Marian serves as inspiration for Louise

MANILA, Philippines -  â€œIf she was able to do it before, then I can also do it,” said Louise delos Reyes of Marian Rivera when asked about tackling the role of a mermaid in the GMA 7 primetime series Kambal Sirena.

Marian, of course, is the original sirena of the network, having starred in the TV remake of Dyesebel a few years back. Louise, meanwhile, will be playing the dual roles of Alona and Perlas, twins from a human mother and a merman father. Alona was born with gills behind her ears, while Perlas was born with a mermaid’s tail.

“There was this one time she sat as a judge in Sunday All Stars, and I approached her and said ‘hi.’ Then, she told me that there wasn’t any difference between my two characters in the first teaser of Kambal Sirena,” the young Kapuso actress recalled with a laugh. But the Carmela star also gave Louise solid advice.

“Miss Marian really told me that there has to be a difference, even the laugh. Then, she gave me tips. Because before, she also had her own sirena-serye. She did everything in that show; she gave it her all that’s why she has no regrets. That’s what I’m going to do also,” Louise shared. “Miss Marian has always been there for me. She serves as my ate in the industry.”

It was much-needed advice for Louise; Kambal Sirena is the first time Louise is lead star in a primetime soap opera without her go-to onscreen partner Alden Richards (the two have headlined three Kapuso shows: Alakdana, One True Love and Mundo Mo’y Akin.)

Her show, an original concept, may also compete with ABS-CBN’s own mermaid series, a remake of Mars Ravelo’s Dyesebel, once it airs a few weeks from now.

But Louise said Marian also told her not to mind the comments — and she admitted that she has read a lot of them online, both positive and negative — comparing her to onscreen mermaids before and after her own Alona and Perlas.

Asked to describe her show, Louise said that her Kambal Sirena, despite borrowing elements from classic mermaid stories, is totally different. The fact that the story revolves around twin sisters torn apart and brought together by their differences sets it apart from the others. “That’s another challenge for me — portraying twins. Kapag magkasama sila sa isang eksena, kailangan mag-switch kaagad yung emotion ko. I have to be Alona and at the same time I have to be Perlas. The viewers have to see the difference between the two,” she said.

Kambal Sirena director Dondon Santos also believes there’s room for more than one mermaid story on Philippine television.

Direk Dondon is aware of the looming competition from the other network, but he told his cast not to focus on it. “To be honest, of course, it’s a challenge. Pero hindi siya pressure at all because I would think iba yung atake ng mga directors nila sa magiging atake namin,” he said of Dyesebel. “At one point, magkakapareho ang mga visuals but we’re trying to come up with something like Dyesebel na kilala pa rin ng mga tao.”

His show, he said, will be kid-friendly. “We try as much as possible to make it visually-appealing for the kids because we were told that we’ll be on the first slot of the primetime block.” 

The goal, direk Dondon added, is to eventually turn Kambal Sirena into an iconic mermaid tale. “With this one, we’ll start this way then later on sana makilala pa ng mga bata na hindi nakapanood ngayon na may Kambal Sirena,” he said. “The stories, the learnings, they are all intertwined, you combine them all. There are many similar concepts but it’s how you present it to the viewers that matters. So, there’s always room for another sirena (to be shown on TV).”

(Kambal Sirena airs weeknights after 24 Oras on GMA 7.)