Bittersweet goodbye for Widows’ War cast JANUAR JUNIOR AGUJA

CEBU, Philippines — Playing the titular widow of Sam Castillo-Palacios in the GMA mystery drama “Widows’ War” was a much-needed distraction for Bea Alonzo after she made headlines following her highly publicized breakup with ex-fiancé Dominic Roque.

“Surprisingly, doing this teleserye became my escape,” the actress said at a press conference when the cast visited Cebu during the Sinulog weekend to promote the show’s finale, which aired on the same day.

“It’s like a temporary relief. When I do a big scene, it’s like a huge release of emotions. Although I wouldn’t say I actually have those dark emotions like that in real life, it was a much-needed escapism.”

The show, which aired for seven months starting July 2024, was taped for nearly a year.

“It was really draining because we had to shoot at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bataan for eight months. It’s five hours away from Manila, and we would go there four times per week,” Alonzo shared before clarifying, “But I am not complaining. I really enjoyed the whole process.”

Jean Garcia, who portrayed her mother-in-law Aurora Palacios and had a fraught relationship with Sam due to the death of Paco (Rafael Rosel), shared how the long production fostered camaraderie among the cast.

“After we shoot a big scene where it’s full of emotions and breakdowns, as soon as we hear ‘cut’ from Direk, we would give each other a hug,” Garcia said.

A fan of murder mysteries herself, Alonzo saw Widows’ War as a welcome departure from her usual projects involving romantic storylines.

“It was a conscious decision [to be in Widows’ War] because I wanted to stay away from love stories for a while since those projects took up 90 percent of my career,” she said. “I want to do other projects that don’t include love interests, and instead play complex characters.”

“It’s my way of wanting to test my range as an actress. It’s about time for me to explore darker roles or different genres,” she added.

When asked by The FREEMAN if she would take on challenging roles similar to this year’s Oscar Best Actress nominees, such as Demi Moore who wore body prosthetics in the body horror film “The Substance” or Mikey Madison, who played a stripper in the comedy-drama “Anora”, Alonzo won’t hesitate.

“100 percent, yeah. I’d love to do something like that if that’s offered to me. I am all for it,” she said.

 Takeaways

It’s been nearly two weeks since viewers were shocked by the finale: Sam met her end when Rebecca Palacios, played by Rita Daniela, pushes her to her death, mirroring the fate of her late husband.

Rebecca’s motive stemmed from the chaos Sam caused while uncovering the truth behind the deaths of her father Orly and brother Francis, played by Jong Cuenco and Jeric Gonzales, respectively.

“My takeaway from playing Sam is that sometimes being a good person is better than being right. Sam always tries to find the truth about who killed her dad and brother at the expense of everyone around her. There’s nothing wrong with seeking the truth, but sometimes, it’s better to trust the universe — or God — to unravel the truth for you eventually,” Alonzo said.

While Alonzo was protective of her character, she admitted she didn’t always agree with Sam’s decisions.

“But as actors, we have to justify their thought process so the audience will believe it,” she added.

Garcia, mindful of avoiding caricatures, highlights Aurora’s deep love for her family as what sets her apart from other kontrabidas she has played.

“What’s great about Aurora is that she is very strong and empowered when it comes to her family. Even with the misunderstandings, she really fights for them. You cannot say a negative thing about her when family is in the conversation,” Garcia said.

Royce Cabrera briefly stole the spotlight during the show’s final week when it was revealed that his character, Jericho, was the mastermind behind most of the crimes committed in an attempt to take down the Palacios.

“We received scripts weekly, so the cast, including myself, would often speculate about who the mastermind was,” shared Cabrera, adding that he discovered the twist at the same time as his castmates.

“I’m happy to be the mastermind. It’s a huge deal, and while I feel a bit pressured, I’m also very grateful. I just hope I did justice to the character,” he said.

He shared how much he cherished working with the show’s all-star cast, saying, “We would always be in the standby area having joyful conversations, and it makes me a bit emotional because we have such a connection. I really appreciate working with them — they gave me so much love.”

During the press conference, the cast fondly teased Cabrera about how he would frequently eat tapsilog during breaks, with Timmy Cruz jokingly calling it “Roycesilog.”

Alonzo added, “Since he is the youngest, it’s fun to joke around. But he is always great to hang out with. He always shows up when you invite him, and he takes his job as an actor seriously.”

Cruz, who returned to acting after an eight-year hiatus, shared how she eased back into the acting groove.

“My manager told me that I needed to go through workshops, so I did that. My acting coach from that workshop told me I still have it,” she said. “But when I first came to set, I was nervous because this was my first time working with Bea and my third time working with Jean. Once I got to know them personally, everything was good.”

Cruz plans to release new music this year and hopes to play a kontrabida in a future project.

She also shared a thoughtful farewell gesture: a picture book for the cast and crew to sign during the finale’s shoot. “I want to make this a habit when I work on a project because this only happens once in a lifetime,” she said.

For Garcia, it didn’t take long for her to return to primetime as she reprised her role as Donatella in the second season of “Lolong” starring Ruru Madrid, which aired the week following the Widows’ War finale.

Garcia will likewise be reuniting with her former “The Half Sisters” castmate Barbie Forteza in an upcoming movie.

As for Alonzo, she plans to take a short vacation before diving into new projects. “so I can shake off my character before doing another one.”

She said she will soon star in another GMA series set to shoot later this year, as well as a streaming series helmed by Erik Matti.

The cast expressed their enthusiasm about the possibility of working again with one of the show’s directors, Zig Dulay, whose Metro Manila Film Festival entries, “Firefly” and “Green Bones,” earned back-to-back acclaim. Cabrera, notably, is part of the supporting cast in the latter film.

“I want to work with Zig in a movie, which is on my bucket list. It’s a different kind of fulfillment when you do TV versus a movie,” Garcia shared. “He is such a good person, very calm and well-spoken. The whole production respects him as director.”

Highlighting Dulay’s collaborative approach, Alonzo added, “Zig knows how to make you push aside your ego when you are trying to create something beautiful. It’s for the best interest of the show that you lower your ego, and that’s what I liked working with him because he is purposeful in what he does.”

She also commended Dulay’s commitment to nurturing young talents. “Even with his busy schedule, he makes time to mentor aspiring filmmakers in the province, which was the case while we shot Widows’ War. He knows his purpose and gives justice to the projects he makes, pouring his all into them.”

All episodes of “Widows’ War” are available to stream on GMA Network’s YouTube channel.