Gloria Diaz reveals daughters’ reactions to ‘daring’ role in Lola Magdalena

In Joel Lamangan’s dramedy Lola Magdalena, Gloria Diaz takes on the dual role as a faith healer by day and an aging prostitute by night.

The film, written by Dennis Evangelista, marks his return as a writer after years of serving as a line producer for various films.

Loosely based on a true story that landed in the news, Lola Magdalena follows the story of friendship among aging prostitutes in a small town as they live together and fight to protect their home from being taken away. Gloria is joined in the cast by fellow veteran actresses, Liza Lorena, Perla Bautista and Pia Moran, with Sunshine Cruz playing as the “youngest” sex worker.

The first Filipina Miss Universe, now 72, recently shared how her daughters reacted to her “unique” role in the film.

“Mom! What are you going to do next?” one of her daughters, actress Isabelle Daza, said. “Kasi I showed her the short trailer. Natawa nga sila. I don’t think they thought of it as a sex film really. They thought more of it as a comedy with a faith healer by day and a prostitute at night.

“So (I asked) what do you feel, is it nice? ‘Mom, it’s hard to describe, I don’t know how I feel (laughs),’” she further recalled during a special screening at Sine Pop in Cubao, Quezon City.

Although they were supposed to come and watch Lola Magdalena together at the screening, Gloria’s daughters Isabelle and Ava had other prior commitments. Nonetheless, she would like them to see her film. She indicated that her daughters were open to these kinds of themes, and even eagerly inquired about the movie and its reception.

“Ayan text ng text: ‘How is it? How is it?’ All my kids like to see those things, everything,” she said.

She mentioned an instance where she gave advice to Isabelle.

“In fact, when I would tell them, ‘Belle, you should be…’ ‘Wow, of all the things to tell me, advise me, the original bomba star.’ Kasi I always tell them, ‘Belle, hindi maganda yan, ganito, ganyan, you have to be decent.’ (She would be like) wow, nagsalita,” laughingly recalled Gloria, who was launched via the Celso Ad. Castillo’s 1974 sexy drama Ang Pinakamagandang Hayop Sa Balat Ng Lupa.

Dennis revealed that he only had Gloria in mind for the titular character of Lola Magdalena. It was only after hearing a positive response from the latter’s manager, Leo Dominguez, about the storyline that he went on to develop the script.

One particular scene in the film features Gloria dancing for a fee in a cemetery, and direk Joel had initially considered omitting it. Dennis included it to illustrate the character’s “degradation of dignity” and the lengths she would go to in order to earn money. Gloria proved to be dedicated to her role when she came to the set “ready” with two pairs of underwear for added safety.

“Sabi ko, ‘Direk, game siya, gawin na natin,” said Dennis.

For Gloria though, the most challenging part of the film for her was using explicit language.

“The hardest part for me was to make mura. Wala akong maisip, ‘di ba? I want to be as vulgar as I can be but I found that a little difficult kasi kung hindi ka naman sanay na sanay. Pero ngayon medyo na. Hahaha! With practice,” she quipped.

Discussing the key message of Lola Magdalena, Gloria emphasized the importance of not passing judgment on people, including sex workers. She urged audiences to also consider the difficult circumstances many of them face as they serve as breadwinners for their families.

“For me, the most important thing is the way you look at them. Actually, you cannot judge them because the first thing you always think, there are other ways to make money. But you know, at the end of the day, they all have huge problems. They’re breadwinners.

“I’m not saying it’s good. But let’s not judge them. In the film, you can see each one was a breadwinner and actually, nakakaawa. In fact, our government is supposed to just… they don’t stop it eh. They should just make it like in other countries, they should just have health care that’s free,” she expressed.

“My daughter lives in P. Burgos in Makati, mayaman yun (community) and all, but I see so many there. Wala lang, hello, hi, nakita ko kahapon, yun pa rin yung suot or something.”

She observed that some older women live in similar conditions to those portrayed in the film. “I used to see them in Tanay (when I went there for a shoot)… There are really girls just hanging out there. It’s exactly the same situation we were in (the film) but old… Dun lang talaga bagsakan nila ‘pag tumanda. (The film) is sad but funny.”

Direk Joel was particularly proud of this cast’s chemistry. Sharing the casting process, he said part of the reason he chose Pia was for her dancing skills, as he remembered her dance performances during the ‘80s and ‘90s. Perla, Liza, and Sunshine were personally handpicked to complete the ensemble cast. He expressed his excitement at directing such actresses and praised their performances.

“My God, that was so exciting!” he said. “Imagine you directed Ms. Gloria, Liza, Perla, Pia… And they delivered! Hindi nila alam sa likod nag-a-applause ako. And they really blended well with each other. I’m happy with the film. Parang na-orchestrate ang characters nila in the entire movie very well.”

The award-winning director also welcomed the film’s PG rating from the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) and confirmed it was submitted for consideration to the upcoming Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF). Also present at the special screening was newbie film producer and businesswoman Amelia Zuniga of Hero Hito Productions, who came on board as executive producer.