Meryll–most improved

SORIANO. Has risen above her limitations.

WE KEEP reminding smug and downright lazy stars that they’re only as good as their last performance, and that there’s always room for improvement.

We take our cue from a comment made by the great actor, Sir Laurence Olivier, who was asked in the twilight of his prodigiously productive thespic career what kept him coming up with even better characterizations.

His stunningly humble reply: “I’m still a student—there’s so much more to learn!”

—If the best actor in the world thought and felt that, other and lesser thespians should definitely not rest on their own paltry laurels!

That’s why we’re happy to celebrate this season’s “most improved” actors, who, through sheer dint of hard work and additional training, have risen above their limitations, and have emerged in 2015-16 as thespians who have already fulfilled their promise.

This season, they are paced by Meryll Soriano, Willie Revillame and Bec-Bec Soriano’s “crown princess.” Years ago, she was just one of local show biz’s madding crowd of teen comers, appearing in movies like “Nasaan Ka Nang Kailangan Kita” (1996) and TV series like “Sana Ay Ikaw Na Nga” (2001), to no particular impressive effect.

Later, she did get nominated for awards and won some for her performances in “Donor” and “Rotonda,” but significant distinction continued to elude her.

Business ventures

In the meantime, her dad Willie was becoming very prosperous indeed with his TV and business ventures, and Meryll naturally shared his extravagantly good fortune.

But, unlike some other biglang-yaman heiresses and princesses, she didn’t just wallow in the golden bathtub of luxury, she used her share of her dad’s newfound wealth to improve herself and her thespic prospects.

She flew to London to study, became a good photographer, steeped herself in “global” art and culture—and, when she came back home, she was ripe and ready for new challenges.

Her strongest suit and showcase last year was the female lead role in the celebrated film, “Honor Thy Father,” in which she costarred with John Lloyd Cruz, who’s also been on the self-transformation trail for some years now.

They played the dark and seethingly complex roles of “pyramid” scammers who lived the high life for a while, but all too soon had to pay dearly and even tragically for their blind and blinding love for money.

Watching Erik Matti’s “cruel” film, we were moved by Meryll’s similarly harsh and “self-flagellating” portrayal, in which she descended to the very pit of degradation and despair.

It was like the previously merely capable actress had finally found the key to unlock the deepest secrets of the thespic trade. Fully immersed in her screen character, she showed not just her most vulnerable but also her “ugliest” side—and viewers were grateful for the difficult and selfless sharing.

Meryll is playing a less challenging role in a teleserye these days, but she’s also doing it interestingly, believably and well.

So, hopes are high that she’s learned her thespic lessons for keeps, and will soon gift us with another superlative and insightful lead portrayal in a new indie showcase!