Kris will quit acting after Kailangan soap

First, a “breaking news”: Kris Aquino said that after her steamy jacuzzi honeymoon scene with Robin Padilla in the now-controversial ABS-CBN soap Kailangan Ko’y Ikaw, she will quit her “acting job.”

“That’s what I promised Bimby,” replied Kris to a texted question how her younger son James Jr. reacted to that scene which has gone viral after somebody posted the photos on the Internet and TV Patrol aired them.

“At five years old,” added Kris, “Bimb doesn’t understand that it was all just make-believe,” at the same time expressed at once relief and regret that the soap’s timeslot has been moved to 10 p.m. starting Monday, Feb. 11. “As I’ve said na, it was the first and last time for me and it’s time to just focus on what I do best which is hosting.”

Unfortunately, Bimby was still awake earlier this week when Kris and Robin’s wedding scene was shown and the possessive boy cried and cried, prompting his concerned mom to stay home and console him, especially after Bimby asked Kris, “Mom, are you in love with him?” Kris had to explain to Bimby that it was all acting and in real life, Robin’s wife is Mariel Rodriguez.

The sad news for the soap’s followers is that effective last night, Kris’ character Roxanne was diagnosed to have ovarian cancer and next week, said Kris, “I will be dying na.”

In case you were not home or tuned in to another channel, in that scene Kris and Robin were shown embracing and kissing as honeymooners are supposed to do. Because Kris and Robin have a “past,” some people put malice into the scene and concluded that it was more than make-believe. Last December in an interview with Funfare, Robin said in jest that he was just human (“Tao lang ako”) and being a macho man (tunay na lalaki) he couldn’t avoid being tempted or carried away by his love scenes with not only Kris but also with Anne Curtis as Kris’ sister who has an abortive romance with Robin before her character left for New York.

“Honestly,” Mariel admitted in a phone chat with Funfare yesterday, “I admit that I felt uncomfortable with those scenes. I really didn’t want to watch it and I saw only photos of those scenes. No, I wasn’t jealous of Kris, or any other woman doing a love scene with Robin. Si Ate Kris pa who is very good to me! Napakabait niya sa akin! Basta, I just didn’t like that uncomfortable feeling. My mistake is that I let myself be carried away by the sulsol of other people.”

Like any wife with that “uncomfortable feeling,” Mariel talked to Robin, “You told me that you wouldn’t hurt me from the start, so why are you hurting me now?”

But contrary to reports, Mariel clarified that she didn’t really leave home; she was just late in going home. Maybe to dramatize his being sorry, Robin dramatized the whole thing and showed up Thursday on Wowowillie, catching host Willie Revillame by surprise as Robin fell on his knees and begged Mariel to wear her wedding ring again as he asked for forgiveness. Parang sine, di po ba? Romantic!

Personally, I didn’t find anything wrong with that jacuzzi scene, except perhaps that some people might have found it a bit too bold for TV-viewing.

Kris said that her sister (she didn’t say who) watched it and “she didn’t give me grief about it and she said that the wedding was beautifully mounted, and since I warned her about the honeymoon scene it was less than what she prepared herself for.”

Just the same, in a text message to Mariel, Kris said, “Sorry about making you and Bimb feel bad tonight. Please know that I will never disrespect you. Good night.”

In a phone chat, Kris even reminded Mariel to be careful with her diet, according to Mariel.

Anyway, as they’d say, all’s well that ends well. Mariel said she and Robin are “okay already” and Kris is confident that she has sufficiently explained everything to Bimby.

It was not a case of art imitating life, after all.

Briefly noted

= Catch the indie Gabriel (Ito ang Kuwento Ko) which is still showing in some SM Cinemas and be touched by the plight of a boy who leaves home to pursue his dream, going home only when he feels that he has accomplished something, much to the relief of his mother. Directed by Ronald Rafer, Gabriel stars in the title role Norris John who has starred in a few indies. Norris’ father is Japanese and his mother is part-Igorot. Gabriel also stars Joyce Ching, Marife Necesito, Lester Lucas, Joana Marie Tan, John Relucio and Simon Ibarra.

= After winning Best Actress for Nomine Matris in the New Wave Category of the 2012 (38th) Metro Manila Filmfest and another award for Compound at the 2011 International Film Festival Manhattan (IFFM), beauty-queen-turned-actress Liza Diño will start shooting a new project anytime now with Biboy Ramirez as leading man. She’s also starting on another project once she gets back to the US where she is based.

= What to watch tonight: Boy Abunda on Bottomline (11:30 on ABS-CBN) will discuss the pros and cons of the anti-dynasty bill…Sen. Miriam-Defensor-Santiago and husband lawyer Narciso “Jun” Santiago lead the couples featured on the documentary series Wagas: Mga Totoong Kuwento ng Pag-Ibig (GMA, starting at 7 o’clock), together with radio personality Nicole Hyala and her fan-turned-husband Renly Tinana, and executive chef Boy and Ermilinda Logro…Want to get more tips and advice about the beauty and wellness business? Tune in to Gandang Ricky Reyes this morning from 9 to 10 on GMA News TV.

Reader’s reaction

From Eugene Boggs:

Dear Mr. Lo,

Just to add to your list of Hollywood newcomers who shot movies in the Philippines, I’ll remind you that Jack Nicholson appeared in at least two films early in his career. I have the DVD of one, Backdoor to Hell as a World War II GI fighting the Japanese. I forgot the title of the other one but I think both were directed by Monte Hellman and were small-budgeted quickies shot in black and white.

Fritz Lang’s glorious An American Guerilla in the Philippines featured Tyrone Power when he was already a star so it doesn’t technically fit your list. Still, I never miss an opportunity to mention it because it was shot mostly around Morong, Bataan and Subic (where I have friends who knew local folk who had worked in the film), and it’s such a fine time capsule of the country in about 1950, featuring still-gorgeous Spanish-style hacienda homes and such, all shot in dazzling Technicolor.

I’m a retired California lawyer and Screen Actors Guild (now SAG-AFTRA) member and life-long movie fan now living in Makati who dreams of putting up a Hollywood-looks-at-the-Philippines film festival sometime featuring some of my favorites such as American Guerilla and my personal favorite, John Ford’s They Were Expendable, about the US Navy’s Motor Torpedo Boat (a.k.a. Patrol Torpedo Boat) here in the early days of WWII.  I don’t think it was shot here, but the background looks very like my old Bataan stomping grounds all the same.

I’m also working on a screenplay myself. My story takes place during the Japanese Occupation here and focuses on what I see as a seminal event of that period, one that will have its 70th anniversary later this year, namely the Filipino Resistance’s attempted assassination of Jose Laurel in June, 1943, while he was playing golf at Wack Wack Golf and Country Club, an attack that he survived.

— EUGENE BOGGS

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