The secrets that they keep

When the late Dolphy won Best Actor and Best Actress for playing the titular role in Markova at the Brussels Film Festival a few years ago, the feat seemed straight out of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not.

In the recent Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, something a more surprising “first” happened when all the four actresses of Mga Mumunting Lihim were named winners in both the Best Actress(es) and Best Supporting Actress(es) categories — (in alphabetical order) Janice de Belen, Iza Calzado, Agot Isidro and Judy Ann Santos.

Find out why when the movie goes “mainstream” as it opens in commercial (not just CCP, the Cinemalaya venue) theaters tomorrow, Aug. 22.

Directed by Joey Javier Reyes from his own story and screenplay and produced by OctoArts Films, Mga Mumunting Lihim is the story of a woman (find out, too, who among the four stars even if those who have seen the movie already know) whose life story is chronicled in a diary she left with her three trusted friends.

On that note, Funfare asked the four stars about secrets that they keep. Listen, do you want to know a secret; do you promise not to tell? (Of course, those lines are from a Beatles song.)

How was it working together?

Janice: We were complete for only two days of work. Because we were busy with the shoot, we didn’t really have much time to bond except in one scene where we really enjoyed — the finale scene. It felt like we’d been friends for a long time.

Iza: It was my first time to work with Agot and Janice, and my third time with Juday. It was certainly a fun experience. It didn’t feel like work at all and I guess that’s what the audience will see and feel when they see the film.

Agot: It was fun. Not like work at all. I am friends with all of them even if Janice and I haven’t been in touch. But like old friends, we just picked up where we left off.

Juday: It’s my first time with Janice; I have worked with Agot a couple of times, so with Iza. Lihim is my third indie. The two others were Ploning and Miss Pinay. But they were not for Cinemalaya. We were just having fun on the set and then we won those awards. Aba, bonus na sa amin ‘yan, a!

In real life, can you be trusted with a friend’s secrets and promise to carry them to your grave?

Janice: Yes.

Iza: If my friend tells me to do so, I will take it to my grave. I’m very trust-worthy.

Agot: Yes, I can, especially if there’s no specific instruction not to tell. If we’re friends, I would know which ones are secrets I can’t tell and those that are okay to divulge.

Juday: Oh yes. Oo naman!

Kapag nagalit kayo, would you use those secrets against your friend? (That’s usually what happens among showbiz friends, right?)

Janice: If you do something like that, babalik lang sa’yo.

Iza: No. I could have done that in the past but I never did. That’s not fair play so I don’t do it.

Agot: I don’t think I would, especially sensitive, life-threatening type of secrets. I feel that I have no right to use them, unless I am willing to let go of the friendship forever. Tipong solian ng kandila.

Juday: Hmmmm, well, sa totoong buhay hindi naman ako ganoon. I’m not like my character in Mga Mumunting Lihim. But siempre, if it’s called for and you have to tell it for a good reason, like nagkakagulo na, I guess d’un lang ako magri-reveal just to make things clear. Otherwise, kung mapapahamak lang ang mga tao sa aking paligid, my lips are sealed. But several times nang nangyari sa akin that so-called friends have used my secrets against me. I don’t have control over them. You know, when I trust a person, full trust talaga. Once you destroy that trust, it’s hard to bring it back.

Please give just a bit of your best-kept secret (that only you know) without revealing all of it.

Janice: Parang wala naman.

Iza: Will remain kept. Thank you very much.

Agot: Let’s just say that I have secrets that I haven’t told a single soul.

Juday: Hmmm, let me think…Is there anything about me that the public doesn’t know? I guess my life is an open book. Do my husband Ryan (Agoncillo) and I share secrets? Oo naman! I laid my cards on the table before we got married. So, no more secrets!

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. You may also send your questions to [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos visit http://www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on www.twitter/therealrickylo.)