A veritable dream come true

Yagit or Pushcart of Dreams (international title) is a Filipino drama series broadcast by GMA Network based on the 1983 hit drama series of the same title. At a very young age, Judie dela Cruz was introduced to the world of show business after being accepted in auditions of Yagit. According to the young star, it has always been her dream to be a star and she is ready for the hardships she experiences along the way.

Now that Judie is already an actress, she will need to give attention to both studies and career. She finds no problem in that, however, giving us an example of how she does it. “When I have no tapings, I give full attention to my lessons in school,” explains Judie.

Being an actress is more stressful to Judie since it requires long hours of taping as well as memorization of long lines. She tells us her technique, “I would memorize the lines at home in front of a mirror, just like the dubbers do when confronted with material strange to their ears.” Then, she would call her mom to help correct her grammar, especially when she gets called for a live interview on television.

But this wasn’t the only problem, Judie confesses. The long hours of taping have wreaked havoc on her looks and complexion that friends with normal 8 to 5 jobs would ask her, “Judie, what happened to you? Are you sick? Mukha kang bangkay (You look like a dead person being readied for cremation).” This is when she realized that she had to take care of her looks as well, and proceeded to seek advice from others in the same profession.

Meanwhile, Zymic Jaranilla considers older brother Zaijian his acting idol. That’s why he listens to every advice his mentor gives him. For his assignment, Zaijian asks Zymic to cry every day. Zaijian tells his younger brother to watch movies that are sad and weepy over and over again. It didn’t need to be the same movie, only that it be sad. Zymic complains to his brother, “I still cannot cry.” Zaijian tells him to be patient, explaining the reason he asks his brother to watch movies over and over again. Eventually, he will no longer need to watch any movie. Zymic would have mastered the technique of imagination. All he will need to do is to think of something sad — like a close friend’s death or a loved one diagnosed with cancer in the fourth stage.

Zymic follows all directions to the letter. Pretty soon, he would be crying when a sad scene comes around. “But what happens when the sad scene will be followed by a happy scene?” he asks his brother Zaijan. “This will take longer. But the technique would be the same. Imagination! With our example of a loved one with cancer, you will be happily surprised by the doctor in charge of his case, that the disease is curable and will simply need a month in the hospital under close observation and medication,” says Zaijian. 

Zymic concedes that he doesn’t follow his brother’s advice all the time, but since the technique works best for his kuya, and his kuya is recipient of many Best Child Actor awards, it is obvious that Kuya Zaijian knows best in making all his dreams come true.

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