Laurice in the hot seat

SHE’S BEEN behind the camera lots of times. As a director, she is considered one of the best.

But as an actress, Laurice Guillen is superb, and she’s proving that nightly with her performance as a local politician’s wife in Iisa Pa Lamang.

Frankly, says Laurice (who is married to actor Johnny Delgado and whose daughter, Ina Feleo, is also an up-and-coming actress), she was surprised to get the call from ABS-CBN to star in Iisa Pa Lamang. Although she is no newcomer to acting, the last teleserye she did was several years ago: the original Flordeluna which starred a very young Janice de Belen in the title role. Laurice played Jo Alicante, Flordeluna’s stepmother.

That was back in the early 80s.

Back then, TV dramas were much simpler. They were usually shot in a studio, with one camera, and without any sophisticated props.

In terms of stars, they usually had one or two big ones, while the rest were either character actors or relative unknowns.

Budgets were small, and producers didn’t have enough money to hire really big stars. There was also no sophisticated promo machinery in those days.

Having been introduced to and reared on this kind of system both as an actress and as a director, Laurice was surprised when the cameras started rolling on Iisa Pa Lamang, where she plays the mother of Gabby Concepcion.

Laurice thought that when she received the call from ABSCBN regarding Iisa Pa Lamang, that they wanted her to conduct an acting workshop for the cast.

Imagine Laurice’s surprise when she was told that it was for another purpose entirely. At first, Laurice wasn’t sure if she was ready for it.

“It’s been so long, and I thought I was already retired as an actress until they brought me back for this project,” she says.