Direk Jerry Sineneng attests to Team Jolly’s reel and real-life chemistry

MANILA, Philippines — In charge of the mise-en-scéne of the now-airing “Prinsesa Ng City Jail” is Jerry Lopez Sineneng.

Aside from his previous projects on the big and small screens, the director has also displayed his skills and vision in putting together artistic elements to present a solid narrative via GMA shows such as the local adaptation of the South Korean series, “Start-Up PH,” and the murder mystery drama “Widows’ Web.”

Part of his work is to oversee the performances of established and newbie actors. This time around in “Prinsesa Ng City Jail,” direk Jerry collaborates with Kapuso homegrown talents, Allen Ansay and Sofia Pablo, who are also known as Team Jolly.

“Well, first is the chemistry. Ang lakas talaga ng chemistry nila kahit off-cam (theirs is also strong off-cam),” said the director about the tandem in a recent press conference for the GMA Afternoon Prime series, which airs weekdays at 3:20 p.m. “Tapos yung dedication nilang dalawa (then, their dedication to work).”

Besides Team Jolly’s chemistry, which speaks of the connection and rapport between co-actors, as one may put it, Jerry shared that “match na match yung kanilang talento and then, the support system (their talents actually match and complement, and they have a support system in each other). Mararamdaman mo na (you’ll sense that) if it’s his scene, she’ll give it to him; if it’s her scene, he’ll give it to her. Yung respeto nila sa isa’t-isa, yung supporta nanduon (there’s respect and support to one another).”

Following the director’s train of thought, one could say that the work between him and the lead stars is smooth sailing and easy-breezy, including the kilig (romantic thrilling) and drama scenes.

“Hindi ako nahirapan. Hindi rin ako nahirapan. May mga times na siyempre kinaka-reer namin. Gusto naman nila yun (I didn’t have a hard time. There were times when, of course, we took things very seriously, and they also liked it). Pinagusapan naman namin iyun (we’ve talked about it). Magagaling ang dalawang batang ito (these young stars are really good),” said he.

According to direk Jerry, Allen and Sofia had an intensive workshop that also helped the director and the workshop facilitator in gauging and identifying the strengths of the two. They also utilize them in the two’s screen performances.

Allen and Sofia, on the other hand, are thankful for the insights gained and lessons learned on acting from working with Jerry. The two portray the roles of Xavier, who has family issues to deal with, and Princess, who was raised by her jail guard father, respectively, based on the information from the show’s webpage.

“We’re very thankful to direk kasi talagang pinush po talaga kami ni direk (who did push us to go beyond our comfort zone), lalo na po ako kasi first kong sasabak sa heavy drama (and especially me, who has forayed into heavy drama for the first time),” said Allen, adding that his Xavier character is different from the ones he has done before. “Sobrang ang dami kong natutunan kay direk sa show po na ito, and talagang thankful po ako sa kanya kasi nagawa po namin ng maganda yon (I’ve learned a lot from him through the show and I’m grateful to him that we’ve done it well).”

“Hindi kami sanay na nag-iiyakan ng magka-harapan. Sanay kami na parang very romcom, kilig (we’re not used to doing crying scenes as in right in front of us. We’re used to doing rom-com),” added Sofia of the tandem’s recent project, and again their first heavy drama, which is a stark contrast to the drama-fantasy, romance “Raya Sirena,” the drama-romance “Luv Is: Caught in his Arms,” the sitcom “Open 24/7,” and the horror-romance “Sparkle U: Ghosted.”

“With the help of direk Jerry, talagang nilinaw niya sa amin kung ano yung gusto niyang makita, kung ano yung gusto niyang maramdaman ng audience (with him, he made it clear with us what he wanted to see and what he wanted the audience to feel), kung ano yung dapat naming mailabas (and what we should tell). It’s a very nice project.”

As for what other aspects of the afternoon drama the viewers can look forward to, direk Jerry had this to say: “(It’s) very, very relatable po, hindi lang yung characters nung dalawang bida (not just the characters of Allen and Sofia). Actually, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the creative team buong, buo po kasi yung lahat ng characters dito, lahat po sila (the characters are well-developed, all of them). You will find yourself in one of the characters. Very, very relatable and very now.”

With the director’s thoughts, one could gather that the viewers will get a sneak peek into the lives of persons deprived of liberty and appreciate more the joy of being free through the show.