How Vivian handles ‘intimidated’ co-stars

MANILA, Philippines - Vivian Velez is back in front of the camera as part of the new TV5 soap Misibis Bay. She plays with pleasure the character of Miranda Cadiz who makes the life of the female lead Ritz Azul miserable.

“I really want contravida roles. It’s more enjoyable to do. Mas masarap yung ikaw ang nananampal kaysa ikaw ang sinasampal. I think I’m going to be a contravida forever! (laughs),” she told The STAR in an interview. 

She described Misibis Bay, which was shot at Misibis Bay the luxury resort in Bicol, as “a different concept, approach and directing. It’s very sexy. Because of the place, you shed a little here and there.”

In Misibis Bay, she and Christopher de Leon play the landed and wealthy Cadiz siblings. Christopher’s character, who has three children from different women, wants to “right past wrongs” by marrying the young woman Maita (Ritz) whose family is the rightful owner of the land they built their resort on, and that’s where the problem sets in. Other stars in the series include Boots Anson-Roa as Ritz’s grandmother.

It took the award-winning actress two years before making a return. Vivian explained, “I just want pacing. I didn’t want consecutive projects. Imortal (the last soap she did for another network) ran for a year and it drained me a bit. But I enjoy it (acting on TV).”

She admitted that younger co-stars get intimidated by her. “Yes, I know my presence can be intimidating. I’m aware of that. Sometimes, they tell that to me. I remember my first take with Ritz, she hugged me, and I asked why, she said she was nervous, she felt intimidated by me... But I told her, tama yan, you have to use it. You really have to feel nervous, intimidated by me because I’m the contravida here. I gave her that kind of advice. I told her to use that.”

Away from the cameras, Vivian is a businesswoman, who runs an aircraft acquisition and selling business. She’s a single mom, who draws happiness “from my two sons” with her Israeli ex-husband. Her kids, she said, haven’t expressed any desire to join showbiz, but it won’t be a surprise if they get offers because her sons are towering, good-looking teenagers. As a mom, Vivian said she doesn’t worry about her sons because “they’re very mature, they are also picky (with girls). I trust them, they never gave me any problems.”

Despite her busy off-screen life, acting is something that she will always go back to. When she made her first comeback two years ago after a lot of hesitation and a lengthy absence from the industry, she realized “you can never leave it.”

Like her veteran co-star Boots Anson-Roa, Vivian now looks at her showbiz work as “therapeutic” rather than the stress-inducing profession that it is branded to be. She explained, “It’s because you don’t think about your future in the business anymore, you don’t think if career ba to, or is this what I want, those things you think when you’re younger. Now, we’re doing it because we just love doing it. I enjoy the craft now more than before, it’s different now…Noon kasi may mga iisipin ka if this is a good move for my career, or what — you have those kinds of hesitations. Now it’s more of does it feel good, can I do it, and no more hesitation.”

Asked if she thinks that younger stars nowadays have it easier to make it into the business with all the avenues of discovery, she feels that it’s tougher to break in because there are so many aspiring actors, but it’s easier once they’re inside because the stars now are backed by a TV network system.   

In her early years in the biz, particularly in the ’80s, Vivian apart from winning acting awards for movies like Pieta (1983) and Paradise Inn (1985) earned the title Ms. Body Beautiful for her famous curves. Some reporters told her that if men’s magazines existed that time, she would have surely lorded them over. She reacted with a laugh, “I’ve seen those magazines, but you can be sexy naman without really baring.”

She added that being called before “body beautiful” was a huge pressure. She still gets tagged as such and it does make her uncomfortable. “Pag may nagsasabi sa akin nyan ngayon, na-aalibadbaran ako. I mean that was like many years ago, kumita na yun. If people mentioned it to me, I do get conscious because of course, I (somehow) look different now, I had kids.”

Vivian, nevertheless, had to be asked if she ever had some help from science to achieve the “body beautiful.” She said, “Wala! Hanggang ngayon. Not even botox. I’m not saying I’m against it, I’m not just comfortable doing it.”

TV5’s Misibis Bay premieres July 1 at 8 p.m.