THE MEGASTAR MARATHON - Part 3 of 3
Another L-o-n-g Day In The Life Of Miss Mega
by Bayani S. San Diego, Jr., February 13, 2000

No, we are not on the set of End of Days. Call it Against All Odds. For the shooting of the Megastar's millennium movie has been disrupted by everything: from minor (intermittent rains) to major (a Luzon-wide blackout and an intensity 6.8 earthquake) catastrophes.

Day Four
December 10, 1999
Scene: Alabang, Muntinlupa
Exterior, Nighttime

Now you now, why they call the shoot of a Sharon movie, the Tour of Luzon.

A regular shooting week usually takes Miss Mega all over Southern Luzon--up the mountains of Antipolo (Rizal), then down the cliffs of Tagaytay (Cavite).

It can be a tiring road trip.

Yet, Sharon Cuneta, who surrounds herself with friends on a movie set, somehow manages to make the exhausting seem so exciting (not to mention effortless). Even if seemingly insurmountable odds are against her.

Case in point: their shoot in the Forrest Hill parking lot (in Antipolo) has always been packed up because of intermittent rains. So much so that they now jokingly refer to that still unfinished scene as the Neverending Saga of Forrest Hills.

Fast forward to the classy Ayala Alabang Village residence that serves as Sharon's conjugal home with villainous screen hubby Louie, played to perfection by Edu Manzano.

On the night of Shawie and Doods's highly charged confrontation scene, there was a Luzon-wide brownout.

"No, that's blackout," the taxi driver corrects you, as you look for the address in the darkness of Ayala Alabang.

On that gloomy, moonless night, you search up and down the street, without much luck. You decide to follow your instincts and look for a bunch of Uzis (kibitzers)--a sure sign that a Megastar is within range. True enough, the only lighted house in the block turns out to be the Star Cinema set.

True enough, there's a handful of mirons beside Jenny (that's Jenny, as in generator).

A familiar voice booms in the darkness. Surprise, surprise. It's Miss Mega, sitting on a wooden wagon bench in the patio, taking in a massage and singing along her Discman. A free open-air concert in the blackout? She is not just whiling away the time, listening to sentimental tunes, but is actually doing research--searching for the perfect song she can use as motivation for the movie's heart-wrenching scenes.

She takes out Martin Nievera's Forever, Forever CD out of her black case. She also checks out South Border's latest disc.

While Miss Mega is busy doing music research, the rest of the Star Cinema crew is hammering the night away, sprucing up the place for the shoot, illuminated only by emergency lights.

Like real troupers, Sharon and the crew work in the darkness. Because of the Luzon-wide blackout, Y2K fears inevitably float all over the set. Yaya Luring and makeup artist Peachy Garcia, in fact, are swapping Post-Millennium Survival Tips.

Sharon herself calls hubby Kiko Pangilinan at home, to check the state of the nation, so to speak. Daboy (Rudy Fernandez) had just called her up and joked that there was a war brewing in Manila Bay. A coup, perhaps. An ongoing invasion?

"I was so gullible I believed him," Sharon laughs. (A day later, the papers reported the true cause of the power interruption--a school of jellyfish that got sucked into the Napocor power plants.)

The Y2K bug notwithstanding, the show must go on.

So a crew member, armed with a garden hose, shoots water at the couple's Ford Telstar and the home's roof, to simulate a recent downpour.

Production designer Manny Morfe searches in vain for a McDonald's white paper bag. Unable to find one, he improvises with an imported shopping paper bag and turns it into a McDo Takeout. "Like magic," P.D. Manny states triumphantly. (There is so much fuss about the McDo bag because of continuity reasons and because the film is set in the '80s. Who knows Premiere mag's The Gaffe Squad may be watching?)

Doods emerges from his dressing room, impeccably dressed in his pilot's uniform.

Shawie jests that her screen hubby could pass himself off as the Captain of The Love Boat. An impromptu duet, anyone? The Love Boat theme song is sung by Doods and Shawie.

A bright idea hits Sharon.

