Barbie Forteza (MNS photo)
“The Half Sisters” is Barbie Forteza’s new afternoon drama series, which starts airing June 9 on GMA-7. Her role as a maltreated protagonist seems the same from previous soap operas she starred in but she actually exerted even more effort to differentiate her portrayal this time.
“I really studied it to give it a different approach. Kailangang ibahin ang atake para hindi maging parang redundant o paulit-ulit ‘yung role ko (I realized that I should change the manner by which I attack the role so it won’t look redundant or a rehash of past roles). I’m confident that our director Mark Reyes will also guide me,” Barbie said of playing Diana Alcantara.
On “The Half Sisters,” Barbie is pitted against budding actress Thea Tolentino who plays Ashley Alcantara, the twin sister through hetero-paternal superfecundation (meaning twins born to one mother by two fathers).
Ashley’s father, Alfred Alcantara, is played by Ryan Eigenmann. He is married to Rina Mercado-Alcantara, played by seasoned dramatic actress Jean Garcia. Diana’s father, on the other hand, is Benjie Valdicañas, played by Jomari Yllana. Benjie is Rina’s ex-boyfriend who will rape her immediately after her honeymoon.
Based on the show teaser, Barbie will be involved in a lot of physical drama. Being senior to Thea, she is also expected to lend her guidance.
She shared, “Madalas po nag-uusap kami lalo na kapag may mga confrontation scenes like mga sabunutan. Lagi kong sinasabi sa kanya na para isang beses lang masaktan ibigay na lang ng mabuti para hindi paulit-ulit (Thea and I usually talk about how to tackle confrontation scenes like those that could involve a bit of hair-pulling. I usually tell her to give it her best shot on the first take so we won’t have to repeat the scenes and be hurt all over again).”
She added that fans will see a different Barbie in the show in that her character Diana knows how to fight.
“Hindi katulad ng mga previous roles ko na tipong kahit mali hahayaan ko na lang. Dito lumalaban talaga ako (It isn’t like how it was in my previous roles where I simply let thing’s slide. Here, I give a good fight),” she related.
Barbie is actually concerned how Thea will take to it.
“Kasi ang payat-payat niya (It’s because she’s so thin),” said Barbie.
Fighting for Babie’s love in the series are newcomer Andrei Paras and real life best friend Derrick Monasterio. “Hindi naman mahirap ka-eksena ‘yung dalawang boys (The two boys aren’t hard to work with),” intimated Barbie. (MNS)