THE MAGKAPATID FAMILY
by Bayani S. San Diego Jr., June 29, 2002

Her colleagues all agree: Every day is a joy. Every day (20 non-consecutive shooting days, to be exact) you look forward to reporting for work, if it's a movie set (a constellation?) where Miss Mega is a star.

Co-stars call it a "masterpiece, a family film of substance and importance." But as far as Megastar Sharon Cuneta was concerned, her latest Viva offering, Magkapatid, was yet another wonderful opportunity to renew ties (with old pals) and begin friendships (with new buddies) on the set.

Despite the tragically lugubrious subject matter, Miss Mega invariably kept the mood on the set light and cheery.

And as her co-workers have pointed out, "every day was a joy, every day you look forward to reporting for work."

Truth be told, their observations were tellingly consistent and insightful. It was as if they were a real-life, and not just a reel-life, family.

Changes

"Since Madrasta, she has won all those awards. Grandslam nga. Luckily, I was also in that movie. I can see that she has improved a lot as an actor.

"I think her one-year stay in Boston did her a lot of good. For a Megastar to experience being a normal person, like washing the dishes and doing the groceries. It made her taste life in a simple way. That is very important for an actor, to experience life as normally as you can. Moviemaking, after all, is an imitation of life. As actors, we imitate life. If you are always immersed in showbiz, you'll forget how it is to be an ordinary person. So being in Boston helped Shawie a lot."

"She's more at ease. In fact, I feel more relaxed with her now compared to the Madrasta days. She has always been friendly, but I feel a lot closer to her now. I dunno. Maybe because I am friendlier to her now than before. We exchange stories. We text each other. In this movie, we're more genial with each other."

The Real Sharon

"She's very entertaining, actually. She loves making us laugh. There's never a dull moment when you are working with her. And she's very intelligent. Definitely, smart. I love talking to her. We don't just talk about life and other weighty topics, which tend to be boring. More often than not, we talk about trivial things. Mga kengkoyan. Funny stuff. It's really, really fun working with her."

Strengths

"Her main strength as an actor is that she has already mastered delivering her lines. She's so good at it. I think it's because she's a singer. She has a fine sense of rhythm. She has greatly matured as an actor. And I know she'll be doing more serious, more challenging projects in the future. No more cutesy-cutesy movies for her.

"This movie was very demanding for her. I'm just supporting her here, but there were a couple of days when my scenes with Sharon were just as intense. And I think now we have more of a 'connection' as actors. There's rapport. It's because there's eye contact, which is very crucial in acting. She looks at you dead straight in the eyes. As if she is looking for the meaning of the words, what I am saying, in my eyes.

"I noticed that especially in this movie. Her use of eye contact is very precise now. And I like that. It's like we're sharing the moment together. Whatever it is. Whether it's drama or a light, funny scene, we are staring into each other's eyes and we get the 'connection' there."

Weaknesses

"Food! You know, you have to be disciplined as a performer. But we were always eating on the set. Ako pa naman, I can eat a lot!"

Millionaire's Club

"When she joined and won in Who Wants to be a Millionaire? (which I host), I realized all the more that she is a very intelligent woman.

"Before the taping, I told her: 'Look at me. Look into my eyes and you'll see the answer.' Well, of course, when I'm already seated there (in the host's chair), you'd think I'm so intimidating (and poker-faced). But no, I give the answers away. If I really know the answer, I give it away.

"And I really wanted her to win.

"Turned out she didn't really need my help because she's a very smart woman.

"People were saying it was rigged. Definitely not. She actually crawled her way to the end of the game. And she was intelligent enough not to answer the last question, the P2-million question, because she could have lost P900,000.

"We're buddies! If I could give her P2 million, why not? If only she gave me a hint that she could answer the last question correctly, I would have called it right away.

"But she was smart enough to quit while she was ahead. She won the P1 million on her own. She did very well in that game."

