Working women wiser in ‘D Originals’

D’ Originals, a new series about women empowerment especially based on real stories of infidelity that aim to help wives become wiser in love, introduces the comedy-drama genre in the  GMA Afternoon Prime block series. This is a fresh strategy in what used to be straight drama block from Monday to Friday, and it starts on Monday, April 17, 2017.
Helmed by award-winning director Adolf Alix Jr. and written by Conan Altatis, Jaclyn Jose as Josie, Kim Domingo as Sofia and  LJ Reyes as Marge play the “original wives” with strange love stories. They act opposite Jestoni Alarcon as Lando, Mark Herras as Caloy and Archie Alemania  as Art. Katrina Halili as Yvette, Meg Imperial as Alice and Lovely Abella as Cristina are the mistresses.

THE ORIGINAL COUPLES. With her knack, versatility and in-depth understanding of her audience, Jaclyn became the first Southeast Asian to win Best Actress at the 69th annual Cannes Film Festival for portraying the title role in Brillante Mendoza’s Ma’ Rosa.
Jaclyn also starred in the GMA Network shows A1 Ko Sa ‘Yo and Alyas Robin Hood, which also starred Andrea Torres, Dingdong Dantes and Miss World 2013 Megan Young. She returns to the small screen playing an almost stereotypical housewife named Josie Magpayo in the D’ Originals. 
And when she entered the media huddle for D’ Originals, this diva status was immediately discernible. Wearing red chiffon and her beautiful eyes hidden by aviator shades, she was last to enter and sat in the middle of the long table. As the conference progressed, plated food was delivered to her, which she continued to nibble as the rest of the cast occupied themselves with the ongoing conference.
Kim Domingo as Sofia is a Zumba instructor and the girlfriend of Art. Watch for the things she does to catch her husband doing it with other women. She has to be professional and know how to execute the scenes because there are times when it gets physical.
LJ Reyes as Marge, on the other hand, tries to hold her family together and, while busy with that, she has problems with her own family. She will also have issues with her friends and their relationships.
She enjoys meddling with their lives and always get involved in situations that are very difficult for a woman. There’s seduction, there’s life that happens, but you always have to do the right thing.
Jestoni Alarcon as Lando is the most senior of the handsome guys. He plays a man who owns a security agency and whose primary love no doubt is Josie (Jaclyn Jose), but the itch attacks him after 25 years into the relationship. Jestoni has no extramarital affairs in real life being the ideal man that he is.
Mark Herras as Caloy got back to the Philippines from his job as a singer from a different country. He didn’t have a job or savings and left at home a lot of times so that’s why he had a relationship too. Life is crazy. He has a partner who doesn’t meddle so they don’t have problems. He just needs to find the single ladies. In real life, he is now a one-woman man planning to tie the knot with his girlfriend in the next couple of years as he tries to improve his finances.
Art, who is an artist, plays around with two women because they can’t help it. He is shocked that there are men that do this. He needs a one-day sensual workshop with Marge and Sofia. He says he used to be an ex-womanizer, but has reformed since he turned Christian.
Alice is the sexy star who’s had a past with Art trying to rekindle their romance as she tries not to get caught by the original one. There are a lot of reasons why there are women who go to lengths to be the other woman, but they have their reasons.
Katrina Halili as Yvette is the other woman who’s going to make Lando’s life a living hell. And she frequently engages Josie in a word war like the scene where she labels her as a “balyena” (“Isang balyenang daig pa ang inagawan ng oxygen sa dagat kaya nagwawala at nagkikikisay!”) and Josie gets back by calling her “anaconda” (“Maganda, lush, green —  kulay ahas!”)
Josie evens out, “Oo balyena ako. Sinisiguro ko sa iyo, hahampasin ka ng buntot ko… sa mukha mo!”
Josie and Lando’s son is Mikoy Morales who’s exploring his sexuality and is also having problems. He’s got a relationship with Elyson de Dios’s character Darenn (of which he says is a straight guy but does go into relationships with gay men).
They represent the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, but it will be discussed more on the relationship of Mikoy coming out to his parents, how judgmental people are and the difficulties of maintaining their relationship.
He adds, “Our relationship is a little on the cute side, being a little too young as well (16-year-old boy); even if we don’t have physical contact, it is our affinity with our family that matters.”
Claui is Tim’s youngest sister whilst Arnie Ross plays Precious who will also make matters worse as she partners with Yvette.
 
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT. Adolf describes it: “The cast is different, we have a lot. The story is well-researched and we interviewed real wives and other women who went into these relationships. You know, there are incidents like these seen in social media.
“You find it funny, but if you think about it, these are real people. When someone watches TV and they emphasize with the characters, they would really watch it. It’s still a soap and based in emotions, and we make sure there are real situations.
“If it’s the rivalry between the other woman and the original one, it would end early, but there are family issues, domestic problems. We still need to discuss that other than just putting them on the spot.
“We have families and we can identify with the woman characters, limited time and budget. But this series needs the emotions and characters and we move on to the next. I hope people understand the characters and what left them to do it.
“There are rehearsals, we talk about that how to execute. I enjoy making this a lot because I know how to handle them, being I’ve done soaps with them in the past,” he sums up.
This series on contemporary relationship teaches that bad things happen to people involved with a lot of women. It is definitely something important for Philippine television that all genders must watch and follow as it will give new insights into the issue. When perceived in the correct perspective, it will be more than a comedy.