As Viral Scandal nears finale, the show’s rookies KarJon (Karina Bautista and Aljon Mendoza) and Sky Quizon are thankful for the golden opportunity to play interesting roles on primetime. Join the love triangle as they muse on their experience in this episode of Kapamilya Chat.
The teleserye brought them a lot of firsts. Karina considers this her biggest role yet. She’s not anymore just the friend with a few scenes. This time, her character Bea Sicat contributed a lot in the fight of the main character Rica played by Charlie Dizon and even engaged in intense confrontation scenes with the more senior stars.
Bea Sicat was too plum of a role that she felt pressured, “At the back of my mind, I was thinking na this has to be perfect. Pero acting isn’t being perfect. It’s about being normal and true.” At the end of the day, she enjoyed Bea’s colorful personality, her being funny, loving, and confrontational.
Karina calls Bea one of the most misunderstood characters in the series. Portraying middle child syndrome, she’s often tagged as the black sheep but all her drama is rooted in “wanting to get attention, more love and care, or gusto niyang maging favorite.” Lacking the ability to communicate her big emotions well, the result is her childish behavior. Bea’s internal conflict taught Karina that it would be best to process your emotions first before speaking.
Same level of acting progress could be sensed from Aljon as he discussed his character Leopoldo “Pogs” Ygot’s complexities of being funny yet serious. Pogs is easily assumed as happy-go-lucky but displays surprising maturity when confronted by important issues around him. Remember that it’s he who first accepted Brax (Sky) for being gay, and the one to enlighten Bea when they found out. On the romantic angle even, Pogs showed deep level of commitment, as Aljon put it, “Kaya niyang ipagtanggol yung mahal niya nang di iniisip ang sarili niya.”
One factor behind Aljon’s effective portrayal is sympathizing with the character, “Once na na-hurt siya, hurt rin ako para sa kanya, so parang hindi lang siya para sa character, tumatagos din siya sa akin. Doon ko lang din talaga na-feel na totoo na pala talaga ‘to. Nagiging in character na talaga ako. Parang first time siya mangyari sa akin sa isang project. Ganito pala ‘yung feeling, nakaka-satisfy.”
Viral Scandal is Sky’s first teleserye since exiting the Pinoy Big Brother house in 2019. That alone makes it special. But to share the project with some of the industry’s finest gems makes the honor much, much higher. He’s proud to have portrayed a relatable character and inspire viewers.
Brax’s coming out was a pivotal scene, and Sky hopes he was able to paint how LGBTQIA members feel about the issue on fear of coming out. “Kay Brax, nalaman natin na mahirap para sa kanya ‘yung i-judge siya ng society at hindi siya tanggapin ng pamilya niya. It took courage para masabi niya sa mga kaibigan niya… Medyo sensitive ‘yung issue at maraming naka-relate. I hope I was able to give justice doon sa nararamdaman ni Brax kagaya ng ibang nanonood.”
Viral Scandal team finished lock-in taping in December of last year but they kept in touch since. They bond virtually via group chat and sometimes organize physical get-togethers like how Karina celebrated her recent birthday with her Sicat family Charlie, Dimples Romana, Miko Raval, and Louise Abuel. They’re also invited to special occasions hosted by their co-stars such as Dimples’ gender reveal party. Sky and Aljon recently met in a campaign rally, and the fun thing is fans are shipping them and now calling them by character names.
It’s getting harder to fight the ‘sepanx’ as finale nears. Their final media conference and ‘final walk,’ which viewers need to watch out for, reminded Karina, and this probably speaks for Sky and Aljon as well, that the show is finally closing. And, if anything, they must proud how they’re ending on a high note.
The trio is overflowing with gratitude to their co-stars, directors, the creatives, and the viewers who’ve been with them from start to finish.
Don’t miss the remaining scandalous episodes of Viral Scandal, weeknights, on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, and A2Z.