Bong and Beauty’s major lesson from minor accident on set of action-comedy

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Beauty Gonzalez will enjoy a reversal of roles in Season 2 of the GMA action-comedy “Walang Matigas na Pulis sa Matinik na Misis.”

Premiering tonight at 7:15 and airing Sunday nights, same time, thereafter, the weekly series revolves around the adventures of Major Bartolome “Tolome” Reynaldo (Bong), a police officer who’s earned a reputation for his relentless and fearless pursuit of criminals. Which goes to say he backs down from no one — except his wife, Gloria (Beauty), whose signature call “Tolome!” alone on the show makes him shake in his boots.

In Season 2, it will be Tolome’s turn to be shouting Gloria’s name as she joins in the action as part of the police force.

Beauty told The STAR in a one-on-one, “There are action scenes (for my character) with shooting, running, climbing gates... He’s now the one shouting ‘Gloria’ because he worries something might happen to me.”

Praising his co-star’s professionalism and dedication to the role, Bong said of Beauty: “She’s a very good actress. Pagdating niya sa set, makikita mo sa kanya kaagad yung character na Gloria. Para siyang na nasasapian, lalo na pag sumigaw na siya (laughs).

“Makikita mo sya na parang pasok na pasok sa character nya kaya sabi ko, bow ako sa kanya. Aside from being a very good actress, she’s very professional, she’s always on time. I have nothing but praise for her.”

The actress also acknowledged her leading man as “very gentleman” on set who “guides me and all of us in the cast.”

“The energy of Sen. Bong is like 3,000 watts, he doesn’t get tired. Talagang game na game siya parati so nakaka-admire because like, if you’re feeling tired then you’ll see the lead star still very game, ikaw rin, (you’ll feel) okay, this is good, this is nice… If you start the day with good energy, the whole day is fantastic.”

Bong explains that he wants his energy on the show to match the funny vibe. He aims to show a different side to his previous action-hero characters Alyas Pogi or Panday. And whenever Gloria calls his name, he intentionally exaggerates his reaction. But he also noted that whenever Beauty shouts “Tolome!,” he quipped that it can be genuinely scary.

“Sinasabi nila na ‘pag sumigaw na si Gloria ng Tolome, sinasabi overacting (ako). Sinasadya ko talaga maging over ng konti pero ‘pag narinig mo talaga sumigaw si Beauty, matatakot ka talaga.”

Discussing their connection to their characters, Beauty, who hails from Dumaguete, Negros Oriental, is Bisaya like her character, a detail that she herself requested to be incorporated into the script. “Yung pagka Bisaya dinagdag ko lang because I want to do my own flavor, my own version, and they agreed. I’m proud to be Bisaya, I want everybody to hear me talking in Bisaya,” she said.

As for Bong, “I am able to relate because parang under the saya ako? Hahaha, no…Naughty, yes, hahaha. Habulin, yeah? Hahaha. No, I don’t know… Hindi ko naman inamin.”

“Graduate na (tayo)… matanda na eh,” he added with a laugh.

“But I believe na walang matigas na lalaki sa matinik na misis talaga. That’s true. Lalo na pag katulad dito sa character ni Tolome, mahal niya si Gloria kaya kahit na sino pa yung babae na dumating sa kanya, maharap niya, hindi niya pagpapalit… Yung pagiging under dahil mahal niya si Gloria, yun sa character ni Tolome.

He admitted that he does get reactions drawing comparisons from his real life.

“Pag napapanood ng tao, ‘True to life story ba ni Bong Revilla ito, na under na habulin, parang ikaw ‘di ba?’ Pero hindi naman ako under the saya, mahal ko yung asawa (Lani Mercado) ko, kahit ano pa yan, hindi mo pagpapalit sya pa rin.”

Since this is a family-themed series as well, The STAR asked what lessons they can share about their own relationships and respective marriages.

Bong emphasized the importance of trust, while Beauty stressed the need for self-care.

“In a relationship, one of the most important things is you should trust your partner, your spouse. If the trust is lost and there’s a lot of jealousy, wala na, away na ng away ‘yan. So, trust and love, but at No. 1, you always have to put God at the center of your relationship.”

For Beauty, who is married for 10 years now to art curator-businessman Norman Crisologo, “You have to take care of yourself, it’s really important. You should fill up your cup first so you will be loving and caring with your family. Kailangan happy ka rin para happy lahat yung tao. You should do your own thing.

“Trust is very important, as well as support and everything and a lot of luck. Feeling ko talaga a lot of luck kasi kahit anong bait or ano, kung hindi kayo nasuwertehan sa isa’t isa, you know… Hindi ako selosa (I’m not the jealous type). I choose those who choose me… If you choose me, then I’ll choose you. Ganun lang yun. Or maybe, I choose my battles, that’s the correct answer, like, o, may mga nangyayari pero sa tingin ko, ah okay, pero kung may ano na, aha! Pero wala (no reason to be jealous).”

“Mabait ang asawa niya,” Bong added.

Meanwhile, Sen. Bong promised elevated action scenes in Season 2, from “death-defying” car stunts to gun fights.

In a separate revelation, co-star Ejay Falcon disclosed that Bong also sustained a minor injury on set.

Shedding light on the incident, Bong recounted a scene where his eye was accidentally hit during a gunfight scene with Beauty.

“There was a scene na inagawan ko siya (Beauty) ng baril. Hindi niya alam nakuha ko yung baril nya, tapos ako yung nakipagbarilan. Supposed to be hindi na ako pulis nun, so naagaw ko yung baril tapos kinuha niya sa akin yung baril. Accidentally, my eye got hit.

“To be honest, I thought I would go blind but I had it checked, I really went to the hospital, and I’m OK. I returned to the set para mawala yung takot ni Beauty at lalong tataas kasi yung cost ng (GMA) kung ipa-pack up ang shooting hahaha. But for me, mga ganung aksidente, that’s normal, that’s natural.”

Such incidents in the action genre come with the territory, he further said, citing that on this project, he also got hit in the head and experienced a foot injury. “Napilay nga ako sa paa, hanggang ngayon nag-te-therapy pa ako sa paa ko. Kasama yan pag gumagawa ka ng action, there are minor accidents… that we can’t avoid,” he said.

Asked for her reaction at that time, Beauty said, “Gusto ko na matunaw uy, Ginoo ko! Saan ako pupunta, saan ako magtatago, ‘di ko alam… I was so nervous like I didn’t know what to do but I was like the whole time, naka tulala lang talaga ako sa tent, ‘di ko alam gagawin ko, (I was thinking) magpapasko pa naman.

“So many thoughts were running through my mind, ‘Is he blind? Ginoo ko, Lord! Waiting for just an hour, you have a lot of things on your mind, right? But the waiting reached three hours, and I was sweating to the max. When he returned to the set, I also cried, I said, thank God, you’re OK. Then I said, nakakakita ka parin ba ng maayos ng maganda at hindi? Binibiro ko lang siya but I’m happy he’s OK and he got back.”

What she learned from the incident was “accidents happen; you can be very careful, but they still happen. So what I learned is to have faith that everything will be okay. I really prayed during that time, hoping he would be okay. It was a very unforgettable experience for me, and I truly don’t want any accidents to happen to anyone on the set. I won’t forget this for my whole life.”

Fortunately, it was not serious or severe that Bong himself decided to resume taping. He suffered a slightly swollen eye that got concealed by makeup and strategic camera angles.

“Actually, na trauma lang konti yung mata ko, dumugo konti, and I did get scared. But at least I’m OK. God is good. At least, yun ang patunay na hindi tayo pababayaan ng Diyos, so thank you Lord.”