When actor Tom Rodriguez accepted the assignment in the new soap opera Someone To Watch Over Me, he wasn’t ready to confront the character he’d be playing. After all he is at the peak of his youth, and the little he knows about Alzheimer’s disease doesn’t match both his physical state and age.
Yet, after he read the first pages of the pilot script, he began to be curious. And he started thinking, there’s early onset of the disease and this can strike anyone, even younger men like him. And so, he embarked on a journey to seek answers to some questions that have formed in his mind, like the physical manifest of the disease, the behavioral changes a patient goes through, and most importantly, how do his loved ones cope with his condition.
We met Rodriguez and his co-stars in the soap – Lovi Poe and Max Collins.
Poe plays Rodriguez’s wife, while Collins the ex-girlfriend whom he remembers more than his wife when his condition begins to worsen.
We asked the three how they are facing the situation in the soap when, in fact, none of them has had first hand experience with an Alzheimer’s patient.
“Thanks to direk Maryo J. de los Reyes,” the three piped. “He guides us on how we must react to situations in the various scenes we shot for the soap.”
Rodriguez, particularly, pinpoints the behavioral nuances of his character when he starts losing his memory. He can even explain the medical aspects of the condition to you, thanks to his voracity in imbibing facts from medical books and journals he has been reading to help him in creating the character.
Poe and Collins can’t help but be amazed at their co-star’s geeky ways to get into the role he has been assigned to play. “Well, if all of you thinks he is such a geek on the set, it’s the opposite. Tom is very playful, but when he gets into a scene, he is very focused,” said Poe who has been assigned the role of the lead male character’s wife who will stay on to take care of him in spite of and despite his condition.
“I think Tom is very conscientious in trying to bring to life his character, and through his research he is able to do it and very effectively,” Collins added. “Not many actors will do thorough research for a character he plays in a soap opera.”
Rodriguez, meanwhile, said that he has discovered a lot of things about Alzheimer’s in the course of his reading stuff. “It is really an eye opener and I have lost my apprehensions in playing the role. Since I understand now what an Alzheimer’s patient goes through, thanks to the medical journals, it has become easier for me to portray the character I play.”
For Kapuso actor Tom Rodriguez, playing the role thought him a lot.
“You know, what I learned here is that hindi lang pala sakit pangmatanda ang Alzheimer’s, kaya dapat mas lalo pa ang mga kabataan ngayon, na maging involved sila at aware dahil hindi lang ito nangyayari sa mga lolo at lola nila. Malamang pati sa kanila na rin mismo mangyari. It’s definitely a timely thing, napapanahon na mapag-usapan ‘yung ganitong material,” Rodriguez concluded.
★★★★★
Those who are becoming both afraid and mad at the character Vaness del Moral plays in the telefantasya Encantadia are growing in numbers. In fact, Del Moral is said to have second thoughts in leaving her house just about any time of the day.
As Gurna, she is one of the ladies that encourages Pirena (Glaiza de Castro) to do evil things.
But, despite the growing number of haters, Del Moral is grateful that the same fans think she is playing her role very effectively. “Thank you so much guys dahil nabubuwisit kayo sa ‘kin. Actually natutuwa ako. ‘Pag pinapanood ko ‘yung character ko, natatawa ako. Isang beses pa lang akong pumupunta sa mall simula nung mag-start ‘yung Encantadia, grocery pa ‘yun. When asked if she’s ready if fans would deluge her in madness, “Actually hindi ko alam kung ano’ng gagawin ko. Hindi ko sure kung paano ko siya iha-handle kaya so far, bihira talaga ako lumabas ng bahay lalo na kapag wala akong kasama. Usually kasama ko boyfriend ko para may magtatanggol sa ‘kin,” she says.