FranSeth (Francine Diaz (R) and Seth Fedelin) at a meet-and-greet event
Young stars Francine Diaz and Seth Fedelin, whose onscreen partnership—“FranSeth”—was launched via the mystery-drama “Dirty Linen,” admitted to feeling nervous about how the audience would react to their new tandem. They confessed that they expected to receive hate comments, too.
“Yes, we have been feeling the heavy weight on our shoulders since we joined this project’s story con. We were expecting to get a lot of negative comments or bashing from the audience, but thank God, there was none. Also, we chose to deal with the pressure by working hard to portray our characters well,” Francine told Inquirer Entertainment during a recent interview.
Francine and Seth used to be part of the now-disbanded The Gold Squad of ABS-CBN. They were first seen as a team in the drama series “Kadenang Ginto,” but Francine was paired with Kyle Echarri, while Seth was partnered with Andrea Brillantes.
“It helps that Francine and I are good friends. I actually asked her first if it was OK with her to work with me in a love team. We are determined to make this partnership work. We are aware that people are watching us to see what we will do,” added Seth.
The actor said the pressure is actually coming from the fact that the network, particularly Dreamscape Entertainment, invested in them and the project. “The company thought that pairing us up was worth a try. They’re observing us because this is our first project together. It’s up to us to turn this team-up into something big that will benefit the show and the network. We’re pressured because we want to prove that we deserve this opportunity,” he pointed out.
Francine agreed with Seth and added: “I feel that people have their eyes on us, waiting to see if we will fail or commit any mistakes. Seth and I talked about this—our goal is to play our characters well and give justice to the story because ‘Dirty Linen’ is not your ordinary teleserye. It doesn’t just tell one story. It has many layers, and each of these layers makes up the whole project. Seth and I would like to think that our characters’ storyline—the layer that we’re part of—is also important.”
Fortune and influence
“Dirty Linen,” which also stars Janine Gutierrez and Zanjoe Marudo, began airing on the Kapamilya Channel on Jan. 23. However, the pilot week was all about introducing the main story arc and the major characters. Francine and Seth’s characters, Chiara and Nico, respectively, will be seen more frequently in the coming weeks.
Chiara is the youngest of the powerful Fiero clan. In spite of the family’s fortune and influence, Chiara feels alone and unwanted by her parents. She rebels as a way to get their attention and acceptance. Nico, meanwhile, is smart and hardworking. He receives a scholarship grant in the city that eventually paves the way for him to meet Chiara.
Asked how she was able to relate to her character, Francine said: “It’s true that, unlike Chiara, I’m surrounded by love at home, but there was a time when I also felt so alone and was desperate for other people’s company. I was looking for someone to listen to me and understand what I was going through, but no matter how I tried to explain my situation to friends, it still felt like they didn’t get me.
“I’ve managed to overcome that phase in my life, I’m OK now. It’s just that, in order to play Chiara, I had to return to that time and sort of open wounds that had already healed. I had to do this to portray Chiara more realistically,” Francine explained.
Meanwhile, Seth described Nico as “the purest character in the entire series.” When we asked him to explain what he meant, Seth said it’s hard to share details that will not spoil the story for its audience. “Nico grew up not knowing anything about the plans of his father (Joel Torre) and sister (Janine) to exact revenge on the Fieros.
He is also unaware that other members of what he considers his family are in on the plan, as well. In the beginning, he appears to be a typical student who studies hard to fulfill his dreams and help his family financially.”
The series airs weeknights at 9:30 p.m. on the Kapamilya Channel, A2Z, TV5, iWantTFC and Kapamilya Online Live on ABS-CBN Entertainment’s YouTube channel and Facebook page. INQ