Why Bea Alonzo couldn’t stop crying over contentious role

Bea Alonzo

Bea Alonzo is a little relieved that “Start-Up PH,” her prime-time costarrer with Alden Richards and first teleserye for GMA Network, is set to end on a high note on Dec. 23.

Indeed, the Philippine adaptation of the 2020 K-drama series starring Bae Suzy, Nam Joo-hyuk and Kim Seon-ho has been earning raves not only for its lead actors’ astute portrayals, but also because of its technical polish and K-drama-channeling gloss.

We’ve always considered Bea one of the two finest mainstream actresses of her generation (along with the versatile Angelica Panganiban). But now it can be told that the lovely actress did find the task of bringing “Start-Up PH’s” story to life initially daunting.

“It’s my first time to appear in an adaptation of a Korean title … and that really scared me,” she admitted to us in an exclusive interview after a recent press con with the dynamic Cebu press. “Natakot ako kasi K-drama fans can be pretty aggressive, and I understand where they’re coming from. That’s what we’re like when we love a series or movie. We go out of our way as keyboard warriors to express what we think a favorite production’s new version shouldn’t tamper with.

“‘Dapat hindi ganito or ganyan … huwag n’yong sirain!’ But I realized that as an actress, I couldn’t live my life in fear or trepidation … After all, I’ve been taking risks my whole life, so I should stand by my choices. Dapat itodo ko na lang (laughs). So when the risk paid off, it felt very rewarding.”

Artistic choices

We’ve always loved talking to Bea because, just by asking her about her artistic choices, she allows you to take a peek into how she creates character with no pretensions and without a heavy hand.

Asked if her characters’ choices ever help her make difficult decisions in life, Bea mused, “Sometimes, art really imitates life. The line between what’s real and what’s reel gets blurred. That’s the reason why John Lloyd [Cruz, her erstwhile screen partner] and I decided to do that ‘experimental’ short film on Instagram by Antoinette Jadaone and Dan Villegas in 2020—that was an exact representation na hindi mo na alam kong totoo o hindi ang napapanood mo sa social media.”

We admitted to Bea that upon watching that reel, we initially thought the narrative being played out on Instagram Stories was as real as it could get.

Shaping a character

“’Di ba?” she told us. “It’s so easy to show what you want to show. Of course you want a performance to always be honest and truthful. There will always be Bea in Basha (her iconic character from 2007’s ‘One More Chance’ and 2015’s ‘A Second Chance’) and Bobbie (2013’s ‘Four Sisters and a Wedding’). Hindi s’ya organic if it’s not coming from a place of truth. There’s always going to be part of the character I play that will be left in me … and that affects what I do or say or feel.”

At this point, Bea dug deeper into the topic of “going beyond the surface” when shaping a character.

She continued, “Since we’re talking about what actors learn from the roles they play, I distinctly remember a scene from ‘The Love Affair’ (the 2015 film directed by Nuel Naval and written by Vanessa Valdez where she costarred with Richard Gomez and Dawn Zulueta).

“At some point during the shoot, Ate Vanessa (the writer) and I were fighting over a contentious line she wanted me to deliver. Arguing isn’t uncommon to us because we’re close since we’ve done so many projects together. That’s the kind of relationship I have with her … it’s very collaborative.

“But she wanted my character Adie to run after the guy and plead. But I refused to do it because I felt that doing so would strip Adrianne of her dignity! Magmamakaawa s’ya sa lalaki.

“I told Ate Van, ‘No self-respecting woman would do that! Huwag mong tanggalan ng dignidad ang character ko,’ I pointed out. ‘Hindi ko magagawa ang eksenang ’yan kasi hindi ako naniniwala! That isn’t Adie’s journey.’

“At that point, they were setting up for that scene, but it was around 4 a.m. already. So buti na lang hindi na umabot ang setup kasi maaabutan na kami ng araw. So, the set was packed up. Ate Van said to me, ‘We’ll do the scene again tomorrow. So think about it and sleep on it … namnamin mo lang.’ “I told her, ‘Hindi talaga … I won’t change my mind about it, we need to revise it.’ So, I went home with a foul mood—bad trip na bad trip ako! When I woke up the next day, I was still a little upset, but I was already more open to the idea. I thought, ‘What do I do with the scene later?’

“Then, at 7 or 8 a.m., we shot the scene. I just told myself, ‘Just stop overthinking the scene!’ Para akong nag-freefall … ‘Bahala na,’ I thought. ‘I will just react to what Ina (Feleo, her screen partner) would do.’ But I didn’t know if I would be able to pull it off or feel the kind of emotion I needed to reach.

In denial

“But after the scene, I couldn’t stop crying! Because I realized in the middle of it that I was actually playing … myself! Ako pala ’yung character na ’yun … and I was just in denial! I’ve been forcing myself on somebody [who didn’t love me as much as I wanted to be loved]. I thought, ‘Sh*t … ako si Adie!’ Then, Ate Van came to me and said, ‘See? I just wanted you to see it for yourself.’”

We told Bea how her characters become more compelling to watch when we see their darker side. “We all have a dark side,” she said. “We have good and bad traits because every individual is complex. And when these characters [go through the emotional wringer], that’s when the darker aspects of their personality are magnified.”

Good chemistry

Why hasn’t Bea’s potent screen partnership with John Lloyd ever progress to something romantic?

“It’s still a mystery to us until now,” Bea enthused with a smile. “Maybe we just have good chemistry. It might also have to do with the kind of values that we jointly stand for as a love team. For many viewers, perhaps ours is that kind of tandem that feels more authentic because we don’t pretend to be who we’re not—which was rare in those days.

“At the time, many love teams had to pretend that there was something romantic going on between the partners … so bawal umamin na hindi kayo! But it’s different these days.

“In our case, everybody knew that what John Lloyd and I were offering was the potent appeal of our partnership. We never banked on fake romance. People knew what to expect because we were consistent. Then, that ‘love team’ became the brand itself.”