Cristine Reyes could not help getting emotional when she was asked about how she is doing after the controversial exit of her co-star Vivian Velez in the soap, “Tubig at Langis.”
“Ok ba ako? This business is sometimes cruel,” she said, her voice breaking at the presscon for her new movie from Viva, “Elemento,” “but then I have to be surrounded by people who truly care for me.
“Sometimes it is better to be quiet,” she added, when asked what lessons she learned from the incident.
Last month, Vivian tendered her irrevocable resignation from the show, after being treated rudely by Cristine on the set. After a few days, Cristine aired her side in a statement, denying that she ejected the senior actress from the dressing room that they shared, saying that it was the show’s producer who told her that Vivian’s role was scheduled to be killed off and maintaining that she has always been respectful of her senior co-stars.
“Elemento” director Mark Meily vouched for his lead star. It is his second time to work with Cristine, he said, and he is among those who did not believe the nasty talk about the actress.
“Hindi ko siya kailangang i-defend, you can ask anyone on the set,” he stated, “kaya nga nu’ng pumutok ang balita habang nagso-shooting kami, parang hindi ako makapaniwala. Honestly, iba kasi ‘yung pino-portray ng isang artista do’n sa Cristine Reyes na kasama namin sa shooting, baka ‘tambal’ o doppelganger ‘yun, ha-ha-ha,” added the director.
“Elemento” is about
Cristine, he said, is a professional, arriving early on the set and showing a deep understanding of her role. The actress has matured. “Malaking bagay ‘yung pagiging mommy ni Cristine,” he noted.
Cristine said that being a mom has indeed added a new layer to her acting. In “Elemento,” she plays a doting mom, Kara, whose son Lucas, played by theater actor Albert Silos, exhibits strange characteristics after joining a school field trip. A neighbor, played by Elizabeth Oropesa, tells her of the dreadful possibility that something from the woods may have possessed her son. Kara’s fear intensifies when she receives a call from a boy who sounds like Lucas, frantically begging her to rescue him in the forest. The harrowing ordeal that follows also leads to a shocking discovery.
The story was inspired by real events that happened nineteen years ago, to the 5-year-old daughter of the director. “Basically it’s a reminder na hindi lang tayo ang creature na ginawa ng Diyos sa mundong ito,” said Meily, who also wrote the screenplay of “Elemento.”(Malaya)