Marian Rivera is on her best behavior

RIVERA. Positive vibe.

Marian Rivera wants to give glamorous roles a rest. “Gusto kong gumanap na basurera, para makita ng mga tao na puwede rin ako sa ganoong klaseng character,” she shares after revealing to us that she’ll be topbilling a sitcom when “Amaya” wraps up.

The lovely Kapuso star’s yearning for a thespic stretch is just one of the things she’s working on – but, even more immediate on Marian’s to-do list is, in her own words, “to adjust my attitude.” In fact, not a few birdies have told us that the feisty actress has indeed been working extra hard to be “nicer” these days.

We didn’t know what to expect when we flew to Davao last weekend to observe Marian and her GMA 7 co-stars like Manny Pacquiao, Sid Lucero, Rhian Ramos, Glaiza de Castro, Mikael Daez, and the teeners and tweeners of “Tween Academy” as they added stellar zing to the Kadayawan festival’s merrymaking.

Two-pronged question

When we finally met Marian, she was glowing and buzzing with positive vibe as she warmly greeted us and signified her intention to go karaoke-singing in the evening. She warily shrugged her shoulders when somebody naughtily egged her on with a two-pronged question: “How’s your, uh, Heart?”

“I’m very transparent and vocal about my thoughts and feelings – and, sometimes, that’s what gets me in trouble,” she later admits. “Sa dami ng mga intrigang pinagdaanan ko, I realized na hindi pala lahat ng bagay, pinapatulan. Dapat matutunan din natin kung hanggang saan ang pagiging ‘transparent,’ to avoid hurting people. You learn from experience, and you go with the flow.” Lesson well learned, indeed.

Still, her winking tactlessness comes through from time to time, like when we asked her if she drew her newfound maturity and outlook from boyfriend, Dingdong Dantes. She explains, “I don’t think we’d last this long kung wala kaming naibibigay na positive sa isa’t isa. True, good influence talaga si Dong sa akin – pero, ako din naman sa kanya. Kasi, ang personality n’ya dati, dry, at tahimik lang s’ya palagi. Now, he’s bubbly (laughs)!”

Iconic characters

Which among the iconic characters she’s played so far does she relate to the most – Darna, Dyesebel, Amaya or Marimar? She readily replies, “Nakaka-relate ako kay Marimar kasi inosente s’ya at walang alam sa mga bagay-bagay, like when I first joined show biz. The show introduced me to the world – at dun ko rin nakilala si Dong, although I wasn’t in love with him then. That came later, when we were doing ‘Babaeng Hinugot Sa Aking Tadyang’ (swoons)!”

What’s one thing that the public doesn’t know about her? She answers, “They know everything! But, they should also know that I’m trying my best. I’m still the same Marian, pero hindi na ako mapagpatol.”