Chito S. Roño, director of the acclaimed films Bata, Bata, Paano Ka Ginawa?, Dekada ‘70 and Feng Shui, made his teleserye debut with ABS-CBN’s action-adventure show, Spirits.
Conceived by Roño as a prequel to his successful Spirit Warriors films, Spirits tackled the stories of young people moving from being children to being teenagers, with the added weight of their special “powers” making them even more different. Roño has assembled a polished ensemble of up-and-coming actors, which he handpicked, along with the show’s producers, after a grueling series of auditions. They are the talents that bring to life Spirits’ storyline, which concentrates on a group of small-town teens who make up their high school’s Camera Club. They seem normal, act normal, and are normal, except for one small detail – they are all psychics. And the Camera Club is just a front for what they really wish to accomplish – learning more about their psychic powers, and figuring out how to use their powers to help the people in their town.
John Wayne Sace plays Lloyd, who can see the dead as clearly as the living. Maja Salvador is Gabby, the school’s classic overachiever whose sunny ways ensure she is liked by everyone she meets. Rayver Cruz is Red, the group’s de facto leader, and the first of the teens to consider banding together to figure out why there are so many “gifted” kids in town.
Serena Dalrymple plays Liz, a mind-reader who eventually realizes that “curse” for reading other people’s thoughts is really a gift. And Jiro Manio is Nato, the descendant of a long line of healers who now struggles with his gift of speaking with duwendes. Mico Aytona plays Thor, the easy-go-lucky class clown who joins the Camera Club for his own not-quite-honest reasons.
Michelle Madrigal and Joseph Bitangcol take on the roles of Maya and Jesse, respectively. Maya is an empath, a psychic who can sense, understand and absorb another person’s emotions even if that other person is not in the same room as she is. A more dangerous power lies within resident rebel Jesse, who finds out he can start fires with just his mind.