Thea and Angel: Hard work pays off
THEA Tolentino and Angel Guardian are thrilled to be playing the younger sisters of Aiko Melendez and Beauty Gonzalez in “Mano Po Legacy: The Flower Sisters” that will start airing this Monday, October 31.
“Being able to work with them in a project as big as ‘The Flower Sisters’ is really a great privilege for me,” says Thea. “Nagkasundo kami agad and we really treated each other like sisters during the taping.”
Angel says she took the audition for the show and she was so jubilant when she learned they’re getting her to play one of the four sisters in the cast.
“It’s a big honor for me na mapabilang sa napakalaking project na ito on primetime,” she says. “Hindi ako makapaniwala when I was informed na nakuha ako sa show. Now, I’m so proud to be acting with Ate Aiko, Ate Beauty and Thea who are all nice to me kahit baguhan lang ako sa showbiz.”
Thea won in GMA’s “Protege” star search and has since been identified in contravida roles in soaps like “The Half Sisters”, “Destined to Be Yours”, “Asawa Ko Karibal Ko”, “Madrasta” and “Inday Will Always Love You”.
“Pero dito po sa ‘The Flower Sisters’, mabait po ‘yung character ko,” she says. “I play Dahlia, ‘yung pinakamahirap sa magkakapatid na Chua. Kasi ‘yung tatlo, puro mayayaman ang nanay nila. E, ako, poor ‘yung nanay ko, so sanay ako sa hirap. Ako ‘yung deprived sister.”
She finds her goody-goody role quite a challenge.
“Mas mahirap umarte for me kapag mabait ang role ko, kasi sanay na ako na ako ang nagtataray, nagagalit. I have to adjust to my role as the sweet and obedient Dahlia. The directors would remind me, mabait ka rito so huwag mong tarayan, tone it down. Pero eventually, matututo rin si Dahlia na ipaglaban ang mga karapatan niya bilang isa sa Chua sisters.”
As for Angel, she plays the youngest sister, Iris, who grew up in America. Angel started her career as a TV commercial model. “It’s my mom who encouraged me to take auditions and acting workshops,” she says. “My biggest role sa movies is ‘D Ninang’ sa Regal with Ms. Ai Ai de las Alas. Sa TV naman, I was lucky to participate in the hit ‘Running Man’ game show and now, I’m in a primetime drama, ‘The Flower Sisters’, so I feel so blessed talaga.”
Most people think her name is just a screen name. “But real name ko po ‘yun talaga. Guardian talaga ang family name namin. Napagtripan ako ng parents ko at ginawang Angel ang first name ko. I think okay naman ang dating dahil malakas ang recall sa mga tao.”
She wants to correct the impression that it was easy for her to get into showbiz. “Naku, ang dami ko pong pinagdaanang auditions for TV commercials at sa various shows bago ako nabigyan ng break. Sa GMA, nag-start ako playing bit roles, like in ‘Onanay’ as friend ni Mikee Quintos. It was not given to me on a silver platter kundi pinaghirapan ko po talaga. And now, all my hard work is finally paying off.”
