Ara Mina: Yes to kissing, but no more baring

Ara Mina

Thirty-nine-year-old Ara Mina said she was the one who guided Akihiro Blanco, 23, during their kissing scene in her latest movie, “Immaculada: Ang Pag-ibig ng Isang Ina.”

“I took care of him, since that’s really my role—his mom. I supported him even off-cam,” the actress told reporters during a recent special screening of the film.

Ara said she agreed to do the kissing scene with Akihiro, who plays her son in the film, because she found the story to be “beautiful and very challenging.”

Of course, there were certain limitations, added Ara, who now refuses to bare any more skin on cam.

“It really depends on the story. I’m not just an actress anymore,” she pointed out.

“I’m also involved in businesses. Baka mamaya na-i-imagine na ng ka-business meeting ko ang halikan namin ni Akihiro,” she quipped.

Ara Mina (left) with Akihiro Blanco

The actress said she took the project because she believed that “in one’s career, you need to level up. Besides, sexy films are no longer popular these days,” she observed. “I would love to do a rom-com. I think that’s possible with a younger partner. It will be like a May-December love affair thing. That would be fun since I never had the chance to be part of a love team when I was younger.”

She doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with an older woman getting attracted to a younger man. “There are also younger men who prefer dating older women. I’ve actually experienced being pursued by such men, and they’re really way younger,” she revealed.

The actress has not been seen publicly with any guy since she broke up in 2015 with Bulacan, Bulacan Mayor Patrick Meneses, the father of her daughter Mandy.

“I’m single, but I keep myself preoccupied all the time. Aside from acting, I also put up businesses. If you’re busy, you will not feel so alone and you will not resort to doing things that you will eventually regret,” Ara said.

“Immaculada,” written and directed by Arlyn dela Cruz, depicts a unique mother-son relationship.

“It is a continuation of a twisted love that seemed like a curse, one that was ended by an incomprehensible act of a mother’s love,” director Arlyn explained. It also stars John Estrada, Elizabeth Oropesa and Elijah Canlas.

Ara tried to explain her character’s reaction toward her own son: “In the story, what they have is a long-distance relationship. She feels so lonely that’s why this happens … I don’t tolerate it. I still think that one should fight the urge as hard as she could. I’m also a mom, although my child is a girl.”

“Immaculada” is said to be based on actual stories that Arlyn wrote as a journalist.

Incest is hardly ever talked about in the local setting, Ara observed. “Filipinos are very conservative, but I really hope the audience will appreciate the movie,” she added.

Ara said she already found the story very challenging the first time she read the script. “I had to figure out how to best attack the character since her experiences have never happened to me in the past,” she stressed. “I really thought hard and long of this project. I had to ask myself how much of myself could I give to it. After all, it’s a beautiful story.”

“Immaculada” was the opening film of the recent 2019 Singkuwento International Film Festival, Manila, Philippines, held at the National Commission for Culture and the Arts theater in Intramuros, Manila.