Arra talks to her evil character: ‘Hala, bakit ka ganyan?’
ARRA San Agustin has played lead roles in ‘Madrasta’ opposite Juancho Trivino and in “Lolong” with Ruru Madrid, but she doesn’t mind now playing a contravida role in “Mga Lihim ni Urduja” that starts airing this Monday at PM.
“I’m just happy to be working again with Sanya Lopez, Kylie Padilla and Gabbi Garcia,” she says. “Kasi when I was discovered sa Starstruck, isinali ako agad in ‘Encantadia’ as the reincarnation of Kylie as Amihan. I enjoyed working with them and gained a lot of good experience from my participation in that show.”
So what exactly is her role in “Mga Lihim ni Urduja”? “I play the role of Valencia, isang bounty hunter na gustong makuha ‘yung magical necklace ni Hara Urduja na hinahanap ng lahat. So kaiinisan ako ng viewers dahil kalaban ako nina Kylie at Gabbi in searching for the necklace.”
What she likes about her character is that Valencia is an expert in donning various disguises. “She’s always very colorful. Iba ‘yung make up niya, iba ‘yung hitsura niya, at palaging avant garde ang costumes niya kaya lutang na lutang ang personality niya.”
She says the character is her total opposite in real life. “Kasi nga very fashionista ang dating niya, very stylish, na hindi talaga ako kasi basic at simple lang akong manamit. E, ako, lagi lang akong naka-sweater. So very challenging for me ‘yung biglang switch from simple Arra to the very hip Valencia. Pero sobrang tuwang-tuwa ako sa character ko kasi ang sarap niyang laruin sa harap ng kamera. Sa lahat ng characters na nagampanan ko na, she’s really different kasi she’s evil.”
Playing an evil character is so demanding for her.
“Complex kasi siya and I have to justify kung bakit siya ganun ka-evil. Kung minsan talaga, napapahinto ako while playing her to ask, ‘Hala, bakit ba ganyan ka?’ Ngayon ko lang ako naganap ng ganitong character na sobrang evil talaga, e.”
It’s good the whole “Mga Lihim ni Urduja” team is willing to collaborate with her in giving life to her character as Valencia.
“The whole team helped me na buuin ‘yung character ko. They tell me, ganito ka, ganito ang nuances. I listen to all their suggestions and they were all helpful for me to interpret my role well, kung paano mag-isip at mag-decision si Valencia.”
Her being athletic also helped her in doing the demanding action scenes.
“Bata pa kasi ako, nag-taekwondo, aikido and ice skating na ako. Then for ‘Encantadia’, I did boxing and muay thai. Ayun, napakinabangan ko silang lahat in my role as Valencia kaya abangan nyo ang ‘Mga Lihim ni Urduja’ dahil tiyak kong hindi kami mapapahiya sa inyo.”
