What a Fanny experience! - FUNFARE by Ricardo F. Lo

Curtain-raisers:

• Could it be true that an actress who married into a wealthy family has started taking to the bottle? No, she hasn’t turned alcoholic, not yet anyway. Could it be her way of breaking the boredom of a leisurely life as a virtual princess? Living easy has its disadvantages, see?

• No, Rustom Padilla isn’t taking any legal action against estranged wife Carmina Villarroel even if it’s true that Carmina is giving birth to twins in January, 2001, in the States, with Zoren Legaspi as suspected father. Rustom is even wishing Carmina "good luck!"

• No, it’s not true that Gina Alajar and Michael de Mesa, along with their sons, have finally migrated to the US (although they can do so anytime, having been granted – Gina, that is, and in effect members of her family – a visa for persons "with extraordinary ability," the same type given to the likes of Sean Connery). Gina, Michael and their sons went to the US last month only to spend a vacation with Gina’s brother. They’re all back.

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In all certainty, Fanny Serrano’s character Marlo in the top-rating ABS-CBN soap Saan Ka Man Naroroon will reach icon status in the same manner that Princess Punzalan’s Selina character in Mula sa Puso gained popular cult following.

In the three months of portraying his character, Fanny is already receiving messages of hatred from the supporters of Daniel (played by Rico Yan) who is always at the receiving end of his seemingly endless bickerings and back stabbings. As the only brother of Margarita (Janice de Belen), Fanny is overprotective of her more so when he learned that Daniel was fooling around and continues to love Rosario (Claudine Barretto).

A recent encounter with a Daniel supporter happened when he came from a week’s shooting of his newest Head & Shoulders commercial in Thailand. An airport official approached him and scolded him for issuing a check which bounced. When Fanny confronted the guy, he was told he was referring to the check he issued to Daniel which almost made Fanny faint.

"I was surprised by that encounter. Hindi ko talaga malilimutan iyong nangyari sa airport. Kung may sakit pa ako sa puso, baka inatake na ako," he relates.

With this incident and with the hate calls he receives at his Greenhills salon and beauty parlor, Fanny is prepared for some more confrontations from avid followers of the soap. He never felt frustrated, though, that complete strangers would approach and castigate him.

"Siguro na-carried away lang sila sa mga eksena namin ni Rico. Ganoon naman palagi yon, eh. Wala akong magagawa doon. Natutuwa pa nga ako kasi that means they are watching the show," he adds.

For his role, Fanny opted to make a slight but important difference in playing mean. He is glad he is given the option to approach his character his own way. Far from the loud-mouthed, witch-looking villains we have around, Fanny’s characterization is a notch higher because he gives it an elegant look. His pagtataray to Daniel borders only in sharply-bladed words, acerbic one-liners and mean facial expression. The magic lies there because it effectively conveys his messages of opposition to Daniel.

Fanny, however, thinks that his character Marlo only behaves the way he should in the soap. "Look, he knows that his sister is madly in love with Daniel and being so she has turned a blind eye to everything he does. As a brother, I have this responsibility to protect her from Daniel’s shenanigans kasi nga she cannot feel it all because she is very much in love with him. In so doing, nagiging kontrabida ang dating ko," he reasons out.

The feedback has been favorable to Fanny who sees it as a more inspiring message to continue doing his best. Actually, with his hectic schedule at his shop alone, he cannot accommodate one taping day but he is glad he did with Saan Ka Man Naroroon which gave him the opportunity to breathe life to an upbeat character in a different angle. His characterization of his role is genuinely his as he was given a freehand in attacking his character.

But far from having a strained relationship with Daniel backstage, Fanny says he has developed a bonding not only with Rico Yan but also with the rest of the cast which include Claudine Barretto, Diether Ocampo, Janice de Belen, Candy Pangilinan and Debraliz.

"We are like one big barkada on the set. We share secrets, ideas and even our own recipes," he reports.

That Fanny has become a pioneering actor in gay roles is a given. His role of a villain is another feather on his already feather-filled cap.