The dramatic actress credits her family for convincing her to return to showbiz, especially to doing action-packed scenes.
Now 52, seasoned dramatic actress Maricel Laxa still looks radiant and strikes a youthful poise. The Iron Heart star recently talked to us during our two-day trip to the show’s production sites in Cebu on February 6 and 7. She was able to share her experiences going back to the entertainment scene and diving back into the genre her late father, Tony Ferrer is known for.
Noting that The Iron Heart is not her first action project, Laxa-Pangilinan expressed excitement since taping cycles for the show began last year.
“Super nag-eenjoy ako, gusto ko nga eh bigyan pa nila ako ng more pang action scenes,” she told us, when she got asked about her return to action.
Recalling how her family responded to her doing action scenes in The Iron Heart, the actress shared how proud her family has been, particularly her son Donny, whom she revealed to have convinced her to go back into acting.
“They’re very proud that I’m here…sila naman talaga ‘yung mga kunsintidor na gusto akong magtrabaho agad sa showbiz,” she revealed.
Laxa-Pangilinan feels ecstatic to be working with ABS-CBN again, after taking a break for nearly a decade. She notably returned to acting via the Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards-starrer, Hello Love Goodbye (2019), which ultimately became the highest grossing Filipino movie of all time. She remembered how Donny convinced her to do the Star Cinema film.
“I was so happy just being behind Donny, and supporting me—hanggang pinilit niya ako mag-showbiz, sabi niya ‘’wag ko daw hihindian ‘yung Hello Love, Goodbye, ” she shared, adding it never crossed her mind that the film would go on becoming the biggest Filipino film of all time.
“So, ‘yung ginawa ko ‘yun I didn’t know that it would become the biggest film in our history. So, that started it all; all because of Donny.”
Asked about how she has been able to handle the action scenes in the series, the actress gave props to the show’s excellent fight directors.
“Magaling ‘yung aming fight directors, and, basically we just follow fight choreography. It’s also muscle memory, kapag nandooon ka sa eksena, mahuhuli mo na rin,” she shared.
Do more difficult action scenes scare her?
It seems they don’t, as she burst with excitement, telling our team, “Well if it’s dangerous, just tell me. Lagi ko silang sinasabihan , ‘let’s do more stunts!,”
She added that it depends on the scriptwriters whether her character, Atty. Helen, can still level up in terms of action scenes. That said, she confidently declared her preparedness to do more scenes [as long as they’re safe].
The Iron Heart airs on A2Z, TV5, Kapamilya Channel, Jeepney TV, Kapamilya Online Live, and iWantTFC, from Mondays to Fridays, after FPJ’s Batang Quiapo.
