MANILA, Philippines — Angel Aquino has become quite adept at straddling between bida and kontrabida roles. But when she does play villain roles, she turns to the awesome body of work of the late great Cherie Gil.
When Cherie died in 2022, Angel honored her with a heartwarming tribute on Instagram: " My Cherie amour. She who taught me to eat avocado on SkyFlakes with a drizzle of salt; And sardines straight from the can with 'tasty' bread while still looking so classy eating it in her shorts in a rickety resort in far away Donsol; And Cambozola paired with Prosecco, which now i cannot get enough of…
"She who ditched her business class lounge and instead walked around with me in Abu Dhabi airport for hours because the lounge won’t take me... She who personally asked me to play her lesbian lover in 'Kaputol' because she wasn’t sure she trusted anybody else to do it with her..
"She who always took me to dinner with her classy friends and never left me to feel uncomfortable... She was so kind to me. At first I admired her, then I loved her profoundly.
"My Cherie amour, I am heartbroken. But I have so much beautiful memories with you. Thank you for your beauty, your energy, your authenticity. Goodbye for now, awesome one. Until then," Angel wrote.
Another one of her posts reads: "We loved Meryl Streep. We can’t stop talking about her art, her craft, her passions, her convictions. We were as giddy as little girls when we saw her up close at the Berlinale winners’ dinner. I’ve never seen you so awestruck. I was a fan of a fan! You said you wished you had her grace and kindness, I said I wished I had her courage and versatility. I want you to know you are all of those."
Last May, she fondly recalled her friend and influence.
“I think aside from Sharon Cuneta, she's one of my dearest idols.
“She's such a sweetheart. You know, people think, what do you call it? She's bakulaw, but she's not.
“She just has this projection, but she's so kind. And she had so much love for the work. She had love, of course, for the craft, and her understanding of production, and her investment in the story, she’s just so gracious.
“And you just have to be good at your job around her, because she will do such a good job. Like, you're really leveling up with her, because she’s done so well," Angel wrote.
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