Kris is ‘Prinsesa ng Masa’

MANILA, Philippines - If you ask Kris Bernal, she’s “ready anytime” for big changes in her career. But when the plan to take on a movie role that would have been a marked departure from her previous characters fell through, she took it as a sign that it wasn’t time yet.

It was already announced and all that the 24-year-old Kapuso actress was all set to portray her very first “really sexy, bad-girl” role. But she was pulled out from the project and in its place is a new teleserye titled Prinsesa ng Masa, which is expected to make good use of her sweet and wholesome image, and her perennial loveteam with Aljur Abrenica.   

Asked if she thought the movie was somehow a lost opportunity, Kris told The STAR that the project might have been a chance to test her acting range. “Naghihinayang din ako kasi baka makakabuti din sa akin yung pagbabagong yun. But I took it as a sign from God that it’s not the right time for it yet. My role would have been a total switch from my pa-tweetums characters. I trust my management Artist Center. The network knows what’s best for its artists.”

Prinsesa ng Masa is an answered prayer for Kris as she has been raring to do a teleserye. The last TV soap she starred in (also with Aljur) — the local version of the hit Koreanovela Coffee Prince — ended back in November 2012.

Kris said that she also had her fears that Prinsesa ng Masa might not push through, or that the role might eventually be handed to someone more popular. Now, she couldn’t be any more grateful. She’s presently busy with acting workshops under Laurice Guillen, Pen Medina and director Dondon Santos, partly to “refresh” her chemistry with Aljur.

This primetime drama is a unique project since it is a tie-up between Avon Philippines and GMA Network. In previous partnerships, Avon Philippines has tapped top Kapuso actresses to be the face of the company’s various campaigns, but never collaborated with the network for a TV series.

A contract-signing cum intimate media launch was held recently, with Kris as well as GMA and Avon Philippines execs in attendance.    

“Our partnership with GMA has been for many years now, and whenever we have a key project or idea, it’s GMA that we come to with that idea and the partnership continues,” said Bob Briddon, Avon president for Asia Pacific and the Philippines. 

In the series, Kris plays a simple but enterprising young woman (she specifically plays an Avon Lady) who is trying to make ends meet while following her dreams.

The Avon Lady, or as what the multi-national company founded more than a century ago calls its female sales rep, has already become an “enduring and iconic” image of entrepreneurship worldwide.   

GMA Network chairman and CEO Felipe Gozon said that Avon came in after the concept was given the go-signal, stressing that it’s not hard sell. “It has a moral lesson and hindi lang basta promotion. It’s really a good project. So, we’re very glad that we are doing this partnership. What’s important is who will portray the title role. Importante yung gaganap kaya kailangan medyo wholesome but best of all, maganda.”

Briddon said that Kris became the choice because “she’s beautiful...she has the right values. We believe she will portray the role in a remarkable way.”

For Kris, she can very well relate to her character being a budding entrepreneur herself. She once had a fruit drink franchise. Now, she has put up a business with her sister selling designer items.

Her character’s story also reminds her of her beginnings. “Like my character, I’ve always had big dreams. I’ve always wanted to become an actress even as a child. In Prinsesa ng Masa, my character will slowly achieve her dreams through hard work and by being business-minded.”

She added that in breathing life into her character, she can draw from her own personal experiences when she was just starting out in showbiz, such as the difficulties she went through when she joined (then eventually won with Aljur) the 2006 edition of the reality artista search StarStruck. “Magagamit ko siya dahil dun papunta ‘yung istorya, yung mga pangarap ko na unti-unti ko nang matutupad. For me, it’s a great story… about real life, love and family.”

Prinsesa ng Masa is slated to debut in September.