Jodi Sta. Maria stakes ‘operatic’ claim to iconic role

STA. MARIA. Larger-than-life conviction

The current remake of the hit drama series, “Pangako Sa ‘Yo,” casts Jodi Sta. Maria as Amor Powers, the oppressed turned vengeful top villain played “iconically” in the original by Eula Valdez (vis-a-vis Angelica Panganiban’s Claudia Buenavista, originally essayed by Jean Garcia).

As the new series’ preliminary scenes heaped one tragedy on top of another on Amor’s helpless head, viewers wondered how Jodi’s take on the character would compared to Eula’s.

Well, last Thursday, June 4, the show’s dire assaults on poor, victimized Amor had finally reached the character’s “breaking point,” and her previously docile and even masochistically “accepting” persona was suddenly transformed into the vengeful virago viewers remembered with a shocked shudder:

Amor (Jodi) had finally had more than she could humanly take, so as she moved away to another place to make the fortune that she would later use to avenge herself on her horridly vile tormentors, Jodi delivered Amor’s first soul-shattering soliloquy to stake her rightful melodramatic and even “operatic” claim to the iconic role for all villainous seasons and reasons:

With as much volume, righteous vituperation and larger-than-life conviction as she could muster, Amor (Jodi) vowed to high heavens that the time would soon come when she would make her cruel foes pay most dearly for all of the evil they had heaped on her and her loved ones!

Impact

—So, what was the effect and impact of this new Amor’s righteous anger and top-volume vituperation and vow of soul-shattering vengeance?

Analyzed technically, Jodi did everything right, hitting each key word with utmost hate and unction.

However, as a totally believable and moving viewing experience, Jodi’s best efforts came off as too technically achieved, lacking the all-important interiority that marks the truly superlative performance.

Other viewers may spiritedly disagree, but in our view, the “best of the best” portrayals are those that go beyond technical “plotting,” with the character’s powerful emotion taking the actor over so totally that he or she is no longer acting, but being.

This may not be easy for some viewers to intuit and differentiate, but it’s the definitive “exclamation point” that makes a difficult thespic moment truly moving and memorable!