An ensemble performance in erotic thriller ‘The Housemaid’

CEBU, Philippines —  If the 1960 film originally entitled “Hanyo” (named as one of Korea’s greatest films of all time) focused on the strongman, and its Cannes-winning 2010 remake “The Housemaid” shifted gears to make the female the focal point, Viva Film’s 2021 adaptation gave theirs a Pinoy tone by putting the pivotal characters on equal footing – one that mirrored a Filipino household that typically embraces the help as family whether that turned out for the good or not.

“We made it an ensemble. Ginawa naming pantay-pantay sila sa buong bahay. Even the mayordoma plays a vital role, the wife, William, and the housemaid. Even the little girl. We made it in the Philippine context na pamilya, hindi isang tao lang,” explained director Roman Perez during a virtual conference of their version of “The Housemaid,” currently streaming on Vivamax, KTX, iWant TFC, and TFC IPTV.

The 2010 version collected awards in international film festivals, including Fantasporto in Portugal, Oslo Film from the South Festival, and even the Philippines’ Cinemanila International Festival. It also received a nomination for the Palme d’Or, the highest prize awarded at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

In this erotic thriller that was among the first productions to brave filming immediately after lockdowns were first eased in 2020, Kylie Verzosa plays Daisy, a 20-something who is offered a huge salary mainly to take care of Nami (Elia Ilano), daughter of billionaire William (Albert Martinez), and Roxanne (Louise Delos Reyes), who is pregnant with twins.

Daisy succeeds in building rapport with the child, but that’s not all. She catches the eye of the man of the house. William begins to secretly flirt with Daisy, enticing her with glasses of wine and his piano-playing, and they soon begin an affair.

Since Daisy has become somewhat chummy with Roxanne, the latter finds nothing suspicious about her. But there is someone in the mansion that Daisy cannot fool. Ms. Martha (Jaclyn Jose) is the mayordoma who knows everything that goes on inside the house. Nothing escapes her keen eyes. Though she resents her employers, she continues to do her job well as she’s been with Roxanne since she was a child.

Daisy also has to be mindful of the presence of Roxanne’s mother, Madam Ester (Alma Moreno).  Although Ester has no power over her domineering son-in-law, she is still a mother who must protect her daughter. What is the price to pay for sleeping with this powerful married man?

Kylie, in her first as the lead, spent up to a year preparing for what she describes was such a heavy character that she needed to unload right after filming wrapped.

“The circumstances we were shooting in was the peak of Covid. So we were very careful on set,” said the Miss International winner. “I think it helped that we had separate tents so we didn’t have much interaction. When we arrived on set, each one of us was prepared.”

Not that winging it was ever an option, if for the calibre of the stars she was surrounded with.

“There were times I doubted myself because I’m a newbie compared to my co-stars. But they would always encourage me that I can do it. I can’t even begin to explain how grateful I am to have a very supportive cast. Nakakataba ng puso and the more that I wanted to prepare myself for a movie like this,” said Kylie.

“With Kuya Albert…secretly, I would be thinking, ‘This is a big scene, you need to do well.’ When he sees na nabitawan ko na, he would tell me ‘Good job, good job.’ And I really appreciated that.”

As a beauty queen, Kylie said she was trained to show the best version of herself. As her character Daisy, she had to do the 180. “You have to remove all that and be your barest and most naked, raw, unfiltered, natural version of yourself,” she said.

“The Housemaid” was Albert’s first project during the pandemic and while the protocols were challenging territory for the veteran actor, it was one role he didQn’t have the mind to pass up on. Unlike days of old, rehearsals were done individually and there was no chance to test lines face to face. Still, he marvelled how each actor managed to arrive on set with their characters fleshed out, and even more, at how their director was prepared detail per minute detail.

“Walang itatapon, lahat prepared,” he said. “We had a very good director who has an eye for the proper emotions so if he sees you do a nuance that he believes might work, he will give you a solo just for that. I appreciated that a lot, because my character rarely spoke. More on eye movements, body language…and he caught all of that.”

“Direk Roman has a certain style. He really researched and prepared for this. Wala kaming suntok sa buwan-type of sequences. Each one was precise.”

Louise delos Reyes agreed, saying the film would not have worked had their captain been ill-equipped. “Si Direk Roman, alam na niya lahat: ilaw, yung tama ng usok, yung entrada ng camera. Lahat plantsado. So as an actor, even before the director yells ‘Action’ you can already feel your character coming to life.”

“Papasok ka lang sa set, you just feel the lights and the camera, the ambiance, magagawa mo na yung trabaho mo ng tama,” chimed in Jaclyn Jose, who purposefully didn’t watch the Korean versions for fear that she’d just parrot their performances.

Because group rehearsals weren’t possible, Direk Roman made up for it with lengthy preparations. He recounts robust discussions with his cast even late into the night, and as Kylie would share, made himself available 24/7 if his actors had questions with their scenes.

The pandemic necessitated that they be precise: there was no room for mistakes, second takes were no longer luxuries they could take.

More so for the steamy scenes.

“Those need to be discussed beforehand, so matagal na usapan yan,” shares Kylie, who is a fan of psychological thrillers, making this a dream project for her. “I was just so grateful that we were briefed and directed well, and that si Kuya Albert ang kasama ko. I felt safe, which is all I ask from a scene partner and a director.”

For the more experienced Albert, he likened the sensitive scenes with a newbie actress as a well-choreographed dance, where each movement was planned, yet at the same time conveying a sincerity in their actions.

Calling their work an ensemble performance, Albert said each one’s cooperation made it easier for him to tackle a role he was not used to.

“Most of the characters I’ve done medyo maingay, magulong style. It’s my first time to do a character that’s more of the body language, eye movements, very minimal lines, pero mararamdaman mo dapat what he’s thinking and saying.”

He also pointed out the downside of doing an adaptation – comparisons to the original are all but inevitable. So as much as possible, “we wanted to surpass that, at the same time, yung hindi kami masabihan na pangit yung amin. It was a tall order. We would hold a lot of conferences for the scenes. We would come up with the perfect choreography to make it enticing, sexy, and yet, hindi bastos,” shared Albert.

As for Louise, being in “The Housemaid” was her front row seat to some of the industry’s greats, and she was definitely taking notes.

“I learned from them that you really need to prepare for your character, for each scene. Especially with Tita Jane [Jaclyn], you will only see her let go of her character if she’s no longer on camera. You will see on the background her small nuances, she’s still reacting. Just because it’s not your line, it doesn’t mean you should still NOT give your all.”