According to Ruffa Gutierrez, singer-songwriter and comedian Ogie Alcasid is a revelation in the movie “Desperadas 2” where he plays a woman. Ruffa, one of the lead cast of “Desperadas 2,” considers it a blessing in disguise that comedienne Eugene Domingo (who was the original choice for the role) was unable to do the project because of a talent fee dispute and thus, got replaced by Ogie. The producers couldn’t have made a better choice.
“Of course, I love Ate Uge because I have worked with her several times na pero iba talaga si Ogie. He brings a special kind of freshness in the role that he’s playing. Talagang matatawa ka sa kanya,” explained Ruffa.
Ruffa recalled that when her boss from Metathion visited her on the set, she and Ruffa chatted with Ogie who was dressed as a woman (she’s playing the long lost sister of Ruffa, Rufa Mae Quinto and Marian Rivera). The lady didn’t know that the woman she was talking to was actually Ogie dressed in a woman’s clothing. The lady was surprised to learn that it was Ogie whom she and Ruffa were talking with all along.
“Biruin mo, dumalaw sa set namin yung boss ko sa Metathione so kwentuhan lang kami for about an hour. Hindi pala niya alam na si Ogie ang kausap niya. Akala raw niya kung sino lang na matrona. Diyos ko! Nakakaloka talaga. Hindi niya namukhaan si Ogie. Ang akala niya isang matronang extra ang kaharap niya,” Ruffa said with amusement.
“Ogie really looked like a girl. Basta this is a different experience for me and I won’t forget the experience working with Ogie,” says the lady host of “The Buzz.”
* * *
There’s more than meets the eyes in the case of these two celebrities who obviously have the hots for each other. It is said that the people around them are beginning to notice the unusual “moves” of the girl and the guy. They are becoming unmindful of the prying eyes around them, most of whom have been witness to the special kind of relationship involving the two controversial celebrities.
Even if they have denied time and again that there’s nothing unusual about their being close to each other, other than being comfortable because they’ve been working almost everyday, the people on the job who see them tend to believe otherwise.
What is alarming though is that the very same people who they work with day in and day out are the ones spilling the beans about the unholy alliance between the two celebrities. And malice has come into place because the people who are talking are revealing much more. They claim that the two celebrities are not exactly saints, as they are supposedly doing something malicious despite the many eyes on the set of the show and movie that they are making. There’s even talk of sex.
According to the grapevine, it was even the girl who’d ask the boy if she could accompany him to the toilet. The guy obliges without hesitation. But normally in tapings, unless you happen to be using a house, the toilet being used is just a portalet, that means privacy is suspect. But lo and behold, the guy almost always succumbs to the wish of his co-star. If only those portalets could talk.
If they don’t get to do it on the bathroom, they supposedly do it inside the van. So it’s the van who’s the silent witness to the clandestine moment of the popular showbiz couple.
There’s even this rumor that the girl sleeps overnight at the guy’s house and they both arrive on the set as if nothing happened.
* * *
Making an acting comeback after so many years of absence on the movie scene is Maricel Laxa. She’s playing the role of Senator Jinggoy Estrada’s wife in “Magkaibigan,” the filmfest entry of Maverick Films that also stars Christopher de Leon.
Maricel hasn’t done a movie for quite sometime. She has devoted much of her time to her family and to her studies. But Maricel is a competent actress, having won several acting awards during the time she was more active in the movies. The actress is married to Anthony Pangilinan, the brother of Angeli P. Valenciano, the wife of Mr. Pure Energy Gary Valenciano.
Dawn Zulueta is also in the cast of “Magkaibigan,” playing the role of Boyet’s wife. The story of “Magkaibigan” is based on the friendship of Jinggoy and his bosom buddy, the late Rudy Fernandez.