Kisses Delavin goes traditional on Chinese New Year
MANILA, Philippines — Kisses Delavin may not be pure Chinese. But the Chinoy in her, courtesy of her mother, Carrie Tan-Delavin, makes the annual Chinese New Year celebration extra special to the young actress. So, she has followed certain traditions since she was a little girl.
Believing that tikoy brings good luck to anyone who consumes it, Kisses eats the sticky, sweet delicacy that is supposed to bring prosperity for the rest of the year.
“Fried tikoy with egg, served hot is my favorite,” she told Philstar.com in an exclusive interview.
Round fruits like oranges are also good food choices for her at this time of the year. Like most Filipinos, Kisses believes eating round fruits bring good luck.
Meanwhile, the Chinese in Kisses keeps her from buying anything and spending a single centavo on January 1. But since some purchases, like basic necessities, have to be made, Kisses and her family buy them ahead of time.
Whether these traditions are true or not, the year 2020 seems to have started on the right foot for Kisses. She plays Mikhai, Ai Ai delas Alas’ daughter in the currently showing romance drama "D’Ninang."
The Regal film veers away from the mostly sweet roles Kisses used to play as part of a love team with Donny Pangilinan. True, she has a new leading man – McCoy de Leon – but Kisses’ scenes are no longer confined to the romantic kind.
She confronts Ai Ai’s character Ditas in a prolonged dramatic scene. She sheds tears and rants. It’s a far cry from the bubbly 20-year-old who loves to smile and laugh in real life.
How can someone with a happy family, who easily breaks into laughter, and who has yet to suffer from a broken heart, break into tears and spew angry words in scene after scene?
“I’ve been hurt many times,” she revealed after the premiere showing of "D’Ninang" in SM Megamall. But the difference between her and the next person is that Kisses doesn’t let the bad things bring her down.
She automatically pushes her inner demons at the back of her mind, and summons them only when she needs them say, for a dramatic scene, like her confrontation with Ai Ai, who plays her long-lost mom in "D’Ninang."
“I turn bad emotions into positive ones. I don’t allow them to rule my life. I’m not a crybaby.”
Because she’s no crybaby, Kisses admitted she finds dramatic scenes extra challenging.
“Being an actress is hard,” she sighed. “You have to separate your personal life from your professional life and build up your character.”
That’s why Kisses is grateful to her director GB Sampedro, Ai Ai and other co-stars who helped her on the set.
Will those dramatic scenes lead to heavier roles someday?
“I enjoy changes,” she said.
But this doesn’t change her preference for movie genres.
“I go for romance films (where she teams up with a love interest),” she added.
Right now, she and McCoy’s on-screen chemistry shows a deeply rooted friendship off-screen.
“He’s a good on-screen partner,” Kisses observed. “He’s charming in the movie as Kali. And he looks after me on- and off- screen.”
Their friendship goes way back to 2016. McCoy was in the celebrity edition of ABS-CBN’s "Pinoy Big Brother" (PBB). Kisses was in the teen edition. No wonder the two didn’t have to adjust to each other during the shooting of "D’Ninang."
The only challenge was looking at McCoy from another angle.
“I always reminded myself to avoid calling him Kuya (older brother), which is what I used to call him in real life,” said the actress.
"D’Ninang" is now showing in theaters nationwide.
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