BY HONEY ORIO-ESCULLAR
Sunshine Dizon readily addressed questions about her role as a mistress in her newest series, Magkaagaw, which premieres Monday, October 21, on GMA 7’s Afternoon Prime.
The actress plays Laura, a woman who unknowingly becomes a mistress because her husband (played by Alfred Vargas) kept his real identity from her.
It is a role different from her previous characters — mostly a wife betrayed by a philandering husband.
“Bago naman ito. Ako naman yung technically na nang-agaw di ba? Ganun pa rin naman. Ako pa rin yung inaapi pero ibang situation lang,” Sunshine said, adding that dealing with the role should be more about “suspension of disbelief.”
“Kasi in real life, ayoko talaga ng kabit (laughs). Pero hindi naman sinasadya ni Laura na maging kabit.”
Playing ‘the other woman’
Did Sunshine have a hard time portraying a mistress?
She replied, “Hindi naman. To be honest, syempre the situation with Laura is different, so character-wise, you get to sympathize with her na she was just placed in that situation na wala talaga siyang choice.
“Hindi naman niya kasalanan. And there is a factual basis na the story is set in 1990s and at that time wala talagang ways si Laura to check kasi wala pang CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage) and I hope that it’s clear with the audience.
“So knowing that, I get to sympathize with the character and as everybody knows naman I’m always game for out-of-the-box characters. It’s always a challenge for me.”
Different in real life
When asked further if essaying such a character has somehow changed her perspective about mistresses in general, Sunshine replied, without batting an eyelash, “Never.”
Sunshine said that it’s a totally different story when a person knowingly enters into a relationship with someone already committed to marriage.
“In real life, that’s a totally different story. When you know that someone is married with kids bakit mo papasukan yung sitwasyon, di ba? Hindi tama yun. Maling-mali yun.”
“Sabi ko nga trabaho ko to…the same thing when I accepted Ika-6 na Utos. Sabi nila medyo kahawig daw sa storya ng buhay ko. Sabi ko nga, I am an actor and whatever role is given to me, I will gladly accept lalo na kung challenging because it pushes me to do better, you know, to exercise my skills,” she added.
In real life, the actress’ marriage reportedly fell apart due to cheating allegations.
Sunshine said, “So kailangan nating ihiwalay yung personal nating opinyon kapag gumaganap tayo ng mga karakter. Mauunawaan ko kung pareho ng sitwasyon ni Laura na wala kang alam. Maaawa ako sayo.
“Pero kung you did it knowing na meron kang sinisira na pamilya, now that’s a different story. I will never agree with you. Sorry to say that.”
