Mark Herras, Benjamin Alves share preparations for their roles in ‘Artikulo 247’

Earlier this week, GMA Network dropped its newest afternoon legal drama series titled, “Artikulo 247.”

Intense scenes of the drama could already be seen in its trailer, especially the confrontation between the characters of Rhian Ramos and Kris Bernal.

In the drama, Rhian gave life to Jane, an aspiring career woman who got involved with her boss who was married to Kris’s character, Klaire. Klaire ended up killing her husband after catching him in bed with Jane, but she got away from severe punishment for murder due to Article 247 in the Revised Penal Code.

Trying to move on from this, Jane made a fresh start, eventually meeting Noah Borromeo, played by Benjamin Alves. Noah was the brother of Elijah Borromeo, Mark Herras’s role, who fell in love with Kris’s new identity, Carmen.

Before these four characters crossed paths with each other, Noah was recovering from a lost love, while Elijah’s life centered only on his family and his resort.

During GMA Pinoy TV’s March-merizing FunCon on Friday, Mark and Benjamin shared how they prepared for their characters in “Artikulo 247.”

With Elijah, Mark said that he really studied and changed his approach to his role, making sure that it would be a lot different this time.

“Kailangang makita na CEO, boss, presentable, responsible and kailangan talaga kakaibang lalaki siya hindi siya ‘yung parang clumsy or— basta kailangan prim and proper siya (It has to be established that he is a CEO, a boss, presentable, responsible; it has to be established that he is a different man, not a clumsy one or— he needs to be prim and proper).”

“So parang nagawa ko naman siya, nagawa ko naman ‘yung character ko at I think, siguro dahil na lang din sa maturity ng pagkatao ko kaya mas iba ‘yung atake ko sa character ni Elijah (I think I accomplished it, I was able to portray my character and I think, maybe because of my maturity that I had a different approach to Elijah’s character).”

Benjamin, meanwhile, pointed out the difference between Noah and his role from a previous project, the 2021 romantic-comedy series, “Owe My Love,” in which he portrayed Doc Migs, a heart surgeon.

“Last soap ko kasi sobrang ganon nga, prim and proper ‘yung ano, doktor ako don na talagang clean, puti, puti ‘yung naisip kong kulay niya. Dito, sobrang gray, dark gray ‘yung character ko (In my last soap, my role was prim and proper, I was a doctor there, I would liken his character to the color white. Here, it is super gray, my character is dark gray).”

In his past projects, Benjamin would try to not linger on his emotions before appearing on screen — but not when they filmed the legal drama series.

“‘Pag puyat ako or inaantok ako sa dati kong mga roles, kailangan ko siyang bitawan. Kumbaga pagod na pagod ako, bibitawan ko siya lahat para kasi ‘pag pasok sa eksena, ‘pag pasok ko sa taping pa lang, magaan ako (Back in my past roles, if I stayed up late or I felt sleepy, I had to let go of it. If I was exhausted, I had to let it go so that when I enter the scene, or even the set, I would feel easy).”

“This one, hindi. Ino-honor ko lahat ‘yung emotion na ‘yon, ‘pag pagod or naiirita, without causing too much of a problem sa set, ino-honor ko pa rin, hindi ko siya binibitawan kasi nga nagagamit ko don sa character ko (This one, it was not like that. I would honor all those emotions, if I feel tired or irritated, I would still honor it without causing too much of a problem in the set, I won’t let it go because I could use it for my character).”

Also part of his preparation for “Artikulo 247” was the Spotify playlist he created for Noah that he would listen to in the morning.

For his message for the Filipino-Canadian audience watching the drama abroad, Mark expressed his gratitude to them for supporting “Artikulo 247” and encouraged them to keep watching it because a lot of things will happen as the story unfolds.

“Patikim pa lang ‘yung nangyayari ngayon (What is happening now is just a sample).”

Likewise, Benjamin thanked them for finding a time to watch the show or catch up with it despite their busy schedules.

“I know it might be— some of our Kapusos are working, trying to find a replay of it so maraming, maraming salamat (thank you so much) for enjoying our show.”

Apart from the lead characters, viewers have to watch out for the roles of Denise Barbacena, Topper Fabregas, Maureen Larrazabal, Rain Matienzo, Glydel Mercado, Victor Silayan, Mike Tan, and more.