Mercedes Cabral hopes to work with Coco, John Lloyd

MANILA, Philippines – Mercedes Cabral is working again for ABS-CBN, and hopes to do more projects with some of its artists.

She’s part of the upcoming morning TV series “Ning Ning” with Jana Agoncillo, Beauty Gonzalez and Ketchup Eusebio. It will air on July 27, replacing “Oh, My G!”

But aside from this show, Mercedes hopes to work again with Coco Martin and have a project with John Lloyd Cruz.

“Gusto ko makatrabaho ulit [si Coco], pero sa TV, hindi ko pa siya nakakatrabaho sa TV,” she said. “But of course sa film, kasi iba siya sa film talaga. Kasi napakahusay niya ring aktor na kahit anong ibigay mo sa kanya, iba-iba talaga ‘yong ginagawa niya,” she added.

She has worked with Coco before in several independent films namely “Kinatay,” “Captive” and “Service” which were all directed by Brillante Mendoza.

Mercedes also hopes to do a project with John Lloyd Cruz because of his caliber as an actor.

“Napapanood ko rin siya and alam ko ‘yong kalibre niya pagdating sa pag-arte,” she said.

It has been a while since Mercedes last worked in ABS-CBN. Her last project with the network is “Precious Hearts Romances Presents: Hiyas” in 2012.

Although she’s excited about the show, she admitted having hesitations at first to do the project.

“For this nag-usap kami ng manager ko, sinabi niya sa akin na wala pa akong nagagawa na ganitong character,” she said about the project. “So siguro break nga ito for me sa mga characters ko na maraing dinadala emotionally.”

“So challenge din siya for me kasi nga wala pa ko nagagawang ganito. So mahihirapan ako sa umpisa. Pero nae-excite din ako kasi okay rin mga katrabaho ko,” she added.

As for her thoughts on independent actors doing mainstream projects, the actress thinks there shouldn’t be an issue about it.

“Sa akin kasi sana wala ng labels or separation ng mainstream or indie, kasi for me trabaho lang siya, e,” she explained. “Wala siyang kaibahan din, e, ‘yong proseso lang ‘yong kaibahan niya and ‘yong sistema lang. So TV or film, it’s the same.”