Yes, game na game na ako!

My sinister sister, Boy Abunda, had written earlier in the week about his return to playing tennis. He wrote that we‘d started playing together, but I couldn’t keep to our scheduled lessons with Zoren and Kier Legaspi. My schedule is slightly less chaotic now, so inspired by Boy, I will get my butt to the gym and start getting myself in better health.

Currently, I do Morning Girls live every weekday morning. On Wednesdays and Fridays I tape for Game KNB, that normally starts at 3 p.m. for make-up, we roll tape at 4:30 p.m., and we pack up by 11 p.m. to 12 midnight, but if we have smart and very brave players, we don’t pack up until 2 or 3 a.m. I was informed that immediately after Holy Week, Game KNB will be true to my tagline of "Pilipinas, Game KNB?" because one week’s worth of episodes per month will be taped in specific provinces, with players from that region. We will start in Cebu, followed by Davao, and then a province in Northern Luzon, and another one from Southern Luzon. This will mean my traveling all over the country on alternate weekends.

My film with Robin Padilla entitled You and Me Against the World, produced by Mommy Rose Flaminiano of FLT Films will open nationwide on Wednesday, March 12. We had a very organized shooting calendar. My director Jose Carreon, because he was also the film’s scriptwriter, mapped out the shooting in such a way that principal photography was finished within 30 calendar days. This amazed me because Robin and I, together with our cast mates Mark Anthony Fernandez, Gary Estrada, Rommel Padilla, Elizabeth Burton, Ricardo Cepeda, Maritoni Fernandez, and Jackie Aquino shot big scenes in Tarlac, Subic, Batangas, Malate in Manila, and Antipolo.

So much has already been written about the screen kisses that Robin and I shared. I won’t add any more on the topic except to say that Robin and I executed those kisses in cinematic good taste and I must give a special thank you to our cinematographer, Porac, Pampanga Vice Mayor Rey Lapid for having given us such romantic lighting.

Will those be the last screen kisses for me? It‘s always very hard to give categorical answers, especially with the volatile demands of movie acting. But, for now I must say that those are the last for me. I am single, and I understand that tabloid write-ups must exaggerate their accounts of such scenes to drum up interest for the movie, but at some point I would want to be settled in a lasting relationship and there really is no way for me to justify agreeing to a kissing scene and complaining later on that I did not expect it to be publicized in a way I was not comfortable with. Hello? Coming from someone who has hosted one form or another of a celebrity or showbiz oriented talk show for the better part of eight years, I know that the safest way to avoid any personal conflicts in the future is to just say no to delicate scenes from the on-set.

I am proud of the outcome of You and Me Against the World. Although I am Robin’s leading lady, it’s really more a powerful action drama rather than a romantic action flick. I don’t mind, because when it comes to film acting, I really don’t have a big ego when it comes to screen exposure. Robin gives a mature portrayal of a troubled man trying desperately to right the wrongs he committed in the past and unwittingly took part in again in the present. His inner conflicts are very evident when you watch his performance in totality, from his body language, to his delivery of his dialogue, and most of all in the intensity of his eyes.

Mark Anthony Fernandez makes his comeback, and I must make special mention of his unique screen presence. When Mark is on screen, his God-given, natural acting prowess shines through. In my opinion, among our young actors, he is the most innately gifted. I truly hope that he will be given more chances to showcase all that he’s got to give. He and Robin have some very electrifying confrontation scenes. Watching the two of them, I realized that they are just blessed with DNA that makes imbibing the nuances of their characters so convincingly, truly second nature.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with showbiz family trees, Robin’s father and Mark‘s paternal grandmother, meaning Rudy Fernandez’s mother are brother and sister. I was able to trace this through my best friend, ZsaZsa Padilla, whose paternal grandfather, meaning her dad Sonny Padilla’s father is also the sibling of Robin’s Dad and Mark’s lola.

The 19th Star Awards for movies will be held tomorrow night at the UP Theater. Actors always say that it is honor enough to be nominated, and it’s true that I am very grateful that the Philippine Movie Press Club saw fit to give me a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Mano Po. But I will be honest enough to admit that a big part of me is really hoping and praying to bring home that trophy. I’ve been psyching myself to be as good a sport as I can possibly be, because I can’t go around sulking if the award goes to Judy Ann Santos, Cherry Pie Picache, Amy Austria, or Elizabeth Oropesa, all of whom are superbly talented actresses. But, I‘ll be hosting the Star Awards together with Maricel Soriano, Cesar Montano, and Bong Revilla. That’s why it will really take a lot of skillful acting for me to keep a smile on my face in the event that somebody else gets to bring home the trophy.