Jennylyn: No blast from the past

MANILA, Philippines - Jennylyn Mercado is calling Rhodora X the hardest TV project she has ever done. The 26-year-old actress is engrossing and chilling in her offbeat role as someone afflicted with Dissociative Identity Disorder (previously known as multiple personality disorder) in the GMA 7 primetime drama, shifting from meek to manipulative in mere seconds with seeming ease.

But Jennylyn would be the last person to describe her scenes, especially ones that require her to show her character’s split personality, easy.

“(The scenes are) one whole take, continuous, then (you) shift, shift, shift (in character). Mahirap!” Jennylyn readily admits to The STAR during an exclusive chat.

She recalls putting hours to experiment with her character as preparation. “In my first few trials, most especially, we experimented because I didn’t have any peg because there has not been a soap like this. Honestly, in our first few trial runs, it wasn’t working. I had to find my comfort area because it’s really not easy. I had to make sure that the shift between characters is very clear,” says Jennylyn, adding that they do have a psychiatrist consultant on the set “since we don’t want to go wrong. We want to be careful (in tackling the subject). Viewers are very intelligent.”

Jennylyn’s acting mettle is further put to the test as another personality emerges out of her character.

“There’s Rhodora, Roxanne and there’s this character Rowena, who speaks like a child, acts like a child, thinks like a child. For me, (Rowena) is the most difficult to do. Then, I have to act out the three characters in one, continuous take.

“It’s my hardest acting project ever. Everything is experimental. Lahat kukunin namin sa roots,” she adds.

Because Rhodora suffered extreme physical and emotional abuse as a child when she was kidnapped and taken away from her loved ones, there are certain quarters drawing parallelisms from Jennylyn’s real-life childhood (as previously dramatized in a Magpakailanman episode) wherein she experienced being battered by a stepfather, and this landed the then four-year-old Jennylyn on the news.

Asked if she had to dig into her past for some acting motivation, Jennylyn says, “(It’s a little) similar but I didn’t draw from that, no. Really not. It happened in one chapter of my life, but as I was growing up, through the support of my parents and my loved ones, they really made sure that wala talagang magiging bakas sa paglaki ko at di ko siya madadala, that I would not carry it with me. That includes all aspects — psychological, emotional, spiritual.”

Her experience though emboldened her to champion child-oriented causes, supporting for several years now NGOs like Bata Foundation which has been providing shelter for maltreated children. “The kids grow up and are educated there so I’m supporting them financially and through presence, which is very important. Ang sarap ng pakiramdam when you see them happy to see you.”

Meanwhile, it will be recalled that Jennylyn’s break-up became tabloid fodder last year. When asked how she’s now doing in her personal life, she says she’s perfectly fine with being single for now. “For now, (love life) is not a priority.”

Told that she seems to have bounced back from a heartache much better than expected, she shares, “You have no choice (laughs). Kaysa naman forever mo siya dalhin, walang mangyayari.”

Apart from her career, her time, focus and energy are devoted to many other meaningful things.

One is her return to triathlon training after receiving an invitation to participate in the Iron Man competition in Melbourne, Australia next year.

She’s also looking forward to reviving her singing career with a new album. She has already recorded three songs composed by Vehnee Saturno.

Jennylyn actually started out as a singer, who was first signed up as a recording artist in 1999 for Alpha Records, before she became a winner on the reality TV artista search StarStruck in 2003.

But her son Alex Jazz remains her top priority.

For Jennylyn, it feels like it was only yesterday when he was still a baby. “Now, he has a mind of his own. He says what he wants. There are things he decides on his own. In the coming schoolyear, he’ll be in kindergarten. Ang sarap nga kasi nakikita mo yung evolution.”