MANILA, Philippines - Before Gladys Reyes, Katrina Halili, Agot Isidro, Glaiza de Castro and all the villains we love to hate on TV, there was Princess Punzalan.
Princess was so good at being bad she got a Best Drama Actress Award from the Philippine Movie Press Club for playing the evil Selina Matias. Heart Evangelista even hesitated in accepting a villain role years back because she heard how an enraged viewer hit Princess with an umbrella at Megamall for being such a loathsome meanie in a long-running primetime teleserye.
The good news is Princess is back in the role people love to see her in. Four years after doing Now and Forever with Aga Muhlach and Regine Velasquez, Princess is back to make life miserable for Aljur Abrenica and Kris Bernal on GMA 7’s The Last Prince.
Princess’ comeback was so attuned to her schedule as a vacationing balikbayan late last year, you would think the stars aligned themselves to make things possible.
“Before I went here for a five-week vacation, I told my manager, Angeli Pangilinan-Valenciano, that I’m willing to work again. Turns out the timing was perfect,” recalls Princess. “GMA was casting for The Last Prince (to premiere tomorrow, Jan. 11).”
The showbiz industry has grown by leaps and bounds, she adds.
“The giant networks have worldwide connections,” observes Princess.
She misses the challenge of “reading a script and finding ways to be as convincing as ever in a role.” Beyond this longing for her craft, Princess doesn’t miss anything in her life as an actress.
She enjoys being a full-time nursing student in Sta. Monica, California, where Princess is now based with her husband, Jay Field. Her life on the other side of the globe is a lot more orderly than the one she used to have when she was still in the Philippines.
“I wake up at 5 a.m., cook breakfast, study, then drive to school at 7 a.m. so I’ll get a parking slot,” relates Princess. Then, like any other student, she gets home in time for dinner which she prepared herself.
The change of pace pleases Princess. She explains that it gives her time for her 37-year-old husband, who is in the mobile telephone industry.
Her studies also give her a different high.
“I am proving to myself that acting is not the only thing I know in this world. I can tackle Math and Science, too!” she explains.
In fact, Princess can tackle Math and Science so well she’s in the dean’s list. These are the subjects she always wanted to focus on, but failed to study well because her late mom (Helen Vela) wanted her eldest child to take up Interior Design.
“I wanted to be a doctor, but now, I don’t want to spend 14 years to finish the course. So I’m taking up nursing instead,” admits Princess.
True to what she expected him to be, her husband has turned out to be the epitome of a supportive spouse.
“A mutual friend who believed we were compatible introduced us,” recalls Princess. “We were friends at first. I subjected him to tests of character which my mom taught me. I observed him at play and in parties. I also considered his checkbook. He’s not pikon when he plays games. He does not keep all of the food to himself when he goes to the buffet table. And his concept of money is that of stewardship — of something one must share with others.”
Material things, after all, can’t give real happiness. This, Princess wants to remind others, especially ex-husband Willie Revillame. Princess knows he has every creature comfort one can dream of.
They parted amicably, so Princess doesn’t see anything wrong if they co-star in a project again after all these years.
More than a project with Willie, what will make Princess return to the Philippines after she flies back to the US end of the month is a role she can sink her teeth into once more. Indie producers have sent feelers, but nothing is definite yet.
So let’s not say good-bye to Princess the ace screen villain yet. She might spring another pleasant surprise for us televiewers one of these days. And that, the critics will agree, is something worth waiting for.