Coco Martin reveals Miles Ocampo was not the first choice
Miles Ocampo had a challenging comeback in ABS-CBN with the scenes she had for the pilot week of “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo.”
Ocampo plays the young Marites (Cherry Pie Picache), the mother of Tanggol (Coco Martin). Marites had a bitter past when she was raped by Ramon (Christopher de Leon) and bore a child, who happens to be Tanggol. Even giving birth to Tanggol was not spared by misery as Marites had to go through labor by herself in the middle of selling fish at the wet market.
All these scenes had to be done by Ocampo, even doing the sensitive scene with Martin himself, who played the young Ramon.
But despite shooting such challenging scenes, Ocampo is thankful that she did the scene with Martin, who also acts the director of the show. She says this during the recent press conference of “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo.”
She says, “Malaking pasalamat po ako na si Kuya Coco yung ka-eksena ko tapos siya rin yung director at the same time. Nandoon po kasi yung alaga and magiging komportable ka kasi kapag alam mong inaalagaan ka at alam mong naniniwala sa kung anong kaya mong gawin. So, you just have to give kung ano yung hiningi ng director mo. Siguro, nag-trust po ako fully kay Direk Coco kaya ganon po yung naging eksena.”
Coco Martin on doing the scene with Miles Ocampo
Coco Martin, on the other hand, admits that he felt awkward at first, given that Ocampo was his “baby” on the set when they used to work together in projects.
He says, “Honestly, noong una… siyempre nga, baby ko kasi ito si Miles, e! Sa mga pelikula, baby-baby-han ko yan kahit hindi kami nagkikita. Tapos nanay pa niya, kaklase ko. So, nagulat ako na parang na-a-awkward ako, honestly. Dahil biro mo, ala-alaga mo tapos re-rape-in mo na sa eksena. Ang awkward noong eksena.”
However, Martin made sure he is aware of his co-actor’s limitations when it comes to the sensitive scene.
He continues, “Pero noong kinausap ko si Miles, siyempre, may limitation. ‘Tapos tinanong ko siya, ‘Miles, anong mas gusto mo, yung mga ganitong trabaho or ganitong eksena o yung magpapatawa ka?’ [Sagot niya,] ‘Kuya, gusto ko na yung ganito.’”
Coco Martin admires Miles Ocampo
Martin also admires how Ocampo matured in terms of work.
He says, “Yung maturity, noong nakita ko sa kanyang ganon, siyempre inalam ko muna. Kasi nangingilag ako dahil siyempre, lalaki pa rin ako, di ba babae, para alam ko yung limitation. Ayoko kasi yung makaka-offend ka o lalagpas ka doon sa limitation. ‘Tapos noong naramdaman ko noong ginagawa na namin yung eksena, kahit mga sabunot ko pa lang, game na game siya. Sobrang open siya, sinasalo niya kung ano yung binibigay ko.”
In fact, there were even parts of the scene that weren’t originally in the plan. Still, Martin made sure Ocampo was fine with it.
“Kaya noong nag-e-eksena kami, actually meron doong mga eksenang hindi sinasadya, yung nahubaran siya. ‘Miles, okay lang ba?’ ‘Kuya, okay lang.’ Kumbaga nakikita ko itong taong ito, napakataas ng pagtingin niya sa trabaho niya. Kasi yun yung tinitignan niya, e. Hindi yung parang raket lang ‘to, akting-akting lang.
“Noong tinanggap niya yung project, alam niya na, ‘Open ako kung anuman yung ipapagawa sa akin. At saka naghahanap na sya ng maturity doon sa trabaho. Kaya noong pinapanuod ko, noong ine-edit namin, talagang pumapalakpak kami dahil sobrang proud na proud kami bilang kuya niya doon sa performance na ginawa niya sa show.”
Upon hearing this, Ocampo says, “Thank you. Salamat, kuya. Nandoon na po tayo sa stage ng life natin na we just want to grow, explore. So, maraming salamat.”
Miles Ocampo’s dramatic labor scene
Ocampo and Martin also shared trivia about another trending scene where Ocampo’s character gave birth at the wet market. The press and fans who went to the screening lauded her performance.
Ocampo’s short revelation: “The palengke scene, first take ko po yun. First take, first day!”
Martin then gives more details about the scene. Apparently, he and director Malu Sevilla have been planning the scene since “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano” days!
Martin expounds, “Actually, yun yung first na kinunan natin Direk, ano. Talagang binusisi ni Direk Malu yun. Alam kasi namin na napaka-importante ng eksenang yun. Yung eksena lang yun, ha. ‘Probinsyano’ pa lang, pinag-uusapan na namin ni Direk Malu. Ganun namin pinaghandaan itong project na ito.
“Sabi nga namin, biruin mo, pinanganganak sa ilalim ng palengke, banyera, nandiyan yung mga isda, ganon. Ganun yung pagkatao noong bata. Kaya noong binubuo namin, shinu-shoot namin ni Direk Malu, talagang kinakarir ni Direk Malu every time, tinututukan namin si Miles. Kasi siyempre, yung pressure namin sa present, Cherry Pie Picache, e. Talagang nasa isip na kailangan talagang makikita mo. Honestly, meron din ako na parang ano sasabihin sa akin ni Mommy Pie na bakit ganon. Noong ginawa namin ni Miles yun, sobrang bilib na bilib talaga kami.”
Sevilla adds that they were also meticulous in the scenes between Miles Ocampo and Precious Lara Quigaman. Quigaman plays the young Charo Santos-Concio, who is the mother of Picache in the series.
“Actually, kawawa si Miles kasi pinagtulungan namin siya ni Coco. Actually, not just Miles, even si Miss Lara [Quigaman] because we knew that they would become Miss Cherry Pie and Ma’am Charo. So, kami ni Coco ang na-pressure. Lagi lang kaming magkahawak-kamay.”
Miles Ocampo not the first choice?
Ocampo is just thankful that she was able to land the important role in “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo.” It also serves as a homecoming to ABS-CBN after she did projects with TV5 and GMA Network during the pandemic.
Ocampo says, “Hindi pa po sinasabi yung buong role, nag-yes na po ako. Kasi yung maisip ka at ma-consider ka for a role na ganito kalaking proyekto, napakalaking blessing na po noon. Na-excite po ako kasi ang tagal ko na pong hindi rin nag-drama and siyempre nagkaroon ng pandemic and all. Ngayon lang po ako uli nakabalik dito. So, after hearing po yung mga comments nila kanina, ang sarap po sa pakiramdam na may nakaka-appreciate.”
Martin then reveals that Ocampo was actually not the first choice for the role. However, they had to recast knowing Ocampo’s capabilities as an actress.
Martin explains, “Actually, meron kaming ibang naka-cast talaga. Mag-start na kami pero noong iniisip namin, kailangan talagang hitsura pa lang, nandoon na. Alam mo nang kapag tumanda, talagang believable. Kasi, di ba, sa ibang bansa, yun ang minsan nagiging ano natin, e, na ito yung bata, tapos paglaki, iba yung hitsura. Kaya talagang inano namin na hitsura pa lang, maniniwala na siya kapag lumaki. Siyempre, inalam namin kung sino yung makaka-kaya o makakatumbas sa talent sa pag-arte. Kaya siya yung napili namin.”
Banner Image Paulo Correa
