She Kap-tivates

CEBU, Philippines - Angelika dela Cruz has been acting since 1996, penetrating the industry via her first film “Nights of Sefarina,” then becoming a household name as cast member of the soap opera “Esperanza.”

Like anyone faced with repetitive tasks, the doll-eyed mestiza would be struck with periods of the fire in her belly fizzling out. Angelika said she would know when she was not motivated: she would not feel a tinge of nervousness before the director yells “Action!”

In one of those periods, Angelika said she rekindled her fire for acting by doing theater. Starring in a Maria Clara musical gave her butterflies in the stomach before each stage performance. That familiar feeling of anxiety gave Angelika her mojo back, and she would face the cameras with a renewed vigor and sense of purpose.

Now a 33-year-old mom and barangay captain in Malabon, Angelika has endured in an industry quick to shoo out yesterday’s toast of the town to give way to reality show-reared newbies. Her recipe for longevity? “I guess you just have to get along with the people you work with, and deliver what is expected of you and your character,” the angelic beauty put it simply in an interview with Cebu media during the recent Sinulog weekend. Angelika accompanied young stars Kristoffer Martin and Joyce Ching – her co-stars in the upcoming GMA-7 series “Healing Hearts” – and Regine Velasquez for a mall show at the Ayala Terraces. She plays yet another spiteful woman in the said drama, the one tasked with the requisite scheming to drive the show’s lead sweethearts apart.

It’s this trademark of professionalism that Angelika drills into her younger sister Mika, a former ABS-CBN child star who’s now blooming into a shapely teen actress. That’s not to say she’s putting too much pressure on her sibling, as she also reminds her not to take the showbiz rat race too seriously. “I tell her to take it easy, and not be caught up in the pressure. In my age group, it’s no longer pressure because we consider this more of work. But with the young ones, they have to be competitive. So I remind her to enjoy, because the difficulty comes when she no longer enjoys what she’s doing.”

Among her contemporaries, Angelika said she remains closest to Tanya Garcia and Jolina Magdangal. Recalling her beginnings, she said she really began as a singer,  and was memorably the voice behind the “Sailormoon” theme song.

Asked how she’s maintained her camera-ready looks all these years, Angelika credited her triathlon trainings. And a blissful family life, of course.

Sundays, she said, are reserved for family – which currently consists of her businessman-hubby Orion, five-year-old son Gabriel, and their dog Hitler. (“Because I’m half-Austrian.”) Grinning, she said they’ve been working on baby number two.

Idol ko si Kap

Outside of her home, Angelika puts on another hat as mother to the residents of Barangay Lungos, Malabon. Influenced by her dad who was also barangay captain, and a brother who was a barangay councilor (who passed away after a vehicular accident), she said she prepared for the task by studying and reading up on local governance. She also has tutorials with a lawyer, whom she constantly calls upon when there are issues beyond her understanding.

“In showbiz, they put on makeup on you, you read your lines, then you act them out. You can do another take if you make a mistake. In politics, there’s no take two,” shared the actress on which was the more complicated beast.

While a good number of people remain leery of showbiz folk dipping into politics, Angelika said she lets her work speak for itself. Being a celebrity is both boon and bane, she explained: “Someone complained about me in the Tulfo brother’s TV show. Because I’m an actress, it’s easier for people to find fault. But the advantage is, being a familiar face makes it easier to ask for assistance such as during medical and relief missions.”

Of what she considers her biggest achievement so far as a public servant, Angelika shared: “I’ve had four water towers built in schools, so that during emergencies, during floods and typhoons most especially, these will serve as evacuation centers,” she said.

Is Mika likewise being groomed to take her place as barangay captain when the time comes? “For now, she’s good at singing, dancing and acting, and she has school. As long as she finishes school first, she can be whatever she wants to be.”