From charming us as an adorable and talented child actor, Louise Abuel is now impressing us with his portrayal of Nico, the cheerful, loving, and dependable youngest child of the Sicat Family in the well-loved primetime drama Viral Scandal.
And in this episode of Kapamilya React, we asked him to react on four of his heart-rending scenes in the series, as well as to share a few trivia about how each scene was done, his castmates, and some happenings behind the camera.
First-off was the tear-jerking homecoming of Rica (Charlie Dizon) after hiding herself from anyone in the wake of her sex scandal that spread like wildfire online. That scene was one of the heaviest they’d ever done and it took them a long time to accomplish it as they were required to exert the emotion needed. Thankfully, their on-screen nanay Dimples Romana was there to help them out, especially him since he found it difficult to cry.
With how compelling Charlie’s performance was here, Louise expressed how he admires her bravery, diligence in studying their script, and her ability to cry easily, which sometimes made them feel pressured according to him.
His dream of doing action on television or movie came true when he did the fight scene with their male neighbors in the series alongside Aljon Mendoza. It may have brought him jitters, but he had fun shooting it. He also further imparted how the lock-in taping setup had been advantageous for him as it strengthened his bond with his co-stars, especially of the Sicat Family comprised by Charlie, Dimples, Miko Raval, and Karina Bautista.
The 18-year-old actor then revealed how truly frightened he was when Miko, who was playing his on-screen tatay Dan, reprimanded his character Nico after he kept on pestering him to teach him the stunts he did when he came to rescue him from their rude neighbors.
He also imparted how much he enjoys playing Nico as he’s able to radiate good vibes on the set just like how he does it on-screen, not to mention that he also feels like the bunso in the Viral Scandal family since he’s among the youngest cast members.
Lastly, the scene where Kakay (Dimples) got mad at Atty. Laura Dizon (Ria Atayde) after Rica’s case got junked, which was among the heaviest scenes they’ve ever done on and off-cam. When asked what his takeaways are from his character and the series as a whole, he said that it would be to not easily believe in everything that we see online.
“Huwag kang maniniwala sa lahat ng nakikita mo sa social media. Siguro dahil sa project na ‘to, doon ako nagkaroon ng awareness na ang dami talagang fake news na nangyayari at hindi puwedeng papakinggan lang natin ‘yong isang side ng story tapos iju-judge na natin sila,” he stated.
Then he continued, “Tumingin tayo sa mga reliable resources and pakinggan natin ‘yong dalawang panig bago tayo mag-judge kung sino ‘yong tama at mali kasi di talaga natin alam kung anong nangyari behind the camera e.”
Catch Louise Abuel as Nico in Viral Scandal, weeknights on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, A2Z Channel 11, TV5, and iWantTFC.