Thea Tolentino admits she was “medyo lost” when she was starting “Makiling”
Sparkle artist Thea Tolentino is back to portraying a role she has been known for since she started in showbiz—a kontrabida.
She plays one of the villains in the new GMA Afternoon Prime series “Makiling,” with Elle Villanueva and Derrick Monasterio as leads.
In the series, Thea is Rose, the sister of Amira (Elle) who harbors envy towards her sister.
This also serves as her comeback in doing a kontrabida role after her last two shows where had kinder characters: “Las Hermanas (2021)” and “Mano Po Legacy: The Flower Sisters (2022).”
But during her interview with FreebieMNL at the January 5 mediacon of “Makiling,” Thea says that it was not actually a conscious decision to return to playing a role that is more familiar to her.
“Actually, hindi naman. Kung anong dumating, tinatanggap ko lang din and sino ba naman ako para humindi sa isang blessing, sa isang project?
“Ang gusto ko sa naging journey ng career ko was GMA was really trusting me, Sparkle was trusting me with really great roles na ako mismo, naggu-grow din as a person.
“Kasi umpisa ng career ko, siyempre bago pa lang ako [noon] so hindi ko pa alam kung ano mangyayari. Hanggang sa kalagitnaan ng career ko, I think this is the path where I wanna go to.
“And then, itong nagkaroon ng pandemic parang life crisis na yung nangyari.”
It was during the pandemic when Thea experimented other types of roles. Hence, when she started doing “Makiling,” she had to adjust.
She admits, “Noong umpisa nitong ‘Makiling,’ to be honest, medyo lost pa ako kasi ang tagal ko rin na hindi nagkontrabida. Sa ‘Mano Po,’ sobrang bait ko.
“Pero this time, in fairness, yung magiging role ko, hindi ako binibigla na maldita ako o sobrang bait ko dito, laging merong something in between.
“So, yung character ko dito sa ‘Makiling’ is gray character siya. Si Rose ay galit kay Amira, inggit siya kay Amira, and at the same time, mahal niya pa rin kasi kapatid niya.
“Yung mga scenes, iniisip ko, sad na kaunti lang ako sa trailer ‘tapos na-realize ko, lahat pala ng scenes ko, spoiler!
“Karamihan ng scenes ni Rose, talagang spoiler kasi doon mo makikta kung inis ba siya, mahal ba niya kapatid niya.
“And then, after this thing na nangyari, ano ba talaga, saan siya? Kahit ako nalilito dahil medyo sa latter part pa siya ng story, marami pa akong hindi nakukuhanan na scenes so hanggang ngayon, parang surpresa pa rin.
“Noong hindi pa nagsa-start yung ‘Makiling,’ may sinabi na sa akin yung production na marami pa silang sinisikreto sa akin. So, yung mga nabanggit pa nila na parang possible na mangyari dati is posibleng mabago nila para surprise.”
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Thea Tolentino: one of GMA-7’s homegrown kontrabidas
It was in 2014 when Thea became a household name as a kontrabida after starring in the afternoon series “The Half Sisters” with Barbie Forteza.
Since then, Thea would play kontrabida roles in her succeeding projects: “Once Again (2016),” “Hahamakin Ang Lahat (2016),” “Destined To Be Yours (2017),” “Haplos (2017),” “Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko (2018),” and “Madrasta (2019).”
With all of these projects, can Thea say that she is now more confident in playing kontrabida roles?
The Protégé grand winner admits, “Minsan, pero may times pa rin na nahihirapan ako kasi parang ang challenge kasi is yung maging iba-iba talaga yung bawat role na binibigay sa akin.
“Kasi, kontrabida kontrabida, iba naman sa kontrabida na ito. Bukod sa iniiba ko lagi yung buhok ko, anong characteristic ng character na yun yung unique [compared] sa mga dati ko pang nagawa.”
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While she may be effective as a kontrabida, Thea displays a different demeanor in real life as she is more soft-spoken and at times, funny.
How does she transform into playing a kontrabida when she’s already in character?
Thea explains, “Feeling ko kasi siguro, lahat tayo may mga emotions na nakikimkim sa sarili natin.
“I think nagagamit ko yung ibang emotions na yun sa eksena sa pagiging kontrabida na parang ako, as Thea, in person gusto ko maging strong character, gusto kong mapaglaban naman yung sarili ko pero in some circumstances, hindi ko siya magawa.
“Kasi mahirap naman talaga gawin yun, ipaglaban yung sarili mo, knowing your worth sa totoong buhay. So, I guess, dito ko siya nalalabas sa nagiging roles ko.
“Doon ko nalalabas yung strong persona pero di naman salbahe, basta yung strong lang na alam mo yung gusto mong mangyari sa life mo. So, feeling ko doon ko siya nakuha.”
Aside from Thea, also playing kontrabida roles in “Makiling” are the Crazy 5: Myrtle Sarrosa, Claire Castro, Teejay Marquez, Royce Cabrera, and Kristoffer Martin. The show is produced by GMA Public Affairs.
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