Sharon enjoys freedom to be a ‘totally different person’ in Revirginized

Sharon Cuneta said that she had warned her husband, Sen. Kiko Pangilinan, about the things she did for her role in the new Viva film Revirginized.

From the comedy-drama’s trailer alone, the megastar is seen letting out expletives and doing tequila body shots with her much younger leading man Marco Gumabao. She said she did other things, not shown in the teaser, that are “uncharacteristic” of her or her filmography.

“With Kiko, I warned him and I said, ‘I have this project. This is the story so I’ll be cussing here and saying words na you don’t hear me say.’ I told him some of the words and (he just said), ‘Okay’ Ganoon lang naman yung asawa ko. Very supportive ‘yan si Kiko pero hindi ko iniiwan,” she mused during a recent virtual mediacon.

“And he knows, that as an actor, I portray many roles and it can’t be just the same thing over and over again, especially at my age. So no, no question at all. Nothing. Even when I mentioned I might work with this ex of mine, (he said), ‘Okay, hope it pushes through already.’ That’s how he is. Very supportive, very secure. He’s never made me feel ‘you shouldn’t do that.’ I don’t think I can also live with somebody who will trap me in a cage and say, ‘You can’t do the things that you wanna do (or) you can’t be yourself.’”

She added, “I wanted a family but I didn’t want a dictator of a husband. I’m very bullheaded and strong-willed. I get that from my mom and her side of the family, as well as my father... (But) I am very meek because I want to be. I am a good wife because I want to be. I am grateful because I have a husband who allows me to be myself.”

While she knows her husband and children understand, Sharon expected “violent reactions” from some of her fans, also called Sharonians, who have been used to seeing her in characters that are “always wholesome, from (the time of my first film) Dear Heart (in 1981), all the true, the good, the beautiful, the wholesome, the sweet, the matino, the decent...” But she believes that after starring in more than 60 movies, she has already earned the right to play around and experiment with other roles.

She also defended the film’s director Darryl Yap, who also megged the trending digital films Paglaki Ko Gusto Kong Maging Pornstar, Tililing and Ang Babaeng Walang Pakiramdam, saying that there’s more to his film than its “controversial” scenes.

“At my age especially, a role comes along written by the genius that is direk Darryl Yap, ang mali lang sa mga tao, ang napapansin lang nila lagi ay yung controversial na mga eksena na lumalabas sa trailer ni direk Darryl. But if you watch his movies, you will notice that during the first part, puro kalokohan yan, but in the end, meron laging tusok sa puso. When he shared this to me, when he pitched this to us, it made me cry, so I couldn’t say no.”

Nevertheless, Sharon readily admitted that there were scenes in the movie that made her ask, “Dyusko direk, gagawin ko ba talaga ito? Talagang sasabihin ko ba ito? (But I thought to myself) ‘Hindi artista ako,’ susundin kita. So, I trusted totally and fully in my director and the story. I accepted it because I wanted to do it, not because I needed to do it. I wanted the challenge and so I got it.”

Sharon said as much that Revirginized is as far as she can go. “I said, tapangan ko nga sarili ko, but I’ll try to do it at my own pace, yun na ang pinaka-bastos na kaya ko. But I think once in a while, when an actor does a movie that’s outside of his or her usual genre, then that makes the audience appreciate the other skills of the actor and then makes the audience miss the usual kind of movies that that actor makes,” she said.

“But this movie is truly special to me because really, the role gave me the freedom to become a totally different person.”

In the film, she plays Carmela who is forced to marry at an early age after getting pregnant at 16. Years later, she finds her life crumbling with the annulment of her marriage. To escape her painful reality, she joins her goddaughter and goes YOLO at a beach party where she meets the young hunk Morph (Marco). Will she finally realize her self-worth and start to dream again for herself? That’s what the film, now streaming on Vivamax, attempts to answer.

Meanwhile, contrary to recent pronouncements on her social media pages that she’s mulling retirement, Sharon hinted at not yet slowing down and still wanting to do more movies, including with ex-husband Gabby Concepcion.

“If it pushes through, any movie with Gabby will be accepted, even if it turns out to be the most romantic in terms of scenes because we were once married. So people would be more, I don’t know why, accepting of that, I think. I’m ready 100-percent to work with Gabby again. We don’t have bad blood.

“And, you know, no matter what we do, no matter what we say or don’t say about each other, he will always be (daughter) KC’s father. We were a family once, too, you know. I carried his name once. And we’ll always be connected because of our daughter so I might as well have a good friendship.”

Sharon, who just got back in the country and is finishing her quarantine after spending a couple of months in the US, also said, “I’ve actually talked about retirement but I don’t remember much about life outside the industry. But I take breaks like this, like two-and-half-month breaks… But everyday life like that? Maybe when I can’t move anymore. I still like to do movies like Dame Judi Dench and of course, Meryl Streep, who’s 72. My god, look at the movies that they do! Artists should be like that and there shouldn’t be any ageism.”

Apart from Vivamax, Revirginized has premiered on ktx.ph, iWantTFC, TFC IPTV and SKY PPV. It will also be shown on Cignal PPV on Aug. 27.

According to Viva, Revirginized is the No. 1 pre-sold film on ktx.ph. It’s also the first Philippine film this year to have a theatrical release in the US and Canada starting Aug. 13.