Taking a break from the intense confrontation and riveting dramatic scenes in the well-loved primetime series Viral Scandal, its stars Maxene Magalona, Ria Atayde, Kaila Estrada, and Gian Magdangal graced the latest episode of Hotspot and talked about their unforgettable memories and experiences while doing the show.
Gregarious host DJ Jhai Ho started off by asking them how do they feel about the public’s positive reception towards the program, which is now down to its last two weeks. For Maxene, she and her castmates are “humbled, grateful, and honored” to be part of this “advocacy project”.
“Now that it’s here, it’s been delivering these important messages at such an important time in all our lives, parang nakakataba ng puso ‘yong mainit na pagtanggap nila. At siyempre, ang gusto lang talaga namin ay makapagbigay ng inspirasyon ng pag-asa na kahit marami tayong pinagdadaanan na mga mental health issues, hindi tayo nag-iisa. ‘Yon talaga ang gusto naming ipadala na message. Sana may mga natututunan tayo gabi-gabi. Kaya sobrang grateful, humbled, and honored kami,” the 35-year-old actress stated.
Gian, echoed this by also adding that he’s also privileged to be part of this powerhouse cast, and, at the same time thankful for the new family and friendships that they have established throughout the course of their lock-in taping.
Kaila, meanwhile, expressed how grateful they are that all their hardwork indeed paid off. “Sobrang overwhelming din at times kasi we all entered this project na sobrang passionate kami, sobrang driven, and sobrang inspired kasi napakaganda ng kuwento ng Viral Scandal and we also tackled so many relevant themes. So, nakaka-proud talaga na the hardwork is recognized by people and they love it as much as we do. ‘Yon talaga, sobrang grateful kami.”
“Sobrang nakakataba talaga ng puso, like they said, to have our humble show embraced and celebrated the way the people celebrated it. Nakakatuwa to see reactions online, ‘yong nagiging realizations din ng mga tao ‘pag may mga episodes tungkol sa abuse, empowerment and all of that, politics even, especially at a time like this. So kami, sobrang humbled kami na [ABS-CBN] gave us all this opportunity to work on this such a timely and fruitful show, with such a powerful message,” Ria conveyed.
With regards to what the viewers should watch for their respective characters in the last few episodes of the controversial primetime drama, Ria started off by relating that we should find out whether her character Atty. Laura Dizon is going to win the case of Rica (Charlie Dizon). Maxene, on the other hand, implied that we should anticipate the decisions that Audrey’s going to make that will create a huge impact on the narrative.
As she’s able to amaze us with her compelling performance, Maxene confessed that she actually doesn’t read the feedbacks sent by netizens to her for she does not know how to accept compliments. Yet, she began to realize that she should finally learn to know how.
“Nagulat talaga ako that people are praising and giving me a lot of good feedback. Pero ‘di na rin ako ako nagugulat kasi ang galing ng castmates ko e, and they really brought that out in me. They brought out Audrey and they really bring her to life. So, I really wouldn’t have portrayed her this way if not for my castmates,” she imparted.
Then she continued, “It wasn’t just me, talagang they inspired me, they uplifted me, they held my hand through it all. So, ‘yong success ni Audrey talaga, I owe it all to the whole cast of Viral Scandal, and the production, the directors. Lahat ng comments na binibigay nila kay Audrey, para po ‘yon sa buong show at sa directors namin, sa scriptwriters, sa lahat. So, very, very grateful na nagawa ko siya nang gano’n.”
Kaila teased that we should see if Raven could still be easily swayed and how far she could go in choosing to do what’s right. Meanwhile, Gian revealed that Bobby’s truly colors and frustrated feelings towards Audrey will continue to be evident as the story progresses.
The four of them also giddily recounted their most unforgettable experiences they had, as well as related a little trivia behind some of their favorite scenes. They also shared the things that they miss about being part of Viral Scandal – from the lovely bind they’ve formed with their castmates throughout their lock-in taping, up to how the whole production took care and guided them all the way.
Catch Maxene, Ria, Gian, and Kaila on Viral Scandal, weeknights on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, A2Z Channel 11, iWantTFC, and TFC.