Mariel de Leon on being Coco’s leading lady: Why me?

Mariel de Leon—ALEC CORPUZ

Mariel de Leon, 2017 Binibining Pilipinas International, said she only met actor Coco Martin on the night of the recent press conference for their coming movie, “Ang Panday.”

“When they called me, I felt intimidated,” recalled Mariel, daughter of actors Christopher de Leon and Sandy Andolong. “I asked, ‘Why me?’”

“I only get to watch him in [his action-drama series] ‘Ang Probinsyano,’ sometimes,” she added. “I haven’t had any acting experience. It hasn’t sunk in up to now. My brain still couldn’t absorb it, but I feel so lucky. This is so unbelievable.”

Time management

“Ang Panday,” which Coco will direct and star in, is an official entry in the 2017 Metro Manila Film Festival in December. It is based on the komiks character of the same name created by Carlo J. Caparas.

She described Coco as “a genuinely nice person,” adding, “I can’t wait to work with him.”

Mariel promised that her new acting job would not affect her training for the Miss International competition in October.

“It’s all about time management,” she declared. (The current Miss International is compatriot Kylie Verzosa.)

“I know I said before that I don’t plan to join show business, but when I got this offer, I realized that it would be silly of me to turn it down,” she said.
Limitations
To prepare for the project, Mariel said she would attend acting workshops “and work on my Tagalog. I will also study my character more, and ask my parents’ advice on how to best portray it.”

Asked about limitations, the 19-year-old said she wouldn’t mind locking lips with her leading man, “although I would not go beyond that.”

Now back to Mariel’s question, “Why me?”

To this, Coco, who is cowriting the script with Joel Mercado, replied: “I already knew who my leading lady would be the moment I saw her on TV. I immediately asked someone to call her. I’m glad she agreed to do this. I promised Tito Bo (Christopher, Mariel’s father) that I would take care of her.”