1 On being
labeled as mataray, suplada, or maldita: “Pagod
na pagod na ako marinig yan. Transparent akong tao eh. Sa showbiz pala hindi
pwedeng masyadong transparent.” (I’m tired of hearing that. I’m a transparent person, but in
showbiz you can’t be too transparent.)
“Sa
totoo lang nagsasawa na talaga ako (I’m really getting tired of it). I used to ask myself why? What
am I doing wrong? I guess you can’t blame other people for the perception
they have of me because of the issues I have been involved in,” Marian says
very matter of factly. “I am tired of being labeled as maldita, “ she says in Filipino, as most of her answers
were.
“I can’t please every
one. As long as hindi naman kita binabastos, hindi kita tinatarayan,
hindi ako nagpo-power trip sa yo, kung
ayaw mo sakin, anong magagawa ko? Luluhod pa ba ako sa yo? (As long as I am not rude to you, I’m not
power tripping, if you don’t like me what can I do? Should I beg?) No. This is
me. What is important is that the people I work with I am able to get along
with them.”
2 She never got
into any fight as a child, was a homebody growing up, and was an honor student
in high school.
“I grew up as a homebody. If other kids
wanted to play with me they had to go to our house. Even when I was in college
mybarkada had to come to the house. My lolawould
let us do what we wanted to do,” the actress recalls. “I don’t know where the
impression that I am a rebel came from. I speak harshly because I am from
Cavite. All my cousins in Cavite are boys so I guess that is why I am a bit
boyish. My lola told me that she would allow me
to become an actress. But no one will ever take advantage of you.’”
She recalls being a pretty good student in
school, attending St. Francis of Assisi for grade school and high school and De
La Salle University Dasmariñas for college. “There was a point in high school
when I was an honor student. Not in college. I had a hard time.” On a
more casual note after the interview, she poses an observation (or even
frustration) on who gets admired and who gets mocked: “Yung
magaling mag-English pero hindi tapos ng high school, o
yung nakatapos ng college pero
hindi magaling sa English? (Those who spoke good English but didn’t
finish high school or those who finished college but didn’t speak good
English?)”
3On one lesson her family taught her when it comes to being
involved in controversies: “No matter what is said against you, never destroy
another person.”
“Hindi ganun ang pamilya ko.
Lalaban kami, pero hindi to the
point na maninira, (my family will flight but to the
point of defaming another person),” she explains.
Marian was born in Spain, but after her
parents’ separation when she was two years old, she and her mom came back to
live in Cavite. “My parents got married and got divorced later on. But they
never made me choose between them. I stayed with my mom but my dad came home
regularly to visit me,” she shares.
Marian reveals that her parents Francisco and
Amalia prefer to not read any write-up about her. “My father never wanted to
know how I was doing in showbiz.” She adds that when a negative issue is thrown
at her, it is her mom she turns to first. “When I get into controversies in
showbiz, I talk to my mom until I feel better.”
4Had she not been discovered to become an artista, Marian is convinced that she would
still be working her first job — at the Mandaluyong Mental Hospital.
Having finished a degree in AB Psychology,
Marian took her OJT in Mandaluyong Mental Hospital and worked there for four
months. Her career in medicine was cut short when she was discovered by
producer Tony Tuviera in a commercial.
“Oo, gusto ko dun (yes, I want that),” she says when asked if
she wanted to pursue that career. “I was allowed to deal with patients, we
would evaluate them, give them their medications. There are many patients I
remember because once tumuntong ka dun, sasabihin mo talaga
na napakaswerte mong tao(you see them there, you will realize how
lucky you are).”
Marian admits to having cried many times
because of overwhelming emotions in the ward. “ I was often told that when I am
at the hospital I have to be strong. But I can be very emotional when I see
that the patients are having a hard time sometimes I find it hard to take,” she
says in a soft voice.
5 She has an obsession with butterflies
and actually used to have them as pets at home.
“Anything with a butterfly makes me happy,”
she says as her face lights up, and goes on to show me a butterfly chart she
has saved on her phone. “It came to a point that I became obsessed with
butterflies. I would cry when they died, so I asked my lola to make a cage where we could
keep them. I was so obsessed that I thought of spending all my earnings on
butterflies!”
She started collecting when she was still a
student, and stopped just a couple of years ago. “I would prepare their food,
the fruits and I would put sugar in their water. I used to get my
butterflies in Greenhills. Some were P25, other P500. They live for about a
month,” she adds. At one point, she was taking care of 40 butterflies.
6 Marian Rivera in numbers:
177,000: number
of followers she has on her Instagram account, “therealmarian,” her only social
media account. “ I really wanted to be on Instagram. I spoke to Ate Reg
(Velasquez), but she has a lot of bashers. She told me, ‘It is easy to be on
Instagram! If there is something you don’t like you can block it.”
