Alexa, pumayag maghubad!

Eight years old pa lang ay umaarte na si Alexa Ilacad.

Kaya kumbaga sa harap na siya ng camera lumaki, na nag-umpisa bilang isa sa mga child star sa Goin’ Bulilit hanggang sa maging bida sa iba’t ibang serye na ang pinakabago ay itong iWant series na ang pamagat ay Miss Behave.

At gagampanan dito ni Alexa ang karakter ni Marla Briones, isang top-achiever student na masisira ang iniingatang reputasyon matapos kumalat ang kanyang mga hubad na larawan sa campus.

Bibida rin kasama niya sina Xyriel Manabat, Reign Parani, Andi Abaya at Rans Rifol na maiipit din sa iskandalong babalot sa kanila sa kahihiyan.

Sa kabila ng kanilang pagkakaiba, magsasanib-pwersa sila para maghiganti at puksain ang nagpakalat ng scandal.

Kaya ang unang tinanong sa kanya ay kung bakit niya tinanggap ang role na ito na parang mas matapang kesa sa mga nauna niyang ginawa.

 “Actually, ito nga po, I had a feeling na someone is gonna ask me why I said yes to this project. Aside from having such a strong storyline, a strong message of empowerment that I feel like it needs to get across sa mga kabataan ngayon. I immediately said yes because of direk (Ivan Andrew Payawal). When he pitched this to me, he said only a couple of words and I was like: “Yes, I’m in. I want that.”

“I don’t know why, but my complete trust was his. My trust is in him completely. Sabi ko nga when I was doing this, it used to be very hard to for me to open up to other people, like this.

“I’ve been through my fair share of friendship, heartbreaks, but really, let me start up to this day, it hurts, it stings. But then, I don’t know, when I turned 25, maybe my frontal lobe did develop, like they said they would. Like they said, yes, that’s my excuse for everything. But there was something in me that just made this decision to risk it, to risk everything,” mahabang paliwanag ni Alexa sa ginanap na media conference para sa Miss Behave.

“If you love someone and you get hurt, that’s okay. That’s the price you pay for loving someone and it’s never a waste. So sabi ko, okay, when I step into this project, I need to be open. I need to make these people feel like they can be at home with me and I can be at home with them. If I want to make this project work, I need to open myself up to these people. And pati kay Direk, kaya may sabi, “may kissing scene?” “Okay po,” “kissing scene, love scene?” “Oo, sige po, sige po.” So, ayun, sobrang I just felt so at home with these people and especially kay Direk din talaga.

“Like, aside from it being such a good project that would be good for me and my resume, but, grabe ‘yung heart na binibigay n’yo. It’s so inspiring. You love to see us all set and do,” mahabang kuwento ni Alexa tungkol sa kanyang role na ginagampanan sa Miss Behave.

Bukod nga sa pagharap sa mas mature na kuwento na kinakaharap ng mga bida sa loob at labas ng kanilang eskwelahan, ibinahagi rin ni Alexa na magiging unforgettable project din ang Miss Behave para dahil ito ay isang milestone sa kanyang career, na kailangang gumawa ng kissing scene kasama ang co-star na si JC Alcantara, na gumaganap bilang kanyang boyfriend na si Cole sa show.

“Honestly, it was my first ever kissing scene po talaga. So admittedly, I was feeling very, very nervous and I was very scared. To be completely honest, I’m sure it was great, but I was so numb, I was not there. ‘Yung kaluluwa ko wasn’t really in the moment. Kinakabahan talaga. But I’m also really lucky because si Direk (Ivan), talagang kinausap niya kami. He would remind us, he would tell us about the shots, kung kelan lang namin gawin. Sobrang maalaga talaga si Direk. Everything had consent. We talked about each and every step. Everything was consensual,” pag-aalala niya. 

“And I’m also very lucky kasi my first kissing scene was with such a great guy, which is si JC. Maalaga siya. Ito talaga ‘yung binigay ni Lord. Sabi ko, ‘Lord, ito talaga ‘yung first ko, ibibigay ko na ang lahat-lahat ko dito sa Miss Behave so go, gawin na natin ito!’  Kaya for me, perfect talaga si JC kasi he was such a very gentle partner, very hands-on din siya, very maalaga. So I think it went well, naman, but then again, I was so out of it (laughs). But I think it was good,” she added. 

 “One thing about me na I think people can tell naman na is palaban naman po talaga ako. At bukod sa palaban, ang word of my life ngayon ay matapang na ako. So that’s what I had to channel for Miss Behave, kaila­ngan ko siya tapangan. Kung gagawin ko ‘to, it’s all in or nothing at all. So ayun,” sabi pa niya.

Abangan ang premiere ng Miss Behave, na mapapanood ang unang episode nang libre ngayong Hunyo 3 sa iWant. Mapapanood ang bagong episodes nito tuwing Miyerkules sa iWant sa pamamagitan ng subscription plans na nagsisimula sa P35 kada buwan sa Pilipinas, USD 12.99 kada buwan sa United States, at USD 4.99 kada buwan para sa iba pang bansa.