Shamaine Centenera Buencamino: Mother, wife, actress

MANILA, Philippines -  One of the most visible stage and film actresses on TV these days is Shamaine Centenera Buencamino who plays the long-lost mother of Julia Montes in Walang Hanggan.

The most appealing feature of this teleserye is its superb roster of actors from Susan Roces to Coco Martin down to Dawn Zulueta and Paulo Avelino. When Shamaine enters the picture, the acting ensemble becomes even more engrossing.

First-rate acting is a rarity on TV and when you see one, you remain glued to the series even if you know the story is being stretched a bit too far.

Before film and TV, Shamaine was literally honed by theater. She acted her way into the classic pieces in theater like Mamie Summers in We’re Still Hot (a musical), Andromache in Troyanas, (an adaptation of the Greek classic, Trojan Women), Apo Baket in Hudhud, Jocasta in Oedipus Rex, Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible, Laya in Seks, Susi at Sangkalan, Roxanne in Cyrano de Bergerac, Masha in Three Sisters, Cassandra in Cats and Milet in Batang Pro, as well as roles in Noli Me Tangere, Lusak, (an adaptation of Maxim Gorky’s The Lower Depths) and Vaclav Havel’s Memorandum.

Her film invasion actually started in the ’90s. She was in Bituing Walang Ningning (1997), The Dolzura Cortez Story (1994) and Kung Ako’y Iiwan Mo (1992). She was also in several digital films like The Leaning House for Cinema One, Las Ponggols for Cinemalaya and director Jon Red’s Astigmatism, an entry in the Hong Kong Digital Video Festival in 2004.

Just recently, she won three Best Supporting Actress trophies for her role in the indie film Niño from the Cinemalaya, Golden Screen and the sixth Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong.

She is really no stranger to audience and critics’ acclaim since she started acting professionally in the ’80s. “Awards mean that most of the jury members liked your work above the others in competition,” she says. “I feel very happy every time I get one. It is the opinion of a few but the recognition assures publicity and hopefully more acting jobs.”

Shamaine, 47, is a mother of four and comes from a generation of distinguished stage and film actors that include Pen Medina, John Arcilla, Madeleine Nicolas and, among others, Noni Buencamino who happens to be her husband.

Rues Shamaine: “Motherhood has given me a wealth of experience and a deeper understanding of humanity. My children have taught me what is essential in life. My greatest joys and fears are all rooted in my family.”

With Julia Montes and Coco Martin in Walang Hanggan

A busy week for her means waking up early at five in the morning to make breakfast and bring the kids to school by seven.

When she has a regular TV show, it means three 18 to 24-hour taping days which means her husband, Noni, will have to do most of the cooking and the driving. An indie film also uses up her whole day but does not stretch to more than a month of shooting.

I first noticed Shamaine’s immense acting gift in 1989 when she appeared in the well-received Filipino play, In My Father’s House by Elsa Coscoluella at the CCP Bulwagang Batute. In that performance, she stunned audiences who were not exactly theater fans. It was staged by the UP Playwright’s Theater and was brought to Singapore’s Victoria Theater.

“I consider theater my ‘home,” she points out. “It is where I was born, where I learned to walk and talk. It is where I learned most of what I know about my craft. I realized that I wanted to act forever while studying at the Philippine High School for the Arts. Theater taught me respect for acting. That respect drives me to prepare for each and every role that I get.”

Her marriage to Noni produced four children who got their parents’ acting genes. “All my four children have acted in at least one film. I must say that a houseful of actors equates to a volatile household! Conversations are sometimes held with an English accent especially when there is a family member doing Shakespeare! Discussions on performances are ongoing all the time. Acting discoveries are shared and treasured. And we are almost always opinionated so it can get loud. Our eldest daughter, Delphine, who also majored in theater at the Philippine High School for the Arts and took up Humanities in Ateneo, has been warned: Do theater only if you can’t live without it. Unfortunately, theater is financially unstable so that one has to truly love it to thrive in it.”

Shamaine and Noni — who are both in the high-rating teleserye Walang Hanggan — met at the Tanghalang Pilipino playing husband and wife in Taga sa Panahon, a Filipino translation of the play A Man for All Seasons. Their mutual love for theater ended in marriage during their stints at Tanghalang Pilipino where they were pioneer members.

The best part of being married to actors is that she gets free coaching. Moreover, they are also their own worst critic. “After more than 20 years, we have learned how to be generous with our praises and gentle with our criticisms because we do take each other’s opinion seriously. Yes, we can be very brutal with our comments but we always offer possible acting choices that the other actor can try.”

During their CCP theater stints in the ’80s, they were receiving a mere P3,000 a month each which were not enough even for the two of them. When the babies started coming one after the other, they had to find alternative ways to improve their income. They limited their theater appearances and for a while actually dropped out from the theater scene. “I felt stupid for insisting that I had to sacrifice and earn a lot more for my family when the main thing that made my family happy was my happiness — not the money in the bank.”

Her most recent memorable film roles include Swanie (the barangay captain in REquieme! by Loy Arcenas), the lesbian daughter in Niño also by Arcenas), the mother (Maskara by Laurice Guillen) and another mother role (Ikaw ang Pag-ibig by Marilou Diaz-Abaya).

Dazzling were her recent stage roles like Atang (the zarzuela queen), Madonna Brava, Reyna (Kalungkutan ng Reyna), Queen Elizabeth, Sister Emily, among others. There are roles she would like to do again. “Actually I like all my roles including those that I have done when I was just starting in Naga City in Bicol when I was in grade five. There are other roles I would like to do all over again because I feel I have not yet truly given justice to them. These are the parts of Queen Elizabeth in Mary Stuart and Masha in Three Sisters.”

For Shamaine, character study is the most creative stage for her as an actress. This is where she seeks the history, the circumstances, the thoughts, feelings and ultimately, the soul of the character.

Points out the award-winning stage and film actress: “Acting has to be truthful. That’s all there is to it. Acting based on truth resonates and reaches the heart of any viewer.”