Mega-Appeal

"She's very friendly. She has the talent. She has the voice. She can act. And she has come to a point where she is already comfortable in her life. She's very set already. Very settled. All she has to think of is improving herself all the more. Hindi na niya kailangang kumapit sa patalim. (She doesn't have to hold on to a razor's edge.) No more 'bread tripping' for her. Unlike me. (Laughs) Sharon, as a performer, has already reached her goal. So let's see what's next . . . International na 'yan. And let's keep our fingers crossed that she'll be able to fulfill her dreams."

First Time

"My first time to meet her (and get to spend time with her) was on the set, on the first day of work."

First Impression

"It's a totally different feeling. Very overwhelming. Imagine, I only used to watch her on TV before and now I'm working with her. She's known as the Megastar, but aside from all the good things I already knew about her, I was able to learn what she's really like as a person."

The Real Sharon

"She can be bubbly. She always teases us. She goes out of her way to talk to us. I didn't expect her to be like that. It's as if she's always happy. That she has no problems in life. Very light. Very cheerful. If you're sad, she'll try her best to make you laugh."

Strengths

"Whatever role you give her, she can do it effectively.

"She can deliver. Like in this movie, she was able to give justice to a very difficult role. She was able to give more pa nga. She was able to give her all. She was able to lend more color to her role."

Weaknesses

"I don't see any weakness in her. She was able to portray her role very well. There's no room for criticism, to say that she is weak in any way."

Mega-Appeal

"It's because of her personality. Her persona as a whole. If you combine all her traits, all the big and small things about her, that's the reason why she's a Megastar."

First Time

"The very first time I met her, I was very young pa. I was only eight years old then and I wasn't in the movies yet. I think she was then shooting a movie in Antipolo with Gabby Concepcion. Sa Overlooking. And I was studying in Antipolo at that time (Our Lady of Peace School). It just so happened that we passed by their set. So I watched the shooting. I even asked for a picture with her. I am looking for that photo nga e.

"But after that, I met her formally in the ABS-CBN studios na. When I guested in her show. As early as then, she told me that she watched my movies with Rico Yan. That she followed our TV show Gimik. When Piolo Pascual became my new partner, she also told me that she liked our tandem."

First Impression

"From the very first time we met, she has always been charming. Always laughing. Light. Easy to get along with. Fun to be with. From the start, I've always felt at ease with her."

The Real Sharon

"She's very ma-chika. Never runs out of stories to tell.

"And she's the type of person who doesn't want to hurt anybody. As much as possible, she doesn't want to say anything negative about anyone.

"I also found out that we love the same things. Like tinkering with stuff. We both love reading magazines. Workbooks. Writing in our journals. That's what keeps us busy on the set, between takes. We share so many things in common.

"We both like cookbooks and lifestyle magazines (Gourmet, Bon AppÈtit, Martha Stewart Living). She gifted me with a Catering book for my birthday. (It was authored by Sharon's family friend Lisa J. Alvendia.) Creative Planning. It's very practical. Very useful because my brother Jeffrey and I are opening a new restaurant (Carabana) in Quezon City. I bring it along with me every day, everywhere I go. Everywhere, I read it. I even retyped some of the recipes. For the restaurant's menu."

Working Girls

"Shooting was a breeze. And very, very inspiring.

"I look forward to reporting for work every day because I know that it will be a wonderful experience.

"Very memorable. Until now, I can't believe that I am acting with Ate Sharon and Kuya Boyet. They're so good. I used to watch their movies and now they're in front of me.

"When I'm in a scene with them, it's like I'm back in the moviehouse.

"And it's a great learning experience. I see for myself how they motivate themselves. How they prepare for a scene. How they handle their roles.

"I learned that we actors each have our own ways of 'motivating' ourselves. They have their own way of acting and reacting. But one thing I can say about Ate Sharon and Kuya Boyet, they don't upstage their co-stars. They, in fact, support their co-actors in all their scenes."

Strengths

"She has her own way of motivating herself, of getting into character.

