Dyesebel. “Nakausap ko si Marian, kinamusta ko siya. Ang sabi niya napagod siya. Well hindi ko na siya binigyan ng advice kasi alam ko namang magaling at professional siya." She admitted that she was excited to be working with Direk Joyce Bernal again. The two go way back during her Booba days and are now good friends. “Mahirap pero magaling na director si Direk Joyce kaya nerbyos na nerbyos ako actually bago mag-start 'yung taping. Pero excited ako kasi bilang artista nami-miss ko din na umarte sa T.V." - iGMA.tv