No lavish debut for Bianca Umali

CEBU, Philippines — Bianca Umali is on a roll, having wrapped up the last quarter of 2017 with a dream role of being an avian in “Mulawin Vs. Ravena” which was followed up with a brand new soap entitled “Kambal, Karibal.”

 The 17-year-old actress had revealed that as a kid, she had always wanted to become a Mulawin, a human-bird character in the iconic fantaserye at the Kapuso primetime block. When the show wrapped up in September, Bianca and her on-screen partner Miguel Tanfelix were back on the small screen a couple of months after.

 Albeit stripped off their wings, Bianca shares how her new soap, “Kambal, Karibal” – which replaced “Alyas Robin Hood” on the network’s Telebabad line up – is just as special.

 “The roles are really different. Dun sa ‘Mulawin Vs. Ravena’, ang characters are of course fictional, kung baga out of our world. Pero ang similarity nila [with the new show], is that there are things happening around us that not everyone can understand,” Bianca quips about the novelty of going back to roles as normal people during a press conference at Golden Cowrie Lahug preceeding a mall tour with fellow Kapuso stars Miguel, Ruru Madrid, Matt Evans, Lovi Poe and Dennis Trillo during the Sinulog weekend.

“Kambal, Karibal” also stars Pauline Mendoza, Kyline Alcantara, and Jeric Gonzales, as well as veterans like Gloria Romero, Christopher De Leon, Jean Garcia, Carmina Villarroel, Marvin Agustin and Alfred Vargas.

 The soap is about the relationship of twins Crisanta and Criselda Bautista, portrayed by Bianca and Pauline, respectively. Criselda dies because of a rare disease called Severe Combined Immunodeficiency but remains as a spirit that only appears to Crisanta. However, the close bond between twins begin to dismantle when they both fall in love with Miguel as Diego Ocampo. The rivalry between the sisters escalate when their mother’s affections are focused on Crisanta. Criselda’s emotions eventually consume her and her soul finds another person’s body to inhabit. Now that Criselda is “alive” in Cheska De Villa (Kyline Alcantara), she will stop at nothing to take both her mother’s affection and Diego’s love from her twin.

 Bianca admits that her work on “Kambal, Karibal” is an entirely different challenge. As someone who is supposedly able to see ghosts, the way some scenes are shot are different from what Bianca is used to.

“May mga scenes na ako mag-isa ako kasi nga multo yung kausap ko. Mahirap siya, kasi hindi madali gumawa ng eksena ng wala kang kausap,” Bianca begins of her scenes that have to be repeatedly shot in different ways to emphasize the fact that her sister’s ghost only appears to her.

 “Mahirap siya, kasi iba yung may kabatuhan ka sa eksena. Para ka talagang baliw. It’s not easy. Pag napanood ko na, hindi ko rin inakala na ang ganda ng output.”

As for her character, Bianca says that she relates to Crisanta’s humility, how understanding and faithful she can be. Bianca admires her character’s optimism and how Crisanta never fails to see the brighter side of things no matter how dark and difficult her situation is.

Bianca with “Kambal Karibal” co-star Miguel Tanfelix

Bianca further reveals that since she’s played one of her dream roles as “taong-ibon,” she would like to try a hand on rebel roles in action-filled projects.

 “Ngayon, gustong-gusto ko lahat ng role na ginagawa ko. Pero isa sa mga dream roles ko ngayon ay rebelde, lahat ng pwedeng gawin ng rebelde gusto ko gampanan. May action naman sa ‘Mulawin’ pero hindi pa masyad,” Bianca muses.

 In a matter of weeks, Bianca will celebrate her 18th birthday (she’s turning legal on March 2).

 “Turning 18 is a big deal for me,” declares Bianca, who grew up under the care of her paternal grandmother when both her parents passed away.

 “But the celebration, not really. Hindi naman talaga ako ganun. I haven’t had a day na sinelebrate ko talaga. I can stay at home or have a simple dinner. Sometimes I don’t really celebrate, so we’ll see.”

 This year, all Bianca ever wants is to find true happiness. That, and to read at least a hundred books – which doesn’t come as a surprise since Bianca is a Kapuso Reading Ambassador for the “Pass A Book ni BiGuel” campaign as well as a World Vision for Education Ambassador.

 Aside from a growing to-be-read pile and an action-packed role, other things on her bucket list are to go skydiving, bungee jumping and to try driving a bus.

 Other than these, Bianca honestly wants to experience her most spontaneous year yet.

 “2018 kasi for me is my 18th year of existence. I tried to think about what could happen and what I wanted to do. But I decided not to plan anything because I want 2018 to surprise me. Siguro for a change, gusto kong hindi naka plan lahat. It’s not every day or every year na 18 ka.”