Working with Regine in Totoy Bato

Friends — especially those very close to me — know only too well whenever I’m in dire financial straits: They see me more often on TV.

During the last quarter of 2006, my house was one of the worst hit by super typhoon Milenyo and I needed funds for repair. Planning the renovation, I remember telling contractor Francisco Bernabe and now one of my favorite people, interior designer Tats Manahan: “I don’t have the money yet BUT I will get it.” They must have alerted all the banks for a possible robbery.

For months, I shuttled from game to talk to variety shows. Tuesdays I devoted to the Cinema Evaluation Board, which had screenings in Makati that ended at way past 3 p.m. and to the game show Now Na, the taping of which (held in the GMA 7 Broadway studios) began at 4 p.m. How I managed to zoom past rush hour traffic in 20 to 25 minutes I still can’t believe to this day. When you’re in desperate need of money, nothing is impossible.

When the income from those extra jobs didn’t suffice, I began to say yes to soaps and I did Bakekang for a while. This went on for a while until I landed at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center due to extreme fatigue. Mercifully, I was about ready to wrap up house repairs that time and was at a point where I could already afford to take it easy. The next time Bakekang called, I politely declined.

But just last week, I taped one short segment for Totoy Bato and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Call time was originally at 7 p.m., but was moved to 10 later that evening and around that time was again advised to wait for further notice. Since I was all ready to go anyway, I went to the location — at Music Museum — and decided to just wait there.

No, I didn’t ask them to send me the script anymore because by experience I know too well that these things change at the last minute. Sometimes, after you’ve memorized pages and pages of the lines you are supposed to deliver, these are revised once you get to the set.

But I did ask for the script immediately when I got to the shoot. Before I could sit down and begin memorizing, however, I had to say hello to the regular cast members who were there: Caridad Sanchez, Ian Veneracion, Tuesday Vargas, Deborah Sun and LJ Reyes. I couldn’t say hi to Regine Velasquez because she was always doing a take, but managed to wave at her during a short break.

Actually it was a thrill to see Caridad Sanchez because it had been months since we talked last. But she had so much work to do that night and tempers were already soaring that time and crewmembers were screaming their heads off (that’s TV work for you). The only people who remained calm and cool were the cast members and the director, Don Michael Perez. But for all the shouting and frayed nerves around, everything was under control and the head of production, Joseph Bongcalan, had every detail organized. 

At close to 2 a.m., I was told to go on standby. By this time, I had memorized my dialogues like a prayer and could recite it backward. My scene was going to be with Regine and I also studied her lines so I would know where to pick up if she decided to re-word her dialogue along the way.

Yes, I was ready to go, but could I have a little snack first? That is one problem with me and the Startalk people are aware of this: I can never work on an empty stomach. Soon, they began passing around styrofoam boxes with rice and mechado.

I thought that Regine, being the other star of the show, would be served special food. No, she wasn’t and didn’t seem inclined to ask for special treatment. No diva airs at all. In one table, she stabbed at her mechado with a plastic fork like the rest of us did.

Then we were called for our take. It was my first time to work with Regine and it felt so light doing a scene with her. We swapped jokes during the single run-through and in between takes. We were actually determined to do the whole thing Take One, but in the middle of the scene, some kibitzers made noise and we had to cut. While another actress would have walked out cursing Regine was cool about it. We just picked up from where we were interrupted and it flowed smoothly till the end. 

While it was pack-up for me that day (it was early morning), Regine and the rest had to stay to do more scenes. Driving away from the location, I relished the entire experience of working with Regine and the others involved in Totoy Bato. Very pleasant. It didn’t feel like work and for me it was the best extra job I could find, especially now that I am again in deep financial need. I hope they keep coming.