Article posted June 11, 2008
Rating:
When the mother-daughter tandem of Annabelle Rama and Ruffa Gutierrez entered the Imperial Suites’ dining hall last June 10 for their movie’s press conference, everyone braced themselves for the unexpected. Rumor has it that nothing is ever boring with these two around. And indeed, it’s a fact! Text by Jillian Q. Gatcheco. Photos by Mitch S. Mauricio.
The plot
Starting July 2, Monster Mom—Annabelle’s comeback movie with her real-life daughter Ruffa Gutierrez—will be shown in cinemas nationwide. Co-produced by GMA and Regal Films, the comedy is directed by Joey Reyes. He says that one of the “best decisions he has made” was to work with Annabelle Rama.
Also part of the cast are: Rhian Ramos, Richard Gutierrez (As the young Annabelle and her husband), Iwa Moto, Michelle Madrigal, Mart Escudero, JC De Vera, Chariz Solomon, Bubbles Paraiso, direk Khryss Adalla, Vangie Labalan, and Eugene Domingo.
The story begins with the young Annabelle falling hopelessly in love and giving birth to a daughter whom she is forced to give away for adoption. Years later, her New York-based daughter (Ruffa) finds her and gets to know her two sons from two different affairs. Getting along under one roof and living with each other’s quirks will make up the heart of the story.
Ruffa sums up the movie’s moral lesson: “Whatever happens, bali-baliktarin man ang mundo, iisa lang nanay mo. Kahit na you get along with her or not, dapat respetuhin mo pa rin siya, mahalin mo pa rin siya.”
Getting butterflies!
Despite Annabelle Rama’s many media portrayals as the “palaban” and “mataray” family woman who never takes no for an answer, seeing her at the press conference completely changed this image. Because although what we know of her is partly true, she also has a soft side that we were privileged to have witnessed. For instance, she’s also incredibly hilarious and nice!
She admits she got really nervous on her first shooting day because Ruffa warned her about direk Joey: “Bago mag-shooting, ‘Ma, ingat ka kay direk Joey, sisigaw-sigaw pa naman yun!’ Kaya pinagpawisan talaga ako, grabe preparation ko—hanggang langit!”
Aside from memorizing her lines, she adds that she resorted to a beauty fix, too! “Pina-plantsa ko mukha ko para maganda ako! Syempre lahat na ng kaartehan at kalandian, ginawa ko na, dahil first time kong bumalik sa pelikula! Ayoko namang magpatalbog kay Ruffa, no! Baka sabihin, alalay niya ako!”
Maybe it was stress, but Annabelle got an eye allergy on her first shooting day! “Sobrang kati ng mata ko! Akala niyo, nagbi-‘beautiful eyes’ ako sa pelikula? Hindi!” she remarks, as the members of the press doubled up in laughter.
But she felt more at ease after she saw her pals Khryss Adalla, Eugene Domingo, and Vangie Labalan. “Nawalan talaga ako ng nerbiyos, at natuto akong umarte dahil sa kanila. Natuwa ako sa kinuha ni direk na support cast ng movie,” she says.
She adds, “Sa dubbing, mas worse pala! Basta nahirapan ako talaga! Dapat dagdagan ako ng bayad dito!” she jokes, grinning at the film producers, Mother Lily Monteverde and Annette Gozon-Abrogar.
Annabelle imparts that she considers Monster Mom as her first “real movie” because her launching flick was a flop. “Noong araw, ‘pag maganda katawan mo, maganda boobs mo, sikat ka na noon. Yung acting, wala yun. Kaya pipi ako noong launching movie ko, kaya flop yun! Walang dialogue [kasi]! Puro dahon [pa naman] katawan ko [doon]! Eh ngayon, parang ito talaga totoong pelikula na ginawa ko. Kasi nakakaarte ako dito.”
The talent manager of various artists admitted that she has received offers to do movies before, but she particularly loved the script of Monster Mom, which was why she gave in. “At si direk Joey pa director—syempre, blockbuster director. Sabi ko, at least sana makatikim ako ng blockbuster. Galing ako ng flop, blockbuster naman!”
Direk Joey shares, “The best award for Tita Annabelle is matanggap siya ng mga tao bilang isang aktres. Na matanggap siya more than just being this really strong personality, but bilang isang artista na gumaganap sa pelikula.”
A happy team
Ruffa shares more experiences she had with her mom: “Si mommy, two months ago, memorized na niya yung script. So sa bahay, hindi ko malaman kung may kinakausap siya o script na yun sa pelikula! So pag dating niya sa set, normally memorized na niya, pero minsan kinakabahan siya—especially pag naga-adlib ako, hindi siya makasagot!”
Annabelle defends herself and says, “Hindi naman sa ayaw ko mag-adlib, kasi ako, ginagawa ko rin sa sarili ko, eh. Pero pag naga-adlib ako, yung last word sinasabi ko pa rin para yung kaharap ko, alam niya isasagot niya. Eh si Ruffa, inaagaw niya yung sa akin [yung] dialogue! Eh Ruffa, paano ako sasagot, eh line ko kinukuha mo? Lagi kang take two dahil sa akin!”
And this was pretty much the bulk of the event—fun, unscripted banter between mother and daughter, and many laughs in between. The cast members present also shared their experiences with the onscreen “monster mom,” and they all agreed that despite being intimidated at first, in the end, they all loosened up and got to know Annabelle’s other side.
Rhian, who plays the young Annabelle Rama, says that this project is a “dream come true” for her. “Noong nagsimula ako sa showbiz, una kong love team si Chard [Gutierrez], kaya ko na-meet si Tita Annabelle. And sa una, oo, intimidated ako, kasi pag nakikita ko si tita Annabelle sa TV, laging nakikita yung side niya na matapang. Pero noong na-meet ko siya, [I realized] she has such a golden heart. And noong nalaman ko na kasama ako sa movie na ito, and yung role ko pa young Tita Annabelle, sobrang natuwa ako kasi gusto kong ipakita through this movie yung soft side ni Tita Annabelle and yung the way na nakilala ko siya.”
Direk Joey was obviously delighted with his cast members, and he says that since they started off as a happy team, the movie is bound to bring joy as well to everyone who watches it: “Ang saya-saya [naming lahat] from day one, at lahat kami tumaba!”
Don’t miss Monster Mom on July 2, in theaters near you!
Talk about this flick in its iGMA Forum Thread
