Why Zig Dulay hesitated before accepting ‘Widows’ War’

MANILA, Philippines — After helming fantasy and sci-fi series (“Maria Clara at Ibarra” and “My Guardian Alien”) and the magic realism film (“Firefly”), Zig Dulay tries his hand at the murder mystery drama series via “Widows’ War.” He is also working with Kapuso actresses Bea Alonzo and Carla Abellana for the first time.

As a creative, Zig never backs down from exploring new territories and the challenges they pose.

“As their director, I was somewhat challenged,” said Zig about having A-list thespians like Bea and Carla on the show in a recent press conference.

Given the lead stars’ acting experience and industry stature, Zig, as he put it, had to “step up somehow in a way that you can’t go on set without knowing what to do.”

Zig could attest to Bea and Carla’s commitment to the craft and collaboration, and he appreciates it.

“Sobrang willing silang makinig and at the same time, nag-co-contribute sila sa kung papaano to create a reality out of the scene (They are really willing to listen to others’ inputs and at the same time they contribute to the creation of reality out of the scene),” shared he.

The director and his female leads would discuss the level of emotionality and intensity of every scene that the writers had crafted. He said that the latter came up with intense, emotionally charged scenes and beautiful lines.

This approach allows Zig and the stars to make sure that they offer something different, let’s say, scene-wise.

“‘Pag pupunta sila sa set, ang sinasaalang-alang namin lagi ay kung papaano magagawa yung eksena, papaano siya magiging realistic with respect to their characters (When they go on set, we consider how to make the scene realistic in relation to their characters),” said he.

With the mystery element in the narrative, Zig shared that there are aspects to it that they don’t know or are not privy to. It makes everything interesting and intriguing.

“Even as a director, I don’t know where it is heading to and later on, baka ito pala yun (it could go this way). I’m happy that there’s a conversation before doing the scene,” said he.

Zig is shown with Carla (leftmost) and Bea.

Such activity provides creatives with the opportunity to thoroughly talk about the scene and decide what nuance to give or hold from the audience for the time being.

“Natutuwa ako kasi hindi lang siya nakasalalay sa akin kasi mulat yung lahat ng tao na sa set na kasama sila sa pag-tell ng story (I’m happy that the interpretation of the scene doesn’t only rely on me because everyone on set is aware that they are part of the storytelling),” said Zig.

When the project was offered to him, Zig had second thoughts because it was his first foray into the genre, and his exact words were “nag-aalangan ka.”

That was part of the challenges he had to deal with initially but he described the experience best. “Nagtitiwala sa’yo ang GMA network kahit na wala ito sa linya ng body of work mo (GMA network is trusting you even if it’s not aligned with your body of work),” said he. “They entrusted the project to you and believed that you could give justice to it… and at the same time, it was challenging because you needed to equip yourself.”

There was a point, Zig recalled, where he was closing his previous primetime series “My Guardian Alien” and was about to pilot “Widows’ War” at the same time. To keep himself on the right track, as a manner of speaking, he had to make it clear to himself that each series had its own realism and world.

Zig took directing “Widows’ War” as an opportunity to learn more as a storyteller and understand how the creatives wrote the story, navigated everything and created the characters’ paths.

“Bilang direktor, natututo ako, in such a way, kung paano ko kakausapin, kung paano ako mag-i-instruct, paano ako makikipag-collaborate sa mga artista, knowing na iba-iba yung personalidad nila, iba-iba sila ng pinagdadaanan, ano yung pwedeng atake (As a director, I also learned how to talk to the actors, to give them instructions, to collaborate with them given their different personalities and experiences, and what possible approach to take),” said he. “How will you talk to them in such a way that you can bring out what the scene requires?”

It’s safe to say that what viewers will witness and follow in the mystery drama is a sneak peek into the collaboration among the “Widows’ War” creatives with the purpose of telling a cohesive and engaging story.

(Watch “Widows’ War” Mondays to Fridays at 8:50 p.m. on GMA Prime).