Mikee Quintos says each taping day with Direk Laurice Guillen like ‘a master class’

Mikee Quintos

The one thing Mikee Quintos will miss most about doing the GMA 7 soap “Apoy sa Langit” is working with Laurice Guillen and how the veteran actor-director made each taping day feel like “a master class.”

“I will miss her guidance, ‘yung pagbabantay niya. It’s true, every day felt like a master class. I’m blessed to have worked with her. I think this experience will inspire me to be strict with myself and be more disciplined with my craft in my future projects,” Mikee said in a virtual conference for the said afternoon series, which ended last Sept. 3.

Mikee played Ning Hidalgo, a smart, sweet and artistic young woman whose life gets slowly consumed by past traumas: As a child she witnessed the murder of her father. Later on in life, she watches as her mother gets cheated on by her new husband.

It was one of the heaviest roles Mikee has played—so much so that there were times when she couldn’t shed the character off after taping. “It was hard to sustain the character. It was tough because sometimes I bring the character home with me … But Direk helped me deal with it. She told me that, ‘Ang kalaban ko lang ay ang sarili ko.’ And I realized that nothing’s holding me back but myself,” she said.

Laurice Guillen

It was also through Direk Laurice’s supervision that made Mikee feel that she has grown as an artist. “I feel like I’m an actress. I’m owning it!” Mikee said, laughing. “I want to make her proud in my next shows.”

More versatile

After working with Kelvin Miranda on “The Lost Recipe,” “Apoy” had the 24-year-old talent teaming up with Dave Bornea. And that’s a good thing, Mikee said, because having different screen partners helps an actor be more versatile.

“You get stretched as an actor. Being paired with different leading men requires different preparations. Sometimes, you get paired with actors you’re close with; sometimes with people you don’t know. But as an actor it’s our job to make the team-up onscreen, and that challenge excites me,” she said.

With the end of “Apoy,” Mikee hopes that the soap was able to impart valuable lessons to its viewers like the importance of mental health—especially for women who have experienced abuse.

“Through this show, I hope we were able to shed some light on the kind of experiences some people go through in real life. And I hope we were able to show how serious it is, so that people can muster the courage … so that they won’t be ashamed to seek help. I also hope that the people around them learn how to give them the proper care,” she said.

“Beware of manipulation and toxicity,” Mikee added. “I hope that’s something people learned from the characters’ mistakes.” INQ