Not one but two for Ayen

MANILA, Philippines - Ayen Laurel considers Here Comes The Bride and Sigwa as heaven-sent.

“I prayed for this late last year and now there’s two! I remember saying, ‘Lord, I want to do movies naman pero bahala Ka na’ and here it is, more than I asked for. I feel so blessed,” she said.

More than the quantity, it is the quality of the movies that got Ayen excited. Here Comes The Bride is written and directed by Chris Martinez, who has been the toast of the movie industry since his 2009 hit comedy, Kimmy Dora. In Bride, Ayen is cast with Eugene Domingo, Angelica Panganiban, Tuesday Vargas, John Lapus, Jimmy Fabregas, Kim Atienza, Ricky Rivero and Ricci Chan.

“This movie is hilarious! I couldn’t put down the script once I started reading it. The humor springs from situations and not from people trying to be funny,” Ayen said.

Here Comes The Bride tells the story of strangers whose personalities get mixed up following a vehicular accident on their way to a beach wedding. Ayen plays Beth, the boss of Tuesday Vargas’ character.

Ayen welcomed doing comedy since it came hot on the heels of the musical Atang where she played the title role. “That musical — with all the singing and the heavy scenes — took so much from me that doing Bride turned out to be a breather,’” she confessed.

Here Comes The Bride is a Quantum Film co-production with Star Cinema and OctoArts. It is showing in theaters nationwide.

Sigwa, on the other hand, is directed by Joel Lamangan. Ayen had long wanted to work with him especially because he was her acting teacher at the CCP when she was 16.

“Joel was the first person who made me cry,” Ayen said in jest. “But seriously, I know his caliber as a director that’s why I didn’t hesitate signing up for this. In fact, I actually feared I would not make his standards given how exacting that is.”

Ayen shouldn’t have worried. Apparently, Joel has such a high regard for Ayen’s acting prowess that he cast her with Zsa Zsa Padilla, Dawn Zulueta, Gina Alajar, Tirso Cruz III and Marvin Agustin.

Sigwa begins from the first quarter storm in the ‘70s leading to the present. Ayen’s role is that of Karina, a music teacher who grew up not knowing about her biological mother until fate allows them to meet.

Ayen revealed that in her favorite scene in the film, she was asked to cry five times in order to capture the moment from various angles.

“By the time we were on the fifth take, my make-up had already vanished and I was super drained emotionally. Fortunately, I was aware of being with very good co-actors which motivated me to give my best, too,” said Ayen.

She likes it that the role is out of the norm; that is, totally unglamorous, totally un-Ayen. “It’s challenging. Hopefully, people who will see me here will realize that my acting has other facets left untapped.”

An indie film, Sigaw is a finalist in this year’s Cinemalaya Festival.