‘The Master Cutter’ star Max Collins balances heavy drama with viral dance reels
MANILA, Philippines — Max Collins has found a way to balance the emotional weight of playing Audrey Regalia in the GMA-Netflix series “The Master Cutter.”
She dances it off.
On screen, the Kapuso star portrays a mother confronting painful family betrayals and dealing with the years taken from her and her child. Off screen, she has been drawing attention for dance reels that show a much lighter and more playful side of the actress.
This also helps Max leave emotions behind once the cameras stop grinding.
“Over the years, it’s been easier to shake it off. You know, mag-cut, cut, wala na, let it go, don’t sit in your feelings,” she said in an exclusive interview with The STAR.
“I just play happy music and then I’m back to normal na.”
Audrey’s story, however, is particularly personal for Max as a mother herself in real life.
The series initially introduced her character as Elaine, the girlfriend whose mysterious disappearance continued to haunt lead character Anthony “Atoy” Padua, played by Dingdong Dantes.
It was later revealed that Elaine was actually Audrey, the estranged daughter of a feared syndicate boss. She had fled her family’s violent world, assumed another identity and tried to build a peaceful life as a preschool teacher on an island.
Her return to the Regalias led to the discovery that her family had hidden from her the truth that she had a child.
Meanwhile, Atoy learned that Ibyang, played by Sienna Stevens, the young girl he had rescued and protected, was his biological daughter and that Elaine was alive as Audrey.
Now, Audrey must deal with the consequences of the years and the relationship that were taken from them.
According to Max, imagining her own son Skye being separated from her was enough to make the portrayal personal.
“Easier to portray, but very personal. I had to be very vulnerable and when you’re a mom and you just think of your kid, nakakaiyak na, like naiiyak ka na,” Max said.
“Nawawala yung anak ko. Nasaan na yung anak ko? Ah, baka pinatay yung anak ko. Feeling all of those feelings and thoughts is very draining.
“Because once you’re a mom, your child is your life, di ba?” she said.
Playing Audrey also made her appreciate her own relationship with her son more.
“That constant yearning for that love and looking for that love made me appreciate being a mother more,” Max said.
“Kasi parang, wow, kung ano yung hinahanap ni Audrey, meron na ako, ‘di ba?”
Her character may have wealth and a powerful surname, but Max observed that none of it could make her happy while an essential part of her life had been kept from her.
“What is real love, what is true love and that is the love of a mother for a child. So it made me savor the moments more with my own son,” she said.
Being a parent also saw Max reflecting on the theme of forgiveness running through Audrey’s story arc.
Her character must face betrayals committed by the same family she still loves. She continues to process the years she lost with her child while deciding whether the people responsible deserve a place in her life.
Max stressed that forgiveness becomes more complicated when the hurt comes from family.
“Mas masakit yung betrayal kapag family. Mas matagal yung healing process,” she said.
“Lagi mong babalikan ’yun, eh, pero hindi ’yan ma-erase sa utak mo. It becomes a trigger.”
Having seen family pain affect people close to her, Max believes this aspect of Audrey’s story resonates because it is a struggle many people understand.
“I realized that it’s universal. We all understand what that feels like and dun sila nakaka-relate kay Audrey,” she said.
While the love connecting relatives can make the hurt harder to release, Max believes that same love can create the desire to forgive.
“Kahit masama or kahit masama yung ginawa sa’yo, kailangan mo pa ring patawarin kasi mahal mo yung taong ’yun kasi pamilya mo sila.”
Max also related to Audrey through her experience as a separated mother in a co-parenting arrangement.
“Bago kami nakarating dun sa co-parenting na ’yun, syempre may pinagdaanan kami and that was very hard during that time,” she said.
“I understand what it’s like to go through hardship for your child. I understand what it’s like to love someone and, you know, not love the circumstances.”
Max said both she and Audrey have had to confront painful situations and choose to heal.
“And she just has to look for the best in people and forgive and forget and heal. So it’s like a constant healing for Audrey,” she said.
“And I understand that because since I’m a little older now, like I’ve had to heal myself so many times and that’s how I relate to Audrey’s character.”
For Max, forgiveness does not always mean reconciling or getting back with a person.
“You learn to forgive just to help yourself heal and move on. It’s not really to make amends with that person. Hindi naman, eh. It’s more of para lang makapag-move on ka and you don’t have to keep thinking about it all the time.
“So that’s what I’ve learned from Audrey’s forgiveness.”
Away from all the heavy drama, Max has been expressing her refreshingly fun and funny side through social media.
Earlier, her promotional reels for “The Master Cutter,” apart from the dancing clips featuring co-stars and other personalities, have gone viral.
Max credited videographer Joshua Salva for helping her plan, shoot and edit the reels.
“To be fair, magaling si Joshua Salva kasi he’s my videographer. Siya naman. But we’ll talk about it muna what shots to take, gano’n, but then siya naman yung nag-e-edit and shooting everything pero ang galing talaga ng creativity niya, so we’re lucky to have him as well,” she said.
As for the dance videos that have trended online, Max is the first to laugh at herself.
“Gosh, ’cause I’m so bad at it, pero OK lang, di ba?” she quipped.
“I think I give people hope, (especially) yung mga hindi nakakasayaw.”
(Viewers can watch “The Master Cutter” on Netflix, GMA Prime from Mondays to Fridays at 8 p.m. and via Kapuso Stream and GMA Play. Global Pinoys can also watch the program via GMA Pinoy TV.)
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