"Perhaps we can use that as the movie's theme song and title," Sharon suggests, half-jokingly, half-earnestly. (It's because they were still brainstorming for a title for the movie at that time.) "Why not The Love Nest?" Sharon is referring to the extremely cold, early-morning shoots in Tagaytay. "Or why don't we do a Notting Hill and call it Forrest Hill!"

As always, Shawie's bright ideas brighten up the dark night. Finally, the cameras are ready to grind.

This scene is particularly challenging for it requires Sharon to express a whole range of emotions. In the middle of her dramatic confrontation with Doods, their screen child (eight-year-old Gelo) would appear from out of nowhere. Thus, in her character's attempt to hide her pain and anguish, she would have to smile in front of her child. And then shift emotions just as subtly and delicately, when Doods glares sarcastically. As usual, Shawie nails the tricky scene effortlessly.

You ask Miss Mega her secret, how she does what she does so well, how she makes it seem so easy, how she is able to maintain her sanity after going through such an emotional roller-coaster ride?

"That's why I make chika between takes," Shawie whispers conspiratorially to visiting friends.

In front of the camera, Sharon is totally focused--completely immersed in her character. While the cameras are rolling, she is Dianne.

Outside the camera's range, however, she is simply Shawie. To take her mind off her character's inner turmoil, she gabs with pals about diverse topics. The conversation weaves from one subject to another: from Chinese movies (Joan Chen's Xiu Xiu, the Sent-Down Girl is a recent favorite) to the country's best beaches (Palawan and Boracay, to name two).

And while everyone relishes a little midnight snack, Shawie (still sticking to her diet) would rather feed on the different stories passed around in the course of a l-o-n-g evening. Her fans and friends' unstinting devotion provides her with just as much nourishment, it seems.

And before she knows it, it's already four in the morning. It's finally a wrap.

Shawie and pals troop into her trusty Roadtrek, to end another day--for they must begin it again, later that afternoon. This time, in faraway Bulacan.

Day Five
December 11, 1999
Scene: Bustos, Bulacan
Interior, Nighttime

No, we are not on the set of End of Days. Call it Against All Odds. For the shooting of the Megastar's millennium movie has been disrupted by everything: from minor to major catastrophes.

Yes, when the infamous three a.m., Luzon-wide tremor hit, Miss Mega and company were shooting in faraway Bulacan.

"Oh, we were shooting in Bustos and ended up running out of the house," Sharon remembers. The earthquake was especially strong in that province (the epicenter is neighboring province Pangasinan and it measured 6.8 on the Richter scale).

Swiftly, they scampered out of the house, which is supposed to be the ancestral home of her character Dianne's family. Their fears were not without basis because said piece of architectural wonder was built sometime in 1888.

"Good thing Puss was there," Sharon is referring to cousin Ciara Sotto, who is playing her half-sister May-Ann in the movie. Sharon, in fact, ran out of the house, while holding on to her screen sisters Ciara and Carmina Villarroel.

"Direk Olive and Tita Rosemarie Gil (who plays my mom) also ran outside after saying a prayer together," Sharon recalls.

When the earth quaked and quivered, Mega-Shawie relates, "I was eating my 'dinner' of turbo-broiled chicken (since I woke up late and had 'breakfast' at 3 something p.m. na, I delayed my dinner to everyone else's midnight snack time), at bigla na lang nanginig lahat! (And then everything shook!) It gave us all a big scare, but I am glad it went away quickly."

Such horror stories Shawie could easily shrug off. She is, in fact, more worried about the marathon shoot's effect on her personal skeds. "I can't seem to get a good 6- or 8-hour sleep nowadays." Shawie surmises: "I think it's because of all the late nights shooting or taping. My body thinks I'm in Boston or something." Let's just say, her body clock got turned upside down. "I am experiencing jet lag, without leaving the country," Sha jests.

In fact, because of the hectic nights, Shawie has failed to complete her Christmas gift list on time.

"I have finally owned up to the fact that I am not Supergirl," Sharon sighs. "I was not able to meet all my (personal) deadlines. So instead of getting sick, I decided not to rush and stress myself out."

The shooting schedule has not been kind to her, she quips candidly. "I am really feeling woozy because of all the late nights. But I can't wait to get it over and done with because even I am looking forward to seeing the movie . . . I know it's going to be that good."