198,100: number
of followers of Marian’s parody twitter account, @superstarmarian. “ I have
heard a lot about her. She tweets a lot of funny things. If she uses it in a
good way, why not? But on the Internet, things can sometimes be foul. Kahit
si Kuya Mike (Enriquez) tinanong ako, ‘Gusto mo may gawin tayong paraan?’ Sabi
ko hindi na. (Even
Mike Enriquez was asking me if I wanted to find a way, I said, no, never mind.)”
15: number
of movies done within her seven-year career. Released last year are My
Lady Boss andKung Fu Divas.
45,000: total
number of units sold of her two dance albums, winning a Platinum award for the
first and a Gold for the second.
2: number
of days she goes on a diet if needed for a pictorial or project. “After that I
go back to what I used to do!” Her choice workouts include boxing, running (3k
or 5k), and Muay Thai
7 Three artists she admires most in the
industry: Dawn Zulueta, Vilma Santos, and Aga Muhlach.
Dawn: “She is beautiful and her personality even
makes her more beautiful. She told me, ‘Pinaglihi ko sayo anak ko,
gusting-gusto kita,’” she
gushes.
Vilma: “I admire her and want to be like her. When
we worked together I never thought she would go to my room and talk to me. She
talked to me and we exchanged numbers. We text each other even until now.”
Aga: “I want to work with him. I have met him a
couple of times and I find him really nice. I once saw him in New York
and he said, ‘Hoy Marian, magkakamovie
ba tayo?’ (Are
we going to have a movie together?)”
She says she has the deepest respect for big
stars who remain grounded and who are unselfish to newer artists like her. “I
like working with people like that.”
8 Marian shares her five favorite
destinations in the world:
1. Madrid, Spain: “ I was born there, but I did not grow
up there. But it is like home. I am happy there because my dad and siblings are
there.”
2. Paris, France: “One of the most romantic places in
the whole world.”
3. Amanpulo, Philippines: “Just like paradise.” Despite her
extremely fair complexion, she reveals she loves the sun but her skin doesn’t
darken easily.
4. New York, USA: “I enjoy window shopping!
5. Tokyo, Japan: “The food is great. I eat a lot when I
am there.
9 Despite Marian and boyfriend Dingdong
Dantes being on countless “sexiest” lists, she reveals that their absolute
favorite pastime as a couple is eating out.
“We love restaurants. We love eating
five-course meals, we like taking our time. It is then that we share stories
with each other,” she reveals. “Dong is not a very vocal person. But you will
get to know him because of the way he acts.” She names Goose Station, Las
Flores, Shangri-La hotels, and Tsukiji as some of their favorite places to eat.
On the sweetest thing she has done for
Dingdong: “ I gathered all his relatives and friends to celebrate his 30th
birthday. He thought that it would be a date, just the two of us. But
there was even a production number from his mommy, tita and cousins.”
On the sweetest thing Dingdong has done for
her: “He has done a lot. There was a time he gave me a bouquet of flowers made
of art paper. He had a wish for me written on each flower! It was not wrapped
well though because it was wrapped by him.”
10 If she were to describe herself in
three words, Marian says: malambing, kalog, and totoong tao (sweet, crazy in a fun way, and real).
Marian says the biggest misconception about
her is that she picks fights. “ Pero hindi ako lumalaban ng walang
dahilan, (I don’t
fight without reason)” she explains. “Actually I don’t
really want to talk about it. I am always at the short end when it comes to
people’s perception of me. ‘Ay ganyan si Marian.’” She adds, “Ang
pagiging mataray o maldita…I can’t be demure
all the time.
“At the end of the day ‘pag
natulog ako, sino ba ako? Bakit ko kailangan magpanggap na hindi naman ako. (I don’t need to pretend who
I’m not) This is who I am. This is what I can do. Unless gusto
ko magimprove at ibahin sarili ko sa mas mabuting
paraan, gagawin ko. Pero yung parang magpanggap ng hindi ako, hindi ko kaya.
Mas pinipili ko na eto ako. (If
I want to improve or change myself for the better, I will do it, but I
will not pretend. I can’t handle that. I would rather choose to be me.)”
* * *
“Actually, I am really like a child,” Marian
says. (And she actually prefers to be called Yanyan.) The 28-year-old is now
unfazed by accusations thrown at her, learning how to accept things more in a
forgiving, childlike way than someone who just doesn’t give a damn. “Okay ang family ko,
relationship okay, career okay, kailangan yata talaga may ganyan para
naman balanced. Kasi
pag wala, para namang ang perfectna ng lahat!” (My family, relationship
and career are okay, so maybe you need controversies for a balanced life. You
can’t be perfect in everything.)
She goes on to joke that she wishes there was
a phone app wherein when she reads a basher’s comment, she can push a button
then she’d literally pop out of that person’s phone and say: “Hiyang
hiya naman ako sayo! Ikaw na ang maganda, ikaw na ang matalino, ikaw na lahat
lahat.” Everyone in
the room bursts into laughter.
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