Kate Alejandrino (left) and Carmina Villaroel
More than its spooky storyline and eerie aspects, the horror drama “Sunod” aims to give the audience a glimpse of what it’s like working in the BPO (business process outsourcing) industry. Lead star Carmina Villaroel said working on the film gave her deeper respect for call center agents.
“Nosebleed! Not only do you have to speak in straight English, you have to be patient because you work with customers,” she said in an interview for the said Metro Manila Film Festival entry.
“Because many of them work in the graveyard shift, it can become taxing. And you become more vulnerable, but at the same time you have to maintain high energy,” she added. “It’s almost similar to how it is in show biz.”
Kate Alejandrino shared Carmina’s sentiments, describing a call center agent’s job as “hard and very tedious.” “They aren’t usually talked highly of, but when we were on the set, doing training and rehearsing our lines, we were like, ‘Wow, this is hard!’” she said.
“You have to be patient. You can’t get mad. You can’t get irritated,” she pointed out. “And talking to people all day, you’re bound to lose patience.” —ALLAN POLICARPIO