ALYSSA Valdez got a perfect score from her co-stars and director on her first acting job.
The national team mainstay plays the role of Cindy in the movie My Letters to Happy alongside Glaiza de Castro, as Happy, and TJ Trinidad, as Albert.
Far from her real job as volleyball player, Valdez transforms into an office girl as Albert’s trusted assistant and trainee, who’s in charge of managing the chaos of his work life.
Director Pertee Brinas, who revealed that he handpicked Valdez, was satisfied with the rookie actress’ performance.
“Ang grade ko sa kanya, she did it perfectly,” said Brinas during the press conference on Friday at Woorijib Home of Korean Buffet in Quezon City. “‘Yung hiningi ng character sa kanya kaya niyang ibigay. Nakita niyo naman sa trailer, Alyssa pa ba ang nakita niyo doon? So on a scale of 1-10, it was a 10. Or 9.5 sige para may room for improvement.”
De Castro and Trinidad, who both have been in the industry for quite some time, could not help but admire Valdez’s dedication when it comes to work.
Although they did not shoot a scene together, the Kapuso actress admitted that Valdez’s professionalism is something to commend about.
“‘Yung fact lang na nagpunta siya from the very start at humabol sa kanyang training para umattend ng workshop namin 10 na ‘yun eh,” said De Castro.
“‘Di ba? Kasi kumbaga kung raket lang ‘to or parang gusto niya lang ma-experience ito, hindi na niya seseryosohin,” she added. “But alam ko busy rin siya na tao and syempre priority niya ‘yung profession niya but still she took time to meet us and to work with the other actors.”
Valdez’s hands, in fact, are full. She is currently playing for Creamline in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference while preparing for the Southeast Asian Games with the national team.
Trinidad, who plays as her boss, was pleased to see Valdez come out of her shell.
“It’s such a good experience kasi lumabas ‘yung innocence niya eh,” he said. “When she played her part it was very fresh, syempre it was her first film.”
An-all work and no play kind of boss, Albert found an ice breaker in Cindy shared Trinidad.
“‘Very serious ang character ko, it’s all about work no time for anything else, siya ‘yung nagbi-break ng mood ko dun sa office na parang ‘di dapat ganun parati,” he said. “‘Di naman siya comic relief pero it breaks the tension sa mga eksena namin.”
“Ako I’m very happy [to work with her]. I’m happy to give her a few tips but she’s really disciplined at lahat ng ginagawa niya I guess being parallel for her being an athlete. Very focused siya in trying to do her best and execute the scenes properly,” he added.
My Letters to Happy opens on cinemas nationwide on July 17, while the premiere night is on Friday night at SM Megamall Cinema 1 at 7:00 p.m.
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