Even at a young age, Barbie Imperial has already mastered the art of ignoring, shall we say, the legion of doom.
Barbie Imperial
“Sanay na po ako sa ganyan,” she told Bulletin Entertainment. “’Pag galing naman po ng (reality search) ‘PBB’ ganu’n na talaga. Kahit naman po wala kayong gawin sa loob ng bahay ni kuya lalabas at lalabas pa rin na may mga tao na huhusga sayo.”
Recall that during her stint on “Pinoy Big Brother 737” she was the first housemate who got eliminated after only two weeks on the show.
She now laughs at the thought the the bashing online drove her to tears at one point.
“So nu’ng nasanay na po ako, tatlong taon na po dito sa showbiz, parang wala na lang,” she related. “So ’pag may mga ganu’n babasahin ko talaga, hindi ko talaga iba-block or imu-mute kasi nasanay na po ako sa mga ganu’ng salita nila kaya parang wala ng dating sa akin."
She now uses the insults and harsh comments to motivate herself to become a better person and better at her craft. Smart girl...
Unexpected blessing
She is thankful to have gotten her first lead role on "Precious Hearts Romances (PHR)."
Asked how she feels that it took this long for her to snag a lead part, Barbie shrugged her shoulders.
“Okay lang naman po ’yun,” she said. “Ako naman po siyempre may mga kaibigan naman po ako dito sa showbiz na pinapaalala nila sa akin lagi na hindi ganu’n kabilis (sumikat.) I mean nasa baba ka so kailangan mong magsimula na nasa baba ka lang tapos patas ng pataas.”
She added: “Ako naman po sa buhay ko naman, personally, sanay naman akong maghintay talaga. Kumbaga sa mga nauudlot na show eh masakit siya pero sinanay po ako ng mama ko na kung hindi binigay sayo baka may iba talaga para sayo.
"And ako po naniniwala ako na kung ang isang bagay ay hindi pa dumadating sayo baka hindi pa talaga ’yun ’yung oras mo, hindi pa ’yun ’yung tamang oras.”
Now that her time has come, Barbie couldn’t contain her happiness.
“Sobrang saya ko kasi dati nga po masaya na ako kapag nakakapagsalita ako sa isang teleserye. Kaya sobrang thankful and happy po ako kasi hindi naman po lahat nabibigyan ng chance talaga na mabigyan ng ganitong klaseng break.”
Kind words
Meanwhile, the head of RSB Drama Unit Ruel Santos Bayani revealed that aside from personally choosing JM de Guzman to top-bill the show, he also did the same to Barbie among the auditionees.
Ruel explained that he picked a new comer to lead his drama even after the success of their last project, “Wildflower.”
“Kasi nagkaroon po kami ng mahabang audition process. We had so many girls na nag-VTR until umabot po ng eight. So ako, hindi ko muna tinitingnan sa kung sikat ba kasi ang hinahanap ko ’yung kamukha nang character sa book,” he noted. “Kasi I think ganu’n dapat kung sino ’yung nasa book dapat ’yung essence nu’n ’yun ang mahanap.”
“So nu’ng nakita ko siya (Barbie) sabi ko ‘Siya’ tapos sabi nila ‘Ah kaya niya ba?’ sabi ko ‘Hindi ko alam.’ ‘Ready na ba siya?’ ‘Mas lalong hindi ko alam’ but you see, ’yan ang buhay, kailangan mong sumugal,” he added.
He said he is always ready to take risks if he truly believes on his bet.
“Handa akong sumugal sa pagbabalik ni JM. Handa ako sumugal sa paglo-launch kay Barbie kasi naniniwala ako sa proyekto at para sa akin sapat na ’yun – ang maniwala sa vision ng project para isipin na maganda ’yung kalalabasan nu’n,” he maintained.
Ruel promised Barbie will be able to prove she deserves the break.
“I’m very confident that we made the right choice with every member of the casts as well as the staff. Tama ang pagkakabuo para maibigay ang pinaka magandang produktong maaari naming maibigay,” he said.
One of the othe directors, Theodore Boborol, agreed that Barbie really shows how she dedicated and passionate she is to get the role.
“She really underwent workshops just for the role and aminado siya nu’ng siya ’yung in-announce maraming nag-react na ‘Bakit siya?’ So ang gusto ko sa batang ’to she is really determined to prove to everyone that she deserves the role,” he shared.
According to Theodore, among the sacrifices Barbie made was giving up a lot of time to attend different workshops for dancing, acting, etc.
“Lahat na ginawa niya para sa role,” he noted. "Kaya makikita talaga sa show ’yung improvement niya from her first acting experience hanggang sa ‘Araw Gabi.’ Alam mong iba ’yung improvement so tama po ’yung desisyon ni RSB na siya po.”
Mature role
The first offering of PHR is titled “Araw Gabi” based on the local romance pocket book novel “El Paraiso” by Martha Cecilia.
Barbie said her role is very different from her previous characters. This time, she is required to shed her tweetums image and take the path of sexy.
Although only 19, she sees no problem with that at all.
“Tulad nga po ng pinaromise sa akin nila direk, sexy siya pero kapag ginagawa po namin ’yung mga eksenang ganu’n may limit po ’yung mga tao so okay po ako du’n kasi hindi po ako nababastos.”
But, yeah, she initially felt awkward thinking about the role.
“Kasi hindi nga po ‘di ako sanay sa ganu’ng role pero nag-workshop po kaming dalawa ni JM so nu’ng nag-taping po kami medyo okay naman po,” she said.
The love team partner
On working with JM, Barbie thanks the 29-year-old actor for helping her on-and off-cam.
She added that JM obtained another fan in her, as she admires the passion and dedication the actor puts into his work.
“Kasi before po nakasama ko na po siya sa ‘All Of Me,’ du’n ko po siya nakita kung paano po siya umarte, kung gaano siya kagaling ’yung tipong talagang ramdam mo ’yung sakit kahit wala po siyang sinasabi eh nakikita mo sa mata niya,” she said.
As for JM, he finds her “makulit na cute” and “masarap kausap at ka-eksena.”
How about Barbie’s first impression of JM?
“Masungit kasi hindi siya tumatawa masyado. Pero nakuha ko naman po ’yung kiliti niya kung paano,” she said. “Kumbaga sa taping po kasi minsan lang siya ‘di nag-smile. Si JM po kasi seryoso siyang tao.”
“Pero ang nangyari po kasi nasanay po ako na hindi niya ako pinapansin so ako na po ’yung pumapansin sa kanya. Ang ginawa ko isang beses---sa Batangas po kami nu’n---pinansin ko siya isang beses lang pero hindi ko siya kinulit hindi tulad ng dati na ‘Uy kamusta ’yung araw mo?’ Siguro hinanap-hanap niya ’yung ganu’n tapos sabi niya sa akin ‘Bakit hindi mo ako pinapansin?'” she added.
“Precious Hearts Romances Presents Araw Gabi” is on ABS-CBN’s Kapamilya Gold.
Also in the cast are Rita Avila, Vina Morales, Ara Mina, Raymond Bagatsing, RK Bagatsing, Jane Oineza, Phoebe Walker, Paolo Angeles, Ysabel Ortega, Victor Silayan, Arlene Muhlach, Eric Nicolas, and Joshua Colet.