Priscilla: No awkwardness working with Janice

For the longest time, Priscilla Meirelles had been in show business but also out of it by never really saying “yes” to any serious acting offers. It was thought that maybe the language barrier was one of the reasons.

Well, that has officially ended with the former Miss Earth saying yes to a role in Be My Lady, her very first soap with ABS-CBN. In the show — which stars real-life sweethearts Daniel Matsunaga and Erich Gonzales — Priscilla plays an important role as Daniel’s mom (a good choice, since they’re both Brazilian in real life, although Daniel is also half-Japanese on his father’s side). Priscilla, on the other hand, is full Brazilian; her real name is actually Priscilla de Almeida. But when she first arrived in the country and started taking on modeling jobs and doing TV guestings, someone suggested that it might be easier to land jobs and make her way around the industry if she used a different name.

“My parents were divorced. Meirelles is my mom’s surname, and she was a single parent. My real last name is de Almeida. But here in the Philippines, they told me there is another actress (named) Priscilla Almeda, so I changed it,” explains Priscilla.

Of course, that’s no longer a concern since she’s now married to John Estrada and has a daughter, Anechka, by him — and the funny thing is, John’s ex, Janice de Belen, is her co-star in Be My Lady. They have a number of scenes together, and Priscilla sounds both amused and respectful as she relates the working relationship she and Janice had on the set, especially during the early weeks of taping.

“Sobra akong na-bless to be able to work with an actress of that kind of caliber in my very first soap opera,” says Priscilla. “I’m so grateful to ABS-CBN that they trust me this kind of job, at ang tapang nila to pair me with Miss Janice. I don’t think I could be happier, because Janice is very professional, she is Janice de Belen, so while we were doing the scenes, I was observing her because it was like an on-the-spot workshop. I was very happy, I was very amazed with the way she (Janice) acts and the way she delivers her job and her lines. The very first time we met on the set, she was very courteous and she was just a bliss to watch because she’s really good.”

Be My Lady business unit head Ruel Bayani says that when they cast Priscilla in the role, they weren’t even thinking of the connection between her and Janice. “Nauna i-pitch ang concept, hindi pa si Erich and Daniel. It was a concept of (an interracial romance) between a Pinay and a foreigner, na originally American. We were supposed to look for a foreigner. Then we started looking for the rest of the cast. May career woman mother na Brazilian dapat (this is the role that eventually went to Priscilla). Saka lang namin na-realize, at tinanong namin kung OK sila (ni Janice). Di namin naisip ‘yung connection.”

But all’s well that ends well. The two got along, and there was no awkwardness at all. Janice says that during their first day on the set, people were watching them closely to see if any sparks would fly. But as far as she was concerned, says Janice, it wasn’t a big deal. “Di kami magkaaway, kaya di ko maintindihan kung bakit ganoon ka-big deal. (We’re not enemies so I don’t understand why it’s such a big deal.) Sabi ko, wala naman problema (There’s no problem). So on our first day, lahat ng tao nakikiramdam kung magkakagulo. I just did my best to make her (Priscilla) feel at home, not for anything, but because it’s her first time.”

Although it’s her first, Priscilla is very proud of the show. “This soap is about family, about love and it helps that I did experience the interrelation of marriage,” she says of the fact that she and John are from different cultures. Just the same, says Priscilla, she’s proud to call this country home. “I’m proud to be married to a Pinoy. This country embraced me, and loved me, and I’m proud of it.”