While fans and viewers are fuming over Lena's villainous antics and ‘pabebe’ schemes as a mistress, Mercedes Cabral, the actress behind one primetime’s most hated characters, is laughing her heart out while watching and reacting to her trending scenes from “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo.” Find out why in this edition of Kapamilya React!

Let’s begin with that viral intense confrontation scene where the legal wife, Marites (Cherry Pie Picache), storms in on Lena and Rigor (John Estrada) after catching them in the act. This was the long-awaited showdown between the mistress and the wife, finally exposing Lena and Rigor’s affair. Mercedes shared that they started filming this scene in the morning and wrapped up by lunchtime, thus her neck hurt that night, as she had to react as if her ‘sabunutan’ or hair-pulling act with Cherry Pie was real.

If you thought that female war was already the peak of emotions, you haven’t seen anything yet – Tindeng (Charo Santos) storms in on Lena, dragging her out of the room to teach her a lesson. But Lena, ever defiant, grabs a gun, leading Tindeng to pull out a balisong, resulting in an incredibly fierce showdown. Mercedes will never forget this scene, not only because she shared it with the iconic Charo, but also because it was an exceptionally charged moment where she had to match Charo’s soaring emotional intensity.

Unloading her character’s gargantuan emotions doesn’t happen instantly – it’s one of the challenges actors face. Mercedes broke down in tears after the director called ‘cut,’ as she needed to release the intense feelings built up inside her during the filming. After the take, she and Charo hugged and apologized to each other in case there were any accidental mishaps. Mercedes also felt touched by Charo's attentiveness, as she continued to check on her even after the scene.

Never did she expect the Lena vs. Tindeng duel to become such a viral hit and draw massive online viewership. She jokingly asked, “Kailangan ba akong kabahan kasi gusto ng mga tao na sinasaktan si Lena? Magiging weekly ba na bubugbugin ako kasi ito ‘yung gusto ng tao?” Putting humor aside, she gets why viewers found it so satisfying to see Lena experience a taste of her own medicine.

And of course, no ‘Lena’ scene fest is complete without her confrontation with Coco Martin’s Tanggol, which she admitted made her quite nervous. We all know that when Coco directs, he prefers spontaneous dialogue over physical scripts, so Mercedes had to stay on her toes, especially given how Lena’s audacity needed to be highlighted in this encounter. Personally, as an actress, she prefers having a physical script to read and study, but being a professional, she can adapt to each unit’s unique culture.

Adding to her anxiety was the part where she had to slap Coco. She was fine with faking the slap, but Coco insisted that she deliver a real one to elicit a more natural reaction from him.

How did she snag her role in "FPJ’s Batang Quiapo"? She reached out to Coco since she wasn’t working on any series or movies at the time and missed collaborating with him after their last project together, "FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano." Coincidentally, Coco and Dreamscape Entertainment were already beginning to conceptualize “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo.” And when she learned about the offer for the role, she was thrilled to know she’d be playing kontrabida.

Now that she’s reunited with Coco, she’s utterly amazed watching him weave magic as both the lead actor and director, while also being part of the creative team on the same project. She’s truly impressed by how Coco manages to excel in all these roles simultaneously. At the same time, she noticed that his approach to this project is different from how he handled the indie films they worked on together before.

Mercedes also feels a special kind of joy when acting alongside Joel Lamangan, who plays the sassy Roda. The challenge with working with Direk Joel is maintaining Lena's fierce demeanor even when she finds herself laughing at Roda’s quips. “Minsan nag-a-adlib siya nang hindi ka prepared, ‘yung bigla ka na lang matatawa, sumasagot siya minsan, especially ‘pag eksena with Rigor. May mga hirit siya na wala sa script. Ang hirap kasi minsan matatawa ka na lang din so kailangan mo ulitin,” she shared. 

And just imagine the fun of interacting with Direk Joel once the cameras are off, when everyone can unwind, drop their characters, and just be themselves. Mercedes spilled that they often have behind-the-scenes conversations. Beyond the jokes and chit-chats, she gains valuable insights from Direk Joel and the other experienced actors she works with. One of the key lessons she’s learned is to fully embrace her character and understand it’s psyche, which makes reacting to scenes easier since she knows how her character thinks and feels at their core.

The magic we see on screen isn’t just the result of the script and creative direction; the cast's teamwork plays a huge role as well. For example, in the cooking showdown between Lena and Marites, Mercedes revealed that Cherry Pie was incredibly supportive in executing the scene. Cherry Pie is a generous co-actor who genuinely wants her peers to shine, so she’s always eager to suggest witty lines for Mercedes. While they may be adversaries on screen, off-camera they are like sisters, often sharing stories and supporting each other.

Personally, Mercedes has never met a mistress as audacious as Lena or anyone quite like her in real life. She realized this while watching the scene where Lena asserts her worth to Rigor by demanding to be included in his pinning ceremony instead of the legal wife, Marites. Mercedes felt that Lena was definitely crossing the line in that moment.

But that’s the beauty of diving into the craft of acting – you get to explore various roles and perspectives on life. As Mercedes puts it, “As an actor, na-e-enjoy ko ‘yung you get to experience different lives through different characters… Nararamdaman mo ‘yung consequences through your characters, pero in real life, hindi mo siya ma-e-experience.”

She further reflected, “In a way matututo ka rin sa buhay mo. As Lena, ang hirap siguro mabuhay nang ganito. Kung ganito ‘yung household n’yo, ang stressful lagi ng bahay, parang, buti na lang, hindi sila totoo.”

What’s her reaction to the viral way she says ‘Rigor’? Mercedes laughed, revealing that it wasn’t intentional. In real life, she naturally pronounces names with an 'r' sound like that. It’s also funny that their script even spells ‘Rigor’ as ‘Rigowrrr,’ as if the writers are playing along with the memes and jokes.

Watch out for more ‘gigil’-inducing, meme-worthy scenes of Mercedes a.k.a. Lena in “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo,” airing weeknights, on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, TV5, and A2Z.