Kylie said she does not share any similarity with the character.
KYLIE Versoza won the Miss International crown in Japan in 2016. She’s from Baguio and finished high school at St. Louis University and got a degree in business from the Ateneo. Her advocacy is mental health and she has a support group online that gives assistance to people undergoing depression and anxiety.
She joined showbiz in 2017 as a fairy in Coco Martin’s “Ang Panday.” It was a non-acting role but in her second screen outing, “Kasal,” she showed she has so much fire and intensity as Paulo Avelino’s villainous ex-girlfriend who outed that he is gay.
We were so impressed. And she shone once again in the series “Los Bastardos” where she got carried away and spat on another beauty queen turned actress, Maxine Medina, in their confrontation scene even if it’s not indicated on the script.
She then moved to Viva and played support several films. Now, Viva launches her to full stardom in “The Housemaid,” adapted from an acclaimed 2010 Korean film, “The Handmaiden.”
An erotic thriller, Kylie is Daisy, the maid in the household of Albert Martinez as William, a billionaire. Her primary duty is to take care of Nami, daughter of William and Roxanne, played by Louise de los Reyes. The seductive Daisy eventually has an affair with William, with Roxanne not at all suspecting that her husband and their nanny have an illicit relationship. How is it playing Daisy?
“It’s hard as Daisy is far from me in real life,” she said. “Hindi siya matalino, not educated, she just follows her heart. Yaya lang talaga siya, a wallflower na walang confidence, at ‘yun ang challenge, ‘yung magmukha talaga akong yaya.”
How did she handle the love scenes with Albert and how did her boyfriend Jake Cuenca react to it?
“Sa love scene, matagal na usapan ‘yan with Kuya Albert and Direk Roman. We made the scene very true to the adaptation kasi kailangan talaga ‘yung scene sa movie. As for Jake, I consider him my mentor, my acting coach. He was the one who convinced me na gawin mo ‘yan, magandang project ‘yan. Very supportive siya sa career ko.”
She’s so thankful Viva gave her a great supporting cast.
“Thank you talaga to my co-stars as very supportive sila like Kuya Albert and Miss Jaclyn. I really have to prepare myself kasi alam ko it’s an honor to be acting alongside with them, specially Miss Jaclyn. Si Kuya Albert naman, very supportive, lalo na kapag after doing big scenes, he tells me, good job, and I really appreciate that. It’s really a different experience doing this movie kasi we were shooting this sa lock in set, so very careful kami. Sobrang kakaiba ang experience but I enjoyed it.”
She also wants to thank their director, Roman Perez Jr. “It really helped that Direk Roman is very hands on sa actors niya and I really appreciate that. He’s really an actors’ director.
Available siya 24/7 for my questions. Kung minsan 1 a.m. na, kinakausap ko pa siya kasi there are times when I doubt myself and he’s there to assure me.”
“The Housemaid” will start streaming on Vivamax, iWant, KTX and TFC starting September 10.
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Maureen Wroblewitz was the big winner in the modeling competition, Asia’s Next Top Model Season 5, becoming the first Pinay to win. She then went into TV hosting in “Eat Bulaga.”
She is currently a candidate in the Miss Philippines Universe pageant which has been stalled by the ECQ.
So before she competes in it, watch first the very first movie she did, “Runaway,” which was filmed entirely on location in beautiful New Zealand, with full cooperation of that country’s tourism board. How did she prepare for her acting debut?
“First, I took lessons on how to speak Tagalog fluently as many of my lines are in Tagalog,” she said. “I didn’t get to take any acting workshop, but our director, Katski Flores, who also wrote the script, taught me everything I need to know on how to interpret well my character, Hannah, a girl who is running away from her dad and her sheltered life in Manila.”
Maureen is the third of four daughters of a Pinay mom and a German dad who met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She was born there and when she was 12, her mom died and her dad moved her and her sisters to Germany. At 15, a talent manager encouraged her to go to Manila to pursue a modeling career and that’s how she got to compete in “Asia’s Next Top Model.” And now, she is trying the movies and acting.
She is paired with Kit Thompson as her leading man, Ben, a Pinoy expatriate in New Zealand who, unlike her, is dying to go back home to the Philippines.
“I really want to thank him for annoying me most of the time, joke! But really, it’s great to have him as my first screen partner as he’s the more experienced actor between the two of us and he’s very supportive. Actually, I want to thank our whole team in New Zealand and everyone involved in the shoot. I feel so blessed to have worked with such incredible and talented people. Shooting a movie in a foreign land can get to be very exhausting, but I’m happy we were still able to have lots of fun!”
Supporting Maureen and Kit in the movie are former MJ Lastimosa, Kiwi actress Lana Garland and Audie Gemora as Maureen’s dad who follows her in New Zealand.
The movie will premiere worldwide on Upstream.ph on September 3.
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Sam Concepcion and Darryl Ong get to perform on the same stage for the first time with Kat Velarde and Janine Tenoso in Viva Live’s digital concert, “Four Hearts,” an inspiring celebration of love and life in this season of the pandemic.
“I’m very excited with this project especially at this time when we don’t have avenues where we singers can perform,” said Sam. “Na-miss ko na ring kumanta and this is the first time we four different artists under the Viva umbrella are performing in a show.”
“Four Hearts” will pep up its audience with songs that lift the spirits.
“The only thing you can do now is just stay at home. People from all walks of life are affected as we still don’t know how long this pandemic would last. With ‘Four Hearts,’ we hope we can make people feel that we can still look forward to a silver lining,” added Sam.
Darryl says his songs will reflect what’s happening in his own personal life. “Lahat ng personal na nangyari sa buhay ko will be reflected sa songs ko,” he said. “During this pandemic, I got engaged noong July 3, then my mom got sick, naospital, naoperahan so I will sing inspirational songs for her.”
His fiancee is named Dea Formilleza. She is from Davao but has appeared doing supporting roles in GMA soaps.
“Five years na kaming on and we’ve scheduled our wedding in March of 2022, hoping the pandemic is over by then. I will sing an original song na swak sa nangyayari sa buhay namin, ‘Lagda’ written by Mike Shapiro, husband ni Kat Velarde. It’s perfect for weddings so malo-launch ‘yun dito sa concert namin.”
“Four Hearts” is on August 28, 8 p.m. on KTX for Philippine audiences and on the IWANTFC and TFC IPTV platforms for audiences on other territories. For inquiries, call Viva Live at (+632) 8687-7236 or (+63908) 814-4601.
