Cherry Pie plays bida-kontrabida role in “Iisa Pa Lamang,”

Cherry Pie Picache is at it again. The 5th Golden Screen Awards winner for Best Performance in a Leading Role (Drama) stunned the audience at the press preview and celebrity premiere of “Iisa Pa Lamang,” the newest ABS-CBN teleserye that will premiere on Monday, July 14.

She plays the role of Isadora, the foul-mouthed and sinister mother of Diether Ocampo, who makes the life of Claudine Barretto and her lola, played by former queen of Philippine movies Ms. Susan Roces.

Cherry Pie is devil incarnate in her role as Isadora and looking at how she breathed life to the role, it seems impossible to imagine that a person could be as bad and as sinister, as cunning and as manipulative as Isadora. But this is a soap opera and anything can happen in this make-believe world where dead people can spring back to life, while existing characters could die at an instance, depending on the situation.

“I am very happy that the people reacted with the way I tackled my role as Isadora,” says Cherry Pie when we got to talk to her after the press preview of “Iisa Pa Lamang.”

“I am glad that they reacted to my performance as Isadora. I’d be sad if they didn’t react because I think my acting was not that effective. If I got a lukewarm reaction then it means my performance didn’t have an impact. But the truth is, I was kind of afraid of how they’d react to my acting. They (audience) might get mad at me.”

But she assures the audience she’s not like Isadora in real life and she’s just breathing life to a very colorful character. It’s just a role.

“I am just doing my job. This is just work. This is probably the wickedest role that I’ve ever done. I did my role in such a way that I portrayed Isadora as a woman of the world. She’s the type who’d do anything, even sell anything, including her son, just to get what she wanted,” says Cherry Pie.

She added that Isadora is a very colorful character that’s why portraying her keeps her acting juices flowing freely. She runs a whole gamut of emotions tackling the part, from comedy to drama, just about any conceivable emotion one could probably think of.

Well, she didn’t have second thoughts in taking on the bida-kontrabida role. But Cherry Pie intimated that she was hoping to get a product endorsement of any sort this year. “But with me taking the role of Isadora, who’s so sinister and manipulative, the endorsement that I was hoping for might not come at all. I am still hopeful though that even if I am playing a bad character, they (advertisers) would still see me as an effective endorser,” she added.

One of many memorable scenes that Cherry Pie did in “Iisa Pa Lamang” was a confrontation scene with Ms. Susan Roces, who plays the role of Claudine’s protective grandmother. It was a highly emotionally charged scene where she gets to slap the former movie queen. In turn, Ms. Roces spits on her face. The scene was finished in one take.

“Isadora is really so bad that a spat on the face is not enough to pay for all her misdeeds. Had I been in Tita Susan’s shoes, she (Isadora) will get more than a spit on the face. I would hurt her physically. I was challenged with the role because I did a kontrabida role in Pangarap na Bituin. How can I make the character of Isadora different from the kontrabida role in that series? So I thought of making her a woman of the world as my peg. ‘Yung talagang kahit na ano ibebenta. Pati anak niya ginamit niya to further her ambition,” she explains.

“I am actually afraid on how the people would react to my performance. I afraid somebody would hit me with an umbrella when I go to the mall. But on the other hand, I am flattered with their reactions because it means I am able to get my message across and the people can relate to the role. There are more sinister things that I’d do in my role but justice will be served in the end. Claudine will have the chance to get back at me and I’d suffer,” she related.

We asked Cherry Pie her thoughts after winning the best actress plum from the Golden Screen Awards for “Foster Child.”

“It always feels good to win an award. It’s a pat on a back, a reminder that you did a good job. Hindi naman nakakasawa na manalo ng award, in the same manner na hindi rin naman nakakasawa na gumanap ng mga magagandang roles whether sa TV o sa pelikula,” says the three-time winner of Golden Screen Awards.

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We received word from Regal Entertainment that “My Monster Mom” is going very strong, earning P25 million on its first five days of release in theaters. Mother Lily Monteverde of Regal Entertainment is very pleased with the result and is excited to start with the sequel.

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Fresh from the successful premiere at the UP Film Institute, “Kambyo,” a film about four boys who go on a life-changing road trip together – will be screened regularly at Robinson’s Galleria, Robinson’s Ermita and Robinson’s Metro East starting today, July 9.

Directed by Jay Altarejos, the man who gave us the hits “Ang Lalake sa Parola” and “Ang Lihim ni Antonio,” this new film hopes to break box-office records.

“Kambyo” traces the life of four boys: Macky (Rayan Dulay, who made a splash in “Bathhouse) and Manuel (played by Kenjie Garcia of Ang Lihim ni Antonio fame), their fun-loving friend Xavier (Harold Macasero) and his hunky friend, Aldo (played by Gabz del Rosario).