Why viewers love to hate Glaiza de Castro

CEBU, Philippines - One of the important young stars who emerged this year in GMA 7 was Glaiza de Castro. She’s not a product of a reality search nor is she a celebrity offspring, and she had to go through the hard route of trial and error entry in the acting industry. In a recent Cebu visit, Glaiza shared how she was discovered.

“Bata pa ako noon, may shooting sa tabi ng church namin. I think Eddie Garcia film yun. After ng church, punta ako doon, tingin tingin ako. Tapos may lumapit sa akin na agent, ‘Ne, meron ka bang sister na older sa iyo kasi kailangan namin ng talent. Takbo naman ako kaagad sa bahay kasi mga ilang lakad lang yun from our church. Sabi ko sa ate ko, kailangan daw nila ng extra. Ayaw niya, ako na lang daw. So balik na naman ako. Sabi ko ayaw ng ate ko, sabi niya, ikaw gusto mo bang mag-artista? Sabi ko, ok. Mga 12 or 13 years old ako noon," she recalls.

“Pero hindi nagtuloy-tuloy yun kasi we met a lot of talent scouts who turned out to be namemera lang. O kailangan natin ng ganitong amount para sa ganitong write-up, tapos makikita namin yung write up, maliit lang, parang missing person tsaka hindi pa siya sa entertainment page nakalagay. Andaming mga cases na ganoon na pineperahan lang kami. Until nakapasok ako sa GMA, sa Master Showman, then nag-Cool Dudes ako and then I had several guestings sa GMA."

For a time, Glaiza was also under ABS-CBN’s Talent Center, and she reveals that some of her batchmates were Pauleen Luna, Carla Humphries, Paolo Paraiso and the boy group Anime. Fast forward to the present, Glaiza infuriates primetime viewers as the scheming Eunice Aragon in "Stairway to Heaven". She expressed her happiness to be part of this soap, as she shares top billing and billboard space with top Kapuso stars Dingdong Dantes and Rhian Ramos.

Even during the auditions, she was so effective as kontrabida that Stairway's director Joyce Bernal, in a separate interview with The Freeman, said that they had more difficulty finding the bida since she has to be someone who could hold her own against the acting of Glaiza. "Marunong talaga umarte ang bata," Direk Joyce said of Glaiza. 

Previously coming from another nemesis role opposite Maxene Magalona in the afternoon Sine Novela, “Kung Aagawin Man Ang Lahat Sa Akin", it's good how Glaiza came up with a different look to differentiate her kontrabida role as Gladys and now as Eunice. Where in the previous show she sported a shoulder-length bob with bangs, she now wears hair extensions without the bangs and this fits her classy and sophisticated character to a tee.

Whenever she goes out, Glaiza says she gets comments like "maldita ka" or "nakakainis ka", but they all say this with a smile. She says fans shouldn't be too hard on Eunice because she has a human side too. "Inumpisahan pa lang namin yung series, we wanted to show people that Eunice is still human, hindi lang siya nang-aaway basta-basta, na may pinanggagalingan. Hinimay-himay namin yun, bakit ganito si Eunice? Mas mahal ba niya ang nanay niya keysa sa sarili niya? Kahit nang-aapi siya, siya din inaapi. Umiiyak si Jodi, umiiyak din siya. There’s part of her na parang inaagaw din ni Jodi sa kanya," she explains.

With the help of her able directors Joyce Bernal and Andoy Ranay, Glaiza became so "into" her role that the stress of being antagonistic and angry all the time on set took its toll physically. Last month, she had to be rushed to the hospital while taping after experiencing troubled breathing and numbness. After this incident, she's now thinking twice in accepting another antagonist role after Stairway.

But not that she isn't enjoying being the bad girl. She looks up to Jean Garcia, who plays her mother in the series. "Isa siya sa mga hinahangaan kong aktres sa pagkokontrabida. But I try to mix actresses, kung paano sila umarte, para hindi ako masyadong gayang-gaya sa actress that I look up to. So it's a mixture of Ms. Jean Garcia minsan, minsan Ms. Maricel Soriano."

Glaiza also shares that her working relationship with her co-stars has been surprisingly good. She was initially intimidated by Dingdong and the rest but workshops before the official taping gave them time to bond and get to know one another. Her role might require her to physically hurt Rhian, but off-cam, they are getting along pretty well.

"We talk about things din, kasi may mga bagay kami na parehas like the bands we're listening to. Nakakatuwa na nakaka-relate kami with each other. The first time na nagka-eksena kami was pretty intense, sobrang nasaktan ko siya nun. Kinausap kami ng director na huwag niyong i-anticipate, huwag niyong pigilan ang sarili niyo, kung anong sinasabi ng puso niyong gawin, gawin niyo, talagang walang fake dito. Para makatulong sa emotions namin, talagang ginagawa namin. On my part, napalakas talaga yung sampal ko, nakita ko sa playback, wow, talagang nag-cringe ako. Sorry ako ng sorry sa kanya. But she was cool with it. It’s nice to know na kahit konting gesture of disappointment, wala akong nakita sa kanya."

The 21-year-old actress has appeared in a lot of indie films already, and she is currently doing one with a political theme, tackling how the government works underground. She also just finished another indie with director Quark Henares, "Rak en Rol", a project that's very close to her heart since she is also musically-inclined. In fact, her guitar is one of her most treasured possessions and she has even released an album once.

“Ang tagal na nun, parang two years naming ginawa, medyo ibang-iba na nga yung itsura namin doon eh. Pero I’m really excited for this project because ang tagal naming hinintay yun. Yung character ko dun nakaka-relate talaga ako kasi mahilig sa music at parang binebenta rin yung mga Pinoy indie bands. Supposedly, si Rico Blanco yung main rock star pero naging si Ely Buendia. So ang saya kasi ang daming musicians na involved."

Glaiza will also appear in the Regal Films MMFF entry, "Mano Po 6", as the young Sharon Cuneta.