Minimal growing pains for ‘tweening’ young talent

XYRIEL Manabat

Our favorite child actress, Xyriel Manabat, is currently transitioning from juvenile to “tween” performer, so we made sure to catch her latest dramatic outing on “Maalaala Mo Kaya” on July 16, to see how she was coming along.

Well, the good news is that she’s managing quite well, judiciously avoiding any major change and focusing instead on incremental growth.

The character she played was still a transitioning child, but her focus was fully on her family’s weighty problems, which were really challenging.

Basically, the main bone of dramatic contention was her mother’s tragic habit of falling in love with the wrong man.

The exceedingly poor judge of character, played by Alessandra de Rossi, first latched on to a man who promised to love her forever, but soon left her in the lurch. Thus, she was forced to work her fingers to the bone to bring up her child, eventually played by Xyriel, as best she could.

For some years, mother and child did well all by their twosome, with Xyriel eventually helping out in her mother’s small store.

Unfortunately, Alessandra’s character soon made the same mistake again, falling for another man (Joem Bascon) who turned out to be even more of a tormentor than the loser before him.

Actually, he didn’t start out lousy and mean. In fact, for years, he came across as the perfect life partner, and Xyriel ended up lovingly calling him “Tatay.”

The big, ugly reveal of his true nature came when he got addicted to drugs, and he changed drastically, from hero to sub-zero!

When he got really high, he was verbally and physically abusive to his “loved ones,” and even started brandishing a gun.

Xyriel’s character did her best to fend off his violent assaults, but she ended up being held hostage by him to keep the cops at bay—and the ordeal ended tragically for her.

Thus, the dramatic episode was a cautionary tale for women not to take their suitors’ avowed loving intentions at face value, for fear of ruining not just their own but also their children’s lives.

On point of performance, Alessandra came up with a “painfully” believable portrayal, but the fact that her character’s ill-considered choices had such tragic consequences made her difficult to empathize with.

Instead, viewers found themselves caring and feeling much more for the story’s clear victim, Xyriel’s character—and the young actress’ deeply felt portrayal made the empathetic bond even more profound.

Even as a tween, Xyriel hasn’t lost the natural performance style and insightful interpretation that made her stand out as a child talent.

In fact, her portrayal now has gained in depth and texture, so we’re eager to watch her subsequent TV-film portrayals, as she continues to go from child to tween—to teen!