Exciting career moves for Dingdong and Marian

Fans of newlyweds Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera thought that show biz’s most beautiful couple would take a couple of months off from their careers to go off on an extended honeymoon and focus on their love for each other. —Wrong!

Dong and Yan have pulled a series of surprises on their fans by announcing some exciting career moves that prove that marriage won’t diminish their stellar glow and dazzle: Dingdong’s new drama series, “Pari ’Koy,” most unexpectedly casts him in the role of—a parish priest!

At first blush, the preacher character would appear to be a highly unlikely acting choice for the tall, handsome and hunky star. But, Dingdong has it in him to make the assignment fit him, because he’s shown in his advocacies, like his enlightened support for women’s causes, that he can be sensitive—and, yes, even spiritual.

In any case, the new series, which started telecasting last Monday, doesn’t focus exclusively on spiritual matters, but shows how faith comes to bear on a number of all too human problems and concerns.

The new series is right up our viewing alley, because we favor shows that are realistic instead of escapist in orientation, and feel that viewers should be exposed to more “applied religion” in the shows they watch.

In this regard, “Pari ‘Koy” is similar in intent to another ongoing show, “Oh My G,” which deals with divine intervention in the modern world. Even better, both drama series view religion not in “pious” terms, but in how it realistically comes to bear on everyday issues that many viewers confront in their daily lives.

Thus, we can expect “Pari ‘Koy” to involve Dingdong’s character in the lives of some of the down-and-outs of society, who need God’s help the most.

Edgy surprise

Not to be outdone, Marian also has an edgy surprise in store for her fans: Her next drama series, “Her Father’s Daughter,” casts her as a—lesbian!

The character type has become trendy of late, what with talent and personality tilts for lesbians having made their way to mainstream television. Still, the role is an offbeat thespic choice for Marian, because she’s seen to be “all-woman.”

It’ll be interesting to see if she can make the gender-bending acting assignment fit her, like Dennis Trillo and Tom Rodriguez did in “My Husband’s Lover.”

Incidentally, Dong’s priest role and Yan’s lesbian character are noteworthy in another way, because they effectively solve the “problem” of how to showcase themselves now that they’re married. As priest and lez, they won’t be having romantic scenes with the opposite sex, so that’s one more career and casting “problem” solved—or postponed!