“All good things must come to an end… I will forever treasure this family, and I will never forget this blessing that God has given me.”
Those were the heartfelt, sincere words from Jillian Ward during the recent press conference for the season finale of her afternoon medical family drama series, “Abot-Kamay Na Pangarap,” which had its premiere two years ago. The young Kapuso actress was referring to the successful run the show has achieved, the generous creatives she has worked with, and the genius doctor Analyn Santos character she has portrayed well.
“Abot-Kamay Na Pangarap” will take a curtain call tomorrow, Oct. 19, at 2:30 p.m.
“At first, when I got a call informing me about the role, I was not that excited yet. I told myself, ‘It’s (about a) young doctor. Sino ang manonood (Who will watch it)?,” recalled she.
But that changed when they started taping, and the character grew on her, if one may put it. And then, realizing the extraordinariness of the role came in.
“Sa mga kasama ko, sila yung nag-u-uplift sa akin (the people I was with were the ones who would uplift me). They would tell me, ‘We believe in you,’ and of course, there was direk LA (Madridejos),” shared she, who had to deal with pressures in playing such a one-of-a-kind role.
It’s understandable if she felt not deserving of it at the start, but with the support system she had from the cast and crew, Jillian finally found a way to be Analyn.
“Dahil sa kanila natutunan kong mas maging compassionate at maging mas passionate pa sa trabaho ko (through them, I learned to be more compassionate and more passionate in my work),” said she. “I would go to work every day feeling excited because I knew I had mga nanay at tatay at mga kapatid (in them). God knows how much I appreciate them and how much I love them. And so thank you so much, many thanks for the support.”
The character Analyn also showed Jillian’s commitment and grit in essaying a role. That’s why director LA had only good things to say about her, such as that she’s a sponge.
Following his line of thought, one could say that he also found her receptive to the ideas of people around her, and he saw her improvement and progress.
“Mas nag-aaral ng kwento, mas nag-aaral nung character… alam na niya yung kwento ng buo at alam na niya yung pinanggalingan (she studied more the story and her character. She knows the story and the context). I’m really excited to see what she will do three years or four years from now in terms of projects… mas mag-shi-shine yan,” said he.
Aside from working with veteran and new stars, Jillian had the chance to collaborate with Korean actor Kim Ji-soo as a child psychiatrist in “Abot-Kamay Na Pangarap.”
“I made it a point that I wanted to make him feel comfortable,” shared she, adding it was her first time to work with a foreigner. “He’s very professional and always on time. So, wala naman pong masyadong difference kasi marunong siyang makisama (there was not much difference between working with Filipino actors and with him because he knew how to get along with everybody).”
Earlier in the media event, Jillian acknowledged the impact of playing Analyn and working on the set of “Abot-Kamay Na Pangarap” on her, such as learning more about the craft from the cast and crew and getting new insights about being a person.
For Jillian, taking on the youngest doctor character was the biggest challenge because, as she put it, “I needed to study medical terms and kailangan tama po yung ginagawa ko sa set (the actions of my character should be appropriate and correct),” said she.
Looking back on working on the show, Jillian couldn’t single out one happiest moment on set because she considered her entire two years on “Abot-Kamay Na Pangarap” as one happiest memory.