Yam is glad about not having to choose between love & career
Yam Concepcion always brings a bottle of wine whenever she sits for a one-on-one interview. She would sip on her glass once in a while to calm herself. But no wine in sight when she recently talked about her clinching a lead role after having been around showbiz for a decade now.
The actress portrays Rita in Init sa Magdamag with JM de Guzman and Gerald Anderson as her leading men. “I’m still in disbelief that I was given this role because I also waited for 10 years to actually get a lead role. So, parang, ‘Wow, okay, it’s finally happening!’ It is such a great feeling,” said Yam who was visibly relaxed even without wine.
Showbiz-watchers definitely know how Yam got her fair share of the spotlight. Her controversial role in the 2011 erotic thriller Rigodon stirred much curiosity to many. Then, it was followed by her TV acting stint in the Kapamilya afternoon drama series Dugong Buhay in 2013. More interesting acting projects such as Halik (2018) and Love Thy Woman (2020) landed on her lap one after the other.
Fast forward to the present. Portraying Rita pushes Yam to deliver her best acting performance. And why shouldn’t she be when she has been blessed with something that she’s been waiting for a long time?
“Si Rita, isa s’yang babaeng may paninindigan at meron s’yang dream (she is a woman who has conviction and a dream). Her dream is to be a nurse. What I love about Rita the most is her selflessness and her capacity to love. She’s brave but love is the root of her flaws. What I also love about her is she’s very human, she’s not perfect. She’s human as she is, she makes decisions out of love and it could be good or bad,” said Yam, who added that Rita is the type of person who doesn’t have regrets in life because she stands up by every decision that she makes.
She, too, has good words for her leading men. “Gerald is such a gentleman. Here, you’ll see a different Gerald Anderson, ang lalim (very deep).”
On the other hand, JM is “sakto lang,” she said in jest and went on to declare how generous the actor is when cameras start to grind. “Even if the camera is not (focused) on him, JM expresses emotions through his eyes that you would really feel him. He’s very truthful to the scene na binibigay n’ya sa ‘yo ang emosyon kahit wala s’ya sa kamera (that he will give you the emotions even when he’s not in front of the camera).”
Yam admitted that she is daring in the series and that love scenes are expected. She revealed that kissing scenes cannot be faked so do some skin contact or touching of bodies. But Yam doesn’t feel violated.
“It’s all about trust in your directors on how they are going to mount the scene, and co-actors as well. So far, I’ve been fortunate na lahat ng naka-loveteam ko ay very respectful, very professional,” she said, adding that she and her co-actor get to talk prior to shooting the intimate scenes for both of them to be aware of each other’s limitations.
Yam is truly passionate about acting and she is happy that her boyfriend, Miguel Cuunjieng, is supportive of her career and not once did he try to make Yam choose between love and career.
“Knowing Miguel (who currently works in the US), he would never give me that choice. It’s a mature kind of love, it’s a supportive kind of love, kasi sanay tayo na pinapapili — love, career and all. That’s normal (but) totally unfair.”
Truth is, Yam declared, Miguel is happy that she has finally become the lead star. She was initially hesitant to accept the project knowing the kind of pressure she would carry on her shoulders but Miguel encouraged her to accept it. He reminded her that she owes it to herself for working so hard and she deserves it.
(Init sa Magdamag airs weeknights on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, TV5, A2Z and IWant-TFC. To watch the full interview, visit batalk channel on YouTube.)
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