Juday & Jolens: Two of a Kind
Jolina Magdangal and Judy Ann Santos. Or Judy Ann Santos and Jolina Magdangal.
Does it matter whose name is billed ahead in GMA/Viva Films’ Ouija, their first full-length starrer together?
“No problem,” says Judy Ann “Juday”
“It’s immaterial,” says Jolina “Jolens” Magdangal, 28.
They agree that what’s important is how they give justice to their roles as half-sisters who are among five girls who dare to summon the spirits of the dead and get what they bargain for. The blurb of the movie, which opens on July 25 around the country, warns: Be careful with the games you play... Or, as they say, watch out for what you wish for or it might come true.
Because the public has been conditioned to a so-called “stiff rivalry” between Juday and Jolens, the two are expected to be at each other’s neck, clawing at each other in their scenes together, with Juday playing a strong-willed and driven criminal lawyer and Jolens as a probinsyana grade-school teacher with an old grudge between them. Jolens’ character Romina blames Juday’s character Aileen for the break-up of her (Romina’s) parents.
So, do Juday and Jolens engage in a hair-pulling spectacle?
No such violence, thank you, not even upstaging or stealing scenes from each other.
Trivia: Their boyfriends, Juday’s Ryan Agoncillo and Jolens’ Bebong Muñoz, appear in cameo roles in Ouija — so “cameo” that, according to Juday and Jolens, “Please don’t blink or you might miss them.”
It’s refreshing, and such a relief, to discover that Juday and Jolens are actually friends, or so they claim, never mind if their fans are locked in a “who’s-better, who’s-more-popular” tug-of-war. Juday and Jolens don’t let themselves be carried away, not even when, once upon a time, Juday’s manager Alfie Lorenzo and Jolens’ dad Jun Magdangal were waging a word war against each other.
Conversations asked Juday and Jolens to answer the same set of questions in separate interviews at the Studio A of GMA 7 before Jolens did a one-on-one with Juday for the station’s early-morning show Unang Hirit.
How similar are you?
Jolens: We are both down-to-earth pero hindi kami amoy-lupa, huh. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! We are both chikadora (talkative). Juday is maasikaso (solicitous). She loves to eat and so do I, although sometimes I deny it.
Juday: We are both family-oriented. We are both in showbiz but we find real friends outside of it. ‘Yung hindi mga plastik na tao.
And how different are you from each other?
Jolens: Juday is a good cook; I’m not. She’s unbeatable! She’s outdoor-sy while I am a homebody.
Juday: Ano nga ba? I guess having guts on being independent. I learned how to stand on my own two feet at an early age. I’m independent not by choice but by chance.
Do you consider yourselves rivals?
Jolens: I guess some people think that Juday and I are rivals because magka-generation kami. But personally, there’s no rivalry between us. We agree on most anything.
Juday: No! Jolens started with Ang TV (The defunct ABS-CBN show for kids. — RFL) while I did by doing straight TV dramas. I never look at her or anybody else as my competition.
What advice, personal or career-wise, do you give each other?
Jolens: We send each other text messages regularly. I always tell her, “Happy tayo ngayon; let’s just enjoy the moment.” We always remind each other not to be carried away by the “rivalry” issue some people are raising between us. We are actually super-close but we don’t announce it to the whole world.
Juday: Give yourself time. Everything will be settled once you have cooled down. Nothing can be settled by hot heads.
If you were in each other’s shoes, what would you change in your lives, if any, and what would you retain?
Jolens: If I were Juday, I wouldn’t change anything in my life. She’s successful in her career, her love life is happy. I couldn’t ask for more. I just don’t know if she wants something more. Instead of saying, “How I wish I had this or that,” what I’d do is thank God for all my blessings. She’s happy and contented in her two worlds — showbiz and her personal life.
Juday: Jolens is already an entrepreneur, so why would she change anything? But there’s something I want to change in my own life. Given a chance, I’d like to go back to school and pursue another career, preferably in the cosmetics business.
Wasn’t there any upstaging or scene-stealing on the set?
Jolens: Ouija is our first full-length movie together. Juday and I were in Gimik The Reunion but we hardly had scenes together. I also appeared as “guest” in Esperanza, Juday’s starrer. Was there any upstaging or scene-stealing? None. When I read the script, I didn’t think that that character is Juday and this character is me. We play half-sisters. Juday is a lawyer and I’m a teacher. All I had in mind was the story and how to do a good movie. I didn’t think of any intriga.
Juday: Upstaging and scene-stealing? Uso pa ba ‘yon?
If you were Juday, would you marry Ryan?
Jolens: I would, definitely! I see them so happy, so bagay, and I think, “Dapat hindi na nila pinatatagal pa!”
Juday: Bebong is a responsible person, marunong at matiyaga sa buhay, so why not? He’s a good lawyer. If he understands the nature of my job, yeah, pakakasalan ko siya!
What qualities do you love most about yourself? And what don’t you like?
Jolens: I love my being extrovert. I’m a homebody but at work, I am outgoing. Being with people energizes me. When I’m alone, I get sentimental, may lungkot factor ako, nagsi-senti-senti, muni-muni. I can be a good listener. If I can touch a person’s life, I’d do it even by just listening. What I don’t like about myself is my being shy sometimes. It’s not obvious, is it? I guess I try to cover up my shyness by being madaldal (talkative). Once there’s dead air, I am overcome by my shyness.
Juday: I love my being transparent. You can easily tell if I like a person or if I don’t. What you see is what you get. What I don’t like about myself is my being gullible...sometimes. The way I trust people easily, people who pretend to be your friend and turn out to be otherwise.
What can you say about each other’s acting?
Jolens: Juday is a natural actress. I admire her ability to cry easily. She’s like a faucet, you know. You press a button and there she goes, crying a river. She’s also good in comedy. Bebong and I saw her in Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo.
Juday: As a comedienne, she has good timing, witty and humorous, quick with the punchlines. She’s also a fine host (of GMA 7’s Unang Hirit).
If you are not what you are today, what would you have been?
Jolens: A businesswoman involved in garments or appliances.
Juday: Maybe an OFW, baby-sitter or care-giver in
What’s your ultimate goal in life?
Jolens: Everybody needs money, all right, and anybody who says he doesn’t is, I think, a hypocrite. My ultimate goal is to be contented and happy.
Juday: It’s not my ultimate goal but I want to study culinary arts abroad maybe for two months. I also want to expand Caravana, my restaurant business. I want to be a chef. I want to be happy; I owe it to myself, after all, I’ve been working for more than half of my life.
How do you measure success, in material terms or what?
Jolens: To me, if you survive the challenges and you make people happy, and you can help other people, that’s success. Marami ka ngang pera hindi ka naman happy, what for?
Juday: If you have inner peace...that even if you are burdened with work, even if you encounter many problems, you can still go home and be comfortable with your family, with yourself. I’m not being humble but up to now, I don’t see myself really successful. Everything that’s happening to me now, everything that I have...they are all blessings. They can be taken away from you anytime, kaya inaalagaan ko baka bawiin sa akin.
How do you see yourself 10 or 20 years from now?
Jolens: Happily married with beautiful children, maybe only two. Bebong wants only two.
Juday: Happily married with two or three children, watching them grow up. I look forward to the day when all I would do is prepare the baon of my kids and assist them in their homework, but still with my own career.
The best thing you can say about each other...
Jolens: She’s a real friend. Anytime you need her, she’s there.
Juday: She’s humble, adorable, fun to be with.
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