Ritz not bothered by portraying mature roles

MANILA, Philippines- At the age of 19, Ritz Azul will be portraying the role of Derek Ramsay’s wife in TV5’s upcoming drama series ‘For Love or Money.’

“Challenging talaga ang role ko and nahirapan talaga,” she admits in an interview on Wednesday night.

“Kasi unang-una may asawa siya, may asawa ang role ko ngayon. May halo pang pera ‘yong story, so nahihirapan talaga akong gawin.”

This is not the first time that Ritz worked both with Derek and Alice Dixson.

She starred with Derek in TV5’s fantaserye ‘Kidlat,’ while she played the role of Alice’s daughter in TV5’s drama series ‘Glamorosa.’

That’s why it was a big adjustment for Ritz to have confrontation scenes with Alice.

“Sobrang naninibago ako!” she said with a laugh.

“May konting intimidate, nai-intimidate ako. Kasi no’ng una nanay-nanayan ko siya, so bait-baitan kami. Tapos ngayon karibal ko naman siya, ang ganda-ganda niya, ang sexy-sexy niya, eh, sino ba naman ako? Parang gano’n pakiramdam ko, mag-aaway pa kami.”

Good thing Alice, together with their director Mac Alejandre, is very supportive of Ritz and guides her along the way.

Early Mature Roles?

Some may think that it was too early for Ritz to play mature roles, like the one she did for ‘Misibis Bay’ and now for ‘For Love or Money.’

Such roles were given to her ever since she posed for the men’s magazine, FHM, November last year.

But for Ritz, this is actually a big opportunity for her.

“Masaya kasi hindi lang sa isang genre na pa-tweetums- tweetums. Tsaka dito napapakita kung hanggang saan ako puwede.

“Masaya ako sa ginagawa sa akin. At saka hindi normal ‘yong gano’n di ba, ‘yong dadalhin ka sa mature. ‘Yon ang gusto ko, hindi ka laging nata-typecast, parang iba-iba rin.”

Though she doesn’t have movies at the moment, Ritz believes that she’s being thoroughly prepared by the network for her debut movie.