Vivian returns to the scene with a bang

Now that Vivian Velez is making her presence felt on ABS-CBN’s Maria Mercedes, directed by Chito Roño, as the classy bitch in purple wearing a wide-brimmed hat, we ask her how she is doing so far. She replies, “It’s direk Chito who makes it more interesting by polishing it. He told me kailangan maging endearing pa rin somehow si Malvina (mother of Jake Cuenca) kahit kontrabida siya.”

Ralston Jover’s Bendor, on the other hand, highlights how a mother will do anything for her family, including selling prohibited abortion pills and going to jail when caught. Although it is an often-repeated plot, the Cinema One Originals Festival entry for 2013 has enough going for it that some editing and shortening will not solve. It also has Vivian, who won Best Actress in the Currents category, in the title role as one who has shown she can easily swing from rich to poor, to evil to forgiving.

Vivian has done more than 60 movies and TV shows that include classics such as Pieta, Paradise Inn, Kasalanan Bang Sambahin Ka and Ang Babaeng Hinugot Sa Aking Tadyang. Our memory goes back to the ’80s when we first met her.

In Pieta, which Carlo J. Caparas directed from his own graphic novel, Vivian appeared with Ace Vergel and Charito Solis, and won Best Actress from the Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) in 1983. 

Paradise Inn (1985) has been one of our favorite films directed by the unpredictable genius Celso Ad. Castillo, and it was on this set that we first met Vivian with Lolita Rodriguez, Michael de Mesa, Dennis Roldan and Lito Anzures. Vivian won the FAMAS Best Actress award for the film that she also co-produced.

Kasalanan Bang Sambahin Ka by direk Chito in 1990 tells of Vivian who has a one-night stand with married man Julio Diaz and becomes obsessed with him, stalking him to the point of threatening suicide to get his attention. The film is reminiscent of Hollywood’s Fatal Attraction with Michael Douglas and Glenn Close as the obsessive female. However, Manunuri Bien Lumbera has stated that Chito and Vivian’s interpretation made more sense and is more cohesive.

Ang Babaeng Hinugot Sa Aking Tadyang, a 1981 film directed by Carlo J. from his own graphic novel, featured Vivian with Eddie Rodriguez. In Hinugot, Vivian did her own stunts, including jumping from the 10th floor of her condo at Legaspi Towers. Now that Vivian is busier than ever reviving her career, we ask her for an update on her activities through a Q&A.

Do you think your experience in the ’80s is advantageous to your re-entering showbiz today? 

“Absolutely! For one, the technical aspects are very different. Preparation of an actor for a movie and that for television are also different. Having experienced both in the past has made me more prepared for the hussle and tussle of showbiz today.”

What is your take on kontrabida roles?

“I played a bida-contrabida lead role in Kasalanan Bang Sambahin Ka in the ’90s. This year, aside from Maria Mercedes, I played the coolest middleman to perform an assassination as Thelma in OTJ (On the Job), and as Miranda in Misibis Bay.”

What have been your most memorable movies and teleseryes in the past? 

“Paradise Inn and Kasalanan Bang Sambahin Ka. I would love to do Paradise Inn this 2014. But this time, I’ll play the mother role originally played by Lolita Rodriguez.”

Who have been your favorite leading men?

“(The late) Rudy Fernandez, I did many movies with him and he was very professional. Off-screen and on location shoots, he was such a prankster and fun to be with.”

Who would you have loved to star with? 

“I was lucky that I got to be with FPJ, Erap Estrada, Ramon Revilla in several movies. Now, I’m thrilled to be working with the current batch of great actors.”

Since Vivian’s active return to the movies and television, as well as the continuing presence of such senior stars as Pilar Pilapil, Eddie Garcia, Anita Linda, Perla Bautista and Susan Roces, the future of Philippine movies appears to be headed for a new and healthier future. 

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