Is Susan ready to open her heart to a new love?

Because the title of her new (third, the first was 100 Days to Heaven) Kapamilya soap is Muling Buksan ang Puso (which starts airing soon), Funfare saw it fit to close the first part (also including Pilar Pilapil and Dante Rivero) of the presscon Tuesday night by asking Susan Roces, widow of FPJ for seven years now, “Is there any chance for you to again open your heart for a new love?”

Breaking into her characteristic face-that-refreshes smile, Susan said in the vernacular (for more impact, you know), “Hindi ko alam. Mahirap magsalita ng patapos. Hahahaha! Pero sa ngayon, wala pang dahilan para muli kong buksan ang aking puso. Kunsabagay, hindi ko naman sinarhan, may kaunting puwang.”

In the teleserye created by Dreamscape (which was behind the just-concluded Ina Kapatid Anak) and co-directed by Nuel Naval and Manny Palo, Susan plays Adelina, a rich haughty woman, which is a departure from her martyr-sister role in Walang Hanggan, with Helen Gamboa as her scheming sister.

“It’s the other side of me,” said Susan tongue-in-cheek. “For a change, di ba? Sabi ni Deo (Endrinal, ABS-CBN Unit Head), ‘O, ‘yan ha, ‘yung pinangako ko sa’yo. A different character from the one in Walang Hanggan.’ Everybody has two sides, di ba? The good and the bad. Each side surfaces depending on the situation. In my character Adelina, events in her life bring out her bad side. It’s a role that I haven’t portrayed.”

Playing her protagonist is Pilar as Elvira , the woman of humble background against whom Adelina fought over a man (played by Dante). Pilar replaced Amalia Fuentes who quit after shooting for only one day due to what she called “creative differences.” It’s the first time for Susan and Pilar to be working together. With Dante, Susan has done several films as romantic leads including Maligno, Kulay Rosas Ang Pag-Ibig, Patayin Sa Sindak si Barbara and Bandana, Dante’s first movie produced by LEA Productions in 1968, the year when Susan and FPJ got married (on Dec. 25) in church, fresh from their elopement on Dec. 16 (same year).

Also in the cast are Agot Isidro (as Susan’s daughter), Cherie Gil, Daniel Fernando, Jestoni Alarcon and Dominic Ochoa (who composed the “second set” of the presscon); and Julia Montes (with Susan in Walang Hanggan), Matt Evans, Enrique Gil and Enchong Dee (third set).

The soap could have reunited Susan with Amalia after more than four decades.

Asked how she felt about Amalia’s decision to back out, Susan said, “Siempre, we were all looking forward to the reunion; malaking kabawasan. We were all excited. But I understand Amalia and I respect her decision. Iba naman ang atake ni Pilar; she’s doing very well in the role.”

Pilar said that as an actress, she doesn’t have any insecurity about being a second choice.

“Maybe it was not meant for Amalia,” opined Pilar.

Added Susan, “Sa tingin ko, higit na nababagay kay Pilar ang role na Elvira in every aspect. Ramdam na ramdam ko si Elvira kay Pilar kahit konti pa lang ang eksena namin together. I look forward to doing more emotional scenes with her.”

Susan conceded that doing a teleserye after a long absence from doing movies could be tough.

“It’s a big step,” she explained. “You have to be present at a certain hour and it’s a bit hard, especially if the location is quite far (in this case, beyond San Juan town at the far end of Batangas). It’s a five-hour drive and that was where I was last night, the same location where Amalia shot for a day.”

Did you know that when Susan has a shoot early the next day (like when she did scenes for Mano Po in Beijing), she prepares the night before so she wakes up ready not only with her lines but also with her wardrobe and hairdo. In fact, she has everything prepared for the duration of the shoot, with clothes, especially made for her since she can’t wear clothes off the rack.

“Before,” she joked, “since there was no stylist, sometimes your dress matched the curtains, hahahaha!”

Since she’s playing a rich lady in the soap, Susan is wearing expensive clothes complete with precious pieces of jewelry (heirloom from her late mom who has Chinese blood which she has been keeping unused inside a treasure chest).

“This time,” smiled Susan, “there’s a good reason for me to take them out and put them on display…for a good reason.”

Is she also wearing jewelry given to her as gift by FPJ?

“Yes, including those. But mostly those from my mom who was fond of jewelry. As a young woman, she was a jeweller, nagbibenta-benta ng alahas. Mahusay siyang kumilatis ng jewelry. She collected jewelry for me. Anybody can well afford to have a collection of jewelry, kasi ang dami-dami gumagawa dito sa atin. It’s a matter of choosing the stones. Hindi lang naman ako ang mayroong collection. Mayroon din ang ibang actors and actresses, one of them is Carmen Rosales.

“That was the advice we got at that time — not to buy ng kung anu-ano but to invest in jewelry. It was beneficial, especially during the Japanese time. Kapag kapos ng pagkain, you can pawn your alahas for food. It’s also wise to invest in real estate.”

Did you know that Susan was among the very first to buy a house and lot on Wilson Street in San Juan at the time when that area was talahib land (where cows and carabaos grazed) and is now the bustling Greenhills Complex?

“My mom bought the property for me at P28 per square meter,” said Susan, “five years to pay. At that time, the exchange rate was P1 was to $1. You could build a nice house, a combination of concrete and wood, for P100,000.”

That was the same house (which has been converted into a big building) where Susan and younger sister Rosemarie Sonora subdued a burglar and turned him over to the police. She now lives at her and FPJ’s dream house on nearby Lincoln Street in Greenhills, until lately with daughter topnotcher-Senator Grace Poe and her family who have moved to their own home in a Quezon City subdivision.

That’s where Susan sets off for work every day now that she has become active again. For Muling Buksan ang Puso, she shoots Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with a 12-midnight cut-off time, except on days when she has additional scenes to finish.

“In doing a teleserye,” she added, “you have to be a soldier, you follow the commander, so you can finish your work. Do not argue, otherwise if there are many arguments you won’t accomplish anything.”

Working with the young ones is a joy, according to Susan.

“They are dedicated and professional,” she said, “hindi sila naglalaro sa set and I appreciate that. I see myself in the young actors because I myself started early, at age 14. I had lots of fun then and I’m having even more fun now.”

But she refrains from giving them unsolicited advice.

“Sometimes, it’s me who learns from them…how to deal with life nowadays. In short, they are focused on their work and whatever personal problems they have, iniiwan nila sa bahay once they get to the set.”

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