Eula learns from the masters

MANILA, Philippines - It’s been two years since Eula Caballero was declared winner of TV5’s artista search Star Factor. One of the things she is most thankful for in her showbiz journey so far, is having to work with acting greats, among them, Nora Aunor, Maricel Soriano, Lorna Tolentino and Eddie Garcia.

“I get starstruck by them,” the 17-year-old Eula says, but she tries to learn as much as she can from the experience of working with them. “When I would look at the reviews, I really study them. I would look at their eyes. I always observe their strategies. I also ask for tips, like how do you cry, and they all have different styles.”

Eula recalls that on her first working day with Maricel, with whom she starred in Regal Films’ Yesterday Today Tomorrow as Maricel’s daughter, she got scared stiff. “But she was very helpful, especially in bringing out my emotions. The movie was difficult to do, because I felt like I was jumping from one emotional scene to another then another.”

“There was one crying scene which I found hard to do. Everytime I find it hard to cry, I always pull out this card my mother wrote me as a motivation like it’s the last ace (up my sleeve). When we were about to tape for that scene, I just lost the (momentum), I just couldn’t cry. So Ms. Maricel goes, ‘Where’s Eula’s card? Where’s Eula’s card?’ Then she stood beside the camera, held up the card for me to see and just motivated me. Even if she wasn’t part of the scene, she really helped me get through it,” relates Eula, who went on to be nominated for her performance in the Star Awards for Movies and the Golden Screen Awards.

Eula also got to work with Nora in Sa Ngalan Ng Ina last year, which was the comeback Philippine TV project of Nora. “I never saw any of her movies prior to working with her, except for one. But I’m very aware of who Ms. Nora is.”

From Nora, she learned the basics of professionalism, such as coming on set on time. “She would be the earliest on the set. Me, I’m early already, like if the call time is 6 a.m., I’d be there 5:30 a.m. But when I would arrive on the set, she would already be there ahead of me, even if it was all the way in Taal, Batangas. Then she would tell us, ‘Mga anak, I’ve also been through that (being late on the set, etc.), and it was really embarrassing to have made people wait.’”

For her newest Kapatid project Third Eye, a supernatural drama that premiered yesterday, she is acting alongside Eddie and Lorna for the first time. 

Eula describes working with Eddie, who plays her grandfather in the series, as “fun.” “I’m also learning a lot. You kind of expect from a veteran that he’d be giving lectures (to newbies), you know, this is not how you do it, or this is how you do it. But he’s not like that. He lets us be. But he’d tell us (after doing a scene together), ‘Let’s go watch the review,’ and then he’d look at you and say, ‘Terrible’ or that the delivery of our lines was not suave enough. So he’d go, ‘One more, let’s do it again.’”

She adds, “The nice thing about (working with him) is that he’s also director, so he notices everything and he’s very particular with things.”

There was one instance wherein her hair already looked messed up after a long shooting day, and the actor would call the attention of whoever is in charge to take care of it.

Eula also learned from Eddie that “being an artista is not just all about acting. He said that since you are on TV or in the movies, you should also know how to present yourself. It’s part of your work to look good and to be presentable all the time. Even the wardrobe for our characters, direk Eddie taught us to be particular, to study how our characters should look, and should not leave it to the wardrobe people to decide what you wear.”

On the other hand, Lorna, with whom Eula will share mostly heavy scenes in Third Eye, is so “light” to work with, according to Eula. “She’s like our Miss Sunshine on the set. Even if we are shooting at 12 midnight or in the afternoons at 3 p.m., when we are all sleepy, Ms. Lorna is full of energy, setting an example for us to always be energetic on the set.”

She also shares that Lorna can be super fun on the set, always the first to banter and exchange jokes with them, but when it comes to work, she really means business. “When it’s time for reading, or blocking, and we are still goofing around, she’d go, that’s enough kids, time to work, when it’s playtime, it’s playtime, when it’s reading time, it’s reading time, so we could finish early.”

Eula also recalls that for their first scene together, Lorna made the extra effort to bond with her a little more so that they would be able to show rapport onscreen.

Meanwhile, Third Eye is Eula’s sixth project for TV5 to date, which takes inspiration from American TV series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Grimm. She portrays Cassandra who rediscovers her “third eye” as she takes on the quest to look for a missing boyfriend. The series, alternately directed by Topel Lee, Robert Quebral, Benedict Mique and Rahyan Carlos, airs every Sunday at 9:30 p.m. and introduces every episode creatures of the dark that are culled from Philippine folklore and mythology. Third Eye also stars Daniel Matsunaga, Victor Silayan, Clint Gabo and Jenny Miller.