What Bianca has learned from her soap’s ‘buwis-buhay’ scenes

Bianca King (left) with Beauty Gonzalez

“It happened a year ago, but the memory is still fresh to me,” said actress Bianca King of her transfer from GMA 7 to rival network ABS-CBN in October 2016.

She added that being inside the Kapamilya compound in Quezon City “still feels like being in a strange territory.”

“This is my home already, but I still get lost when I’m inside it,” the 31-year-old actress told reporters during the recent press conference for Book Two of her afternoon drama series, “Pusong Ligaw.” “I’m still enjoying every minute of it, and I don’t feel the passing of time. I’m at my happiest in life right now.”

The drama series, which began preproduction work in October 2016 and aired its first episode in April 2017, is by far the longest show Bianca has done.
“It has exceeded my expectations of what it’s like to do a project in ABS-CBN. I learned a lot from working with such lovely people,” she said.

In the show, Bianca works closely with cast members Beauty Gonzalez, Joem Bascon, Enzo Pineda, Diego Loyzaga, Sophia Andres and Albie Casiño.

From friends to rivals

Her character, Marga, and Beauty’s Tessa used to be the best of friends, but later became bitter rivals. This meant Bianca has had to do several confrontation scenes with Beauty.

“Beauty and I are in sync. With one look, we know what the other is trying to say,” Bianca observed. “I think it’s because we work out at the gym together. We’re fit and in the right form when we shoot our catfights.”

She said their scenes together are often mentally and physically draining, “because they require big movements. It feels like we’re working out because we often find ourselves catching our breath after each scene. That’s OK for us because, at least, we get to burn calories while shooting,” she quipped.

Among the memorable scenes in “Pusong Ligaw” for Bianca were: “One of our buwis-buhay scenes was shot on top of an old water tank. I felt like we’d fall into the tank filled with dirty water.

“Another one was when Beauty tried to carry me on her shoulders for over a hundred times for our pilot’s opening scene. For that scene alone, we started working at 8 a.m. and ended at 4 p.m.”

Asked what she learned from portraying Marga, Bianca shared: “She’s a classic example of a person who is never satisfied. She craves what she doesn’t have. She is very controlling and overbearing. My takeaway from being her is that one’s happiness shouldn’t rely on external factors. One has to learn how to be happy from within.”