Juday: It’s not easy to be a kontrabida

Did you know that it took Judy Ann “Juday” Santos three days before she could immerse herself in her role as kontrabida in Starla, the ABS-CBN teleserye which premieres on Monday night, Oct. 7?

Juday plays a ruthless lawyer who has an axe to grind against Baryo Maulap (“cloudy” barrio) where she grew up but that has become a symbol of her failure and painful past. The all-star-cast drama is written by Dindo Perez and directed by Onat Diaz, Darnel Villaflor and Jerome Pobocan.

Although she had her “initiation” as a kontrabida in FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano, Juday confessed that on the first shooting day, she was not feeling “in character” because she couldn’t grasp the extent of her character.

“Bumibitaw ako sa eksena,” she said. “I wasn’t ‘in the scene.’ Hindi ako na Take 1…In fact, na Take 4, 5, 6 ako before I could do the scene well. Playing a kontrabida is not that easy pala. Hindi madali pero masayang gawin. You know, not easy but fun to do.”

It was understandable because it had been more than six years since Juday topbilled a teleserye (Huwag Ka Lang Mawawala). Still, despite the influx of younger drama talents, Juday is fondly recognized as Queen of Teleserye which was how she was introduced by presscon host Eric John Salut last Saturday at an events place in Quezon City, elaborately decorated fitting a “royal” welcome.

Produced by Dreamscape Entertainment, Starla is a feel-good series done in the tradition of similar Dreamscape soaps like May Bukas Pa, 100 Days to Heaven, Honesto, Nathaniel and My Dear Heart.

Juday’s comeback is touted as an early Christmas gift to her fans who have been clamoring to see her again in a teleserye.

Her villainess role in Probinsyano (as Jane, a victim of sexual abuse with multiple personality shot in the end by Coco Martin’s cop-character Cardo whom Jane plotted to kill) served as a test case for the new thrust of Juday’s career.

“I wanted to challenge myself,” admitted Juday. “Playing a kontrabida was something I’d been planning to do but there was no chance…until Coco offered me a role in Probinsyano. I didn’t have any second thought about accepting it. I was asking myself, ‘Kaya ko ba ito?’ Can I do it?”

As suggested by her directors, Juday’s peg for her role was Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada.

“I watched that movie three times, although Kumareng Meryl doesn’t play a lawyer. Gusto ko lang ‘yung ginawa niya especially the way she’s dressed, her manner of walking and talking at maski ang lakad niya. As a lawyer, I have to be tough because of the pain inside me. My grammar has to be correct, at ganoon din ang mga legal terms. It was hard in the beginning that’s why ang dami kong ‘take’ on the first shooting day. After three days, I was okay already. I was already in character.”

Been there, done that. It’s about time Juday took on out-of-the-box roles to, as she was saying, “challenge myself.” Her choice of projects has evolved now that she’s a mother ­of three — Yohan, 14; Lucho, eight years old; and Luna, three years old.

“I want a teleserye na hindi naman masyadong bugbog sa drama,” she qualified. “’Yan, feel-good, inspirational and timely, a series that gives hope to the people, something that my children can watch and learn from,” adding, “you know, until lately, my children didn’t know that I am also an actress; they thought that I was only a TV host. Now they will be convinced.”

Since she began doing soaps, Juday has played varied roles, most of which subjected her to being maltreated.

She joked, “Lahat ng pambubugbog at sampal, naranasan ko na. I have gone through all that. Now the table has been turned. Graduate na ako sa mga ganoon. There are new, younger stars who can now do that.”

With Juday in Starla are two child actors, Enzo Pelojero and Jana Agoncillo, who remind Juday of her younger years.

“When you are a child star, people automatically say that you will not grow tall, na hindi ka tatangkad because you are babad sa ilaw, puro puyat, puro soft drinks, puro junk food. Yes, I was like that. When I was doing Mara Clara, di ba mukha na akong balyena? Hahaha!!!

“Child actors today have a cut-off time. They can work for only four hours per day. I love the child actors in Starla. They work hard, no complaints, and easy to work with. They are very good actors.”

The adult cast includes Joel Torre (as Juday’s father who she blames for her plans gone pffft), Meryl Soriano, Raymart Santiago, Joem Bascon, Tirso Cruz III, Simon Ibarra, Jordan Herrera, Anna Luna, Kathleen Hermosa and Charo Santos as Lola Tala (the grandmother star whom you might not easily recognize because her fully-made-up face is framed by a bright white star).

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