RICKY LO: THE MELLOWING OF MARICEL SORIANO

Manila, July 22, 2003 By Ricky Lo (People Asia Magazine) It happened one night in December 2001. Her awakening, that is.

"There was no sign at all," recalled Maricel Soriano, "no warning at all. It was a night different from any other. It was my night of rebirth. That’s what I want to call it — my ‘rebirth’."

As Maricel further recounted, that night, she just found herself all alone in her room, sitting quietly, staring at nothing. And then, without rhyme or reason, she broke down. She cried and cried and cried until she felt drained, dehydrated. She didn’t feel lonely at all, but she kept on crying, not knowing what was happening to her, not knowing what to do.

"And then I heard myself talking to Him," said Maricel. "I found myself surrendering to Him, opening myself up to Him."

That was how she found her inner peace.

While before she was notorious for being the Taray Queen (roughly equivalent to Bitchy Empress), Maricel is a changed woman now, radiating peace and happiness that is almost palpable. Put a halo around her head and she could be, well, Santita Maricel.

Her "awakening" has radically altered not only her outlook and philosophy in life but also her work ethics. Before, she could kill herself with shouting and taping, and shooting and taping, hardly having time to exhale. She was stressed out and she barely had time for herself. She wasn’t her own person; she felt like she was spinning out of control.

Now, Maricel works at her own pace.

Last year, she did only one movie, Regal Films’ blockbuster 2002 Metro Filmfest entry, Mano Po, where she played Vera Go, eldest of the three daughters of a rich and powerful Filipino-Chinese couple (with Ara Mina, who won as Best Actress in that Filmfest, and Kris Aquino, as Best Supporting Actress, as her sisters). It’s laid-back pace compared to her break-back schedule before. Ordinarily, Maricel only has her weekly ABS-CBN sitcom Bida si Mister, Bida si Misis (with Cesar Montano) to attend to.

"Getting Wyngard (Tracy) as my manager was, I think, one of the best decisions I’ve ever made," said Maricel who was managed for several years by Manny Valera. "I’ve known Wyngard since I was a kid, as far back as my days in Kaluskos Musmos (a kiddie show produced by Imee Marcos during martial law). Wyngard was involved in that show; we just didn’t have time to bond together at that time. Now, we’re making up for lost time."

When she sets her mind to it, Maricel is resolute with her decision, such as when she broke up with Edu Manzano (after a tumultuous marriage, which has since been annulled, Edu being an American citizen) and her desire to have a child, Sebastien (nicknamed Tien), by a much older boyfriend. Tien is now in grade school.

"I was overflowing with joy when Tien was born," she gushed. "Now I know what they meant by motherhood being the essence of being a woman. You can never be a complete woman unless you bear a child."

That, in effect, is her best performance in real life. Asked what her finest performance, as an actress, Maricel said, "Ikaw Pa Lang and Minahal (directed by Carlitos Siguion-Reyna for ReynaFilms, inspired by the Olivia de Havilland starrrer The Heiress) is by far the best of them all. It’s my favorite among my films, maybe because I identified with my character who loves to stay home. I’m like her in that sense. I’m not a party animal; I’m more comfortable within the confines of my home. I do go out with friends but only on special occasions. In that movie, that’s how my character meets the man who, she thinks, is the love of her life (played by Richard Gomez), during a special occasion. Eddie Gutierrez played my father in the movie; he frowns on my choice of a man, saying the man only wants my inheritance. But my character won’t listen to her father’s well-meaning advice; she only listens to the dictates of her heart. In love, e!"

She was, in a way, similar to that character when she was younger and more impulsive, easily swayed by heart just like any girl her age and refusing to use her head.

"I’m in control now," she stressed.

Not being the gimikera type, Maricel is happiest when she’s in bed – sleeping!

"My bed is the best place for me to be in. I have 12 pillows all in all. I’m a pillow person. I bury myself in those 12 pillows, which are enough for me not to think that there’s no man beside me. I never put a pillow under my head, though I’m weird, ‘no? I usually sleep on my stomach, covered from head to foot with the pillows."

To relax, when she’s away from "those pillows," Maricel listens to songs by Barbara Streisand, her favorite being I Finally Found Someone, the song Barbara write specially for her and James Brolin’s wedding. She also loves Brian McKnight’s Home, which he wrote for God.

Not much of a bookworm, Maricel has learned reading The Bible verse, verse by verse, psalm by psalm. She’s Catholic, "although," she qualified, "I can claim to be a born-again Christian because when people ask me to what sect I belong, I tell them that, yes, I accept Jesus as The Lord and my Savior just like born-again Christians do."

A night person, Maricel loves sending passages from The Bible to friends via "text" (this writer being lucky enough to be among the happy receivers). That is, when she’s not watching movies on video or meditating into the early hours of the morning.

"Unless I have to work," she said, "I never wake up before lunch. I’m a garbage case in the morning, I tell you!"

The only thing that perhaps hasn’t changed in Maricel is her attitude towards people she perceives to have done her wrong.

"I’m basically a loving person," she said. "I give love unconditionally, including my trust and all my sincerity. But the moment a person betrays me, I simply say goodbye to him/her. No harsh words, I just don’t say anything. Goodbye and that’s it!"

Yes, she is what she is – "I am what I am," as the song goes. What you see is what you get.

"There are no gray areas for me," she smiled. "It’s either black or white. Either I like you or I don’t."

That’s it!

BLURB:

While before she was notorious for being the Taray Queen (roughly equivalent to Bitchy Empress), Maricel is a changed woman now, radiating peace and happiness that is almost palpable. Put a halo around her head and she could be, well, Santita Maricel.