Maja Salvador practices for ’24 hours’ on English lines

Maja Salvador as Lily Cruz  (Image: Instagram/@iammajasalvador)

Maja Salvador has been hailed for her performance on the TV drama series “Wildflower” as protagonist Lily Cruz, a role that requires mega-dramatic scenes.

The actress has gone as far as doing her own stunts, such as that which showed her dangling from a helicopter. But another constant challenge for her was speaking in English, she said on Sunday’s “Gandang Gabi Vice.”

Even if it isn’t her first language, she still pushed herself. “Siyempre hindi nga si Maja Salvador ‘yun, si Lily Cruz, so kailangan ko mapaniwala ang mga tao na CEO talaga ako at Inglesera kahit papaano (Of course that’s not Maja Salvador, it’s Lily Cruz, so I need to somehow convince people that I’m a CEO who speaks English fluently).”

Her technique? Simply hard work. “‘Pag may nakita na akong English ‘yung linya ko, 24 hours ko ‘yon pinag-aaralan (When I see that my lines are in English, I study them for 24 hours),” she said. 

Image: Instagram/@iammajasalvador

She also turns to co-stars Aiko Melendez and Tirso Cruz III to get the pronunciation right. “Tapos ‘yung diction ko, pagdating sa set, ‘Ate Aiko, paano ba ‘to? Tito Pip (On my diction, when I arrive on the set, I ask, ‘Ate Aiko, how do you say this? Tito Pip)’?”

Another effort into improving her English was when she enrolled in a short online course in English last July 2017.

“Wildflower” is set to end on Feb. 9, nearly a year since it first aired.  Niña V. Guno /ra

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