Candy Pangilinan: “I never thought that a comedienne like me could win for a dramatic role”

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MANILA – Actress Candy Pangilinan recently starred in the independent film “Star na si Van Damme Stallone,” a “dramedy” about a mother’s love and struggles with her child who has been diagnosed with Down syndrome.

Did she fare well? Her best actress award at the CineFilipino Film Festival proved so.

“I never thought that a comedienne like me could win for a dramatic role…” Pangilinan said in an interview with the Inquirer.net. “As an actress, I realized that I can do a serious role…”

Working in the entertainment industry for a long time and starring a lead role in an indie film for the first time, the 43-year-old actress found the new approach and way of acting as challenging.

“I got surprised… In one scene, Direk (Randolph Longjas) told me that I had no lines but all sorts of emotions were going through my mind,” she recalled in the same report. “In indie films, people don’t talk but they do a lot of thinking… That’s more tiring! I had to remember all those acting theories I learned in UP Diliman!”

Truly a rewarding experience, Pangilinan’s trophy from CineFilipino was her first for a film.

Because of her real-life experiences as a mother to her son with autism, she knew how to interact with co-stars Paolo Pingol, Jad Dilanco and Mattea Curativo who portrayed Van Damme at different ages. All the three young actors have Down syndrome.

“I can relate with my character… I know the child’s weaknesses… The parent’s frustrations and joys,” she admitted. In one scene with Pingol who was buttoning his shirt, “I noticed that he was getting upset. So, I gently encouraged him. When he was able to do one button, he looked at me, beaming with pride. Then, he was able to do all the buttons. I cried!”

Everyone else in the set also did.