"I think she bases her 'motivation' on her own personal situation. Or how she would feel if the same situation happened to her. That's very easy for her because I think she's a very sensitive person. Especially when it comes to her family. Her kids. In fact, to get into my role as a young mother, to really understand how it is to be a parent, I observed how Ate Sharon is with her daughters."

Weaknesses

"She hates noise, like all actors. Especially if she's 'motivating' herself. Especially if we're about to shoot an emotional scene. As much as possible, her only request is for all the technical details to be finished before we start acting. It's because if we cut in the middle of a dramatic scene, it would be very difficult to repeat and recapture the same intensity. It wouldn't be the same somehow. Sayang."

Mega-Memories

"In our home's living room, I display a photo of Ate Sharon and me when I guested on her show (Sharon) for the launch of my first album. That picture is special to me. It's because she was the one who requested for the picture to be taken. Imagine, a Megastar asked for a photo with me! I was so thrilled! In fact, I was just about to ask the photographer to take our photo, but she was able to beat me to it. I also kept the lyric sheet of our song number then ("I Won't Last a Day Without You") and asked her to autograph it. Later, I had the lyric sheet framed."

Mega-Appeal

"Because she's just natural. She's a normal person. She doesn't have to pretend that she's a Megastar because she is a Megastar. She doesn't have to pretend that she loves you because she really loves you. And if she doesn't like you, she doesn't like you. What you see is what you get.

"We're basically the same in that way, but I am more aloof and reserved compared to her. She's closer to people e.

"When Ate Sharon arrives on the set, you really feel it. You know she's around. Not because she's followed by a combo or a marching band that will play music when she arrives, but it's because of her aura.

"It's a very pleasant aura. Very light. Very warm. The mood on the set is very friendly. It's not really a carnival, but more of a party. It's like there's a party on the set every day. It's always fun!"

Changes

"Since Ikaw, Sharon has become a more mature actress. Because of the experiences she has gained since then, she has developed into a very fine actress, at par with anybody we have in the industry. She's so good. I think it's because she now has a more well-rounded personality. In Ikaw, she was a bit younger then. In terms of emotional investments, she had less then compared to what she has now. But now in Magkapatid, I am so amazed at the growth of her intellectual and emotional capacity."

The Reel and Real Sharon

"As an actress? The movie is a study of grief and she was able to give everything, the colors that I wanted for her to deliver. It's so hard to differentiate, to give the different nuances to these emotions in each and every scene. And it should be distinct every time. That's why we had an Emotional Graph. We wanted to graph the growth of emotions and elicit the correct attitude corresponding each emotion from our actors. And I am very satisfied with her performance, as well as with the movie as a whole. It came out very well. We just wanted a very simple, but elegant story. And even though it's melodrama, we tried to do it differently. It came out the way we envisioned it. And I am very thankful that people appreciated it.

"As a woman? She is a complete woman. She's a mother. She's a wife of a senator. She's a career woman. Because of all that has happened in her life, she has all these experiences that she was able to tap into as an actress in this movie. She has a reservoir of emotions and the most important thing is that she can summon it at will, whenever she likes to make use of it."

Strengths

"She's an intelligent actress. A very intelligent actress, but she doesn't intellectualize. There's a big difference there. She follows instructions very easily. And then she will add something more than what the director asks, which is still within the bounds of what should be seen onscreen. That's why I think she is very good at her craft."

Weaknesses

"As an actress, I don't see any weakness at all. She is so good. In terms of professionalism, she is one hour ahead of everybody. She's a pro. In terms of attitude, she is also very pleasant."

Mega-Appeal

"It's because of the way she treats other people. The way she treats her co-stars. The way she treats herself. The way she respects herself. The way she respects her profession."

Fatherhood Statements

"Because I saw her grow up. I've done four films with her already. I saw her in her turmoil. Her emotional turmoil, as an actress, as a woman, as a mom. I consider her my daughter-quote, unquote. I saw her grow up, emotionally. Now, I am certain that she can very well tackle more mature woman roles. She's very ripe for it. After all, she is one of the best actresses of our time. And I am proud of her."