At 31 years old, Ria Atayde is now more inclined to take on projects that will push the boundaries of her acting prowess.
One of the paths she's presently exploring involves being receptive to taking on more provocative roles.
In her ongoing TV series "Nag Aapoy Na Damdamin," Ria shared some intimate scenes with onscreen partner, Tony Labrusca.
What was her real-life boyfriend Zanjoe Marudo's response to it?
Nothing.
Ria mentioned that she and Zanjoe actually don't talk about it.
"Hindi namin pinag-uusapan. I really just put myself in his shoes na kung kunwari ako yun, hindi ko na lang siya i-oblige. Ayokong isipin niya. So di ko na tinatanong," she said.
"I feel like everybody has different ways to deal with scenes like that. Kasi kung ako rin yung nasa posisyon parang pipiliin ko na lang wag panoorin para hindi ko na lang ma-isip. Basta alam niya na nangyayari yung mga ganung scenes."
How did her family react?
Note that the showbiz royalty is the offspring of veteran actress Sylvia Sanchez and the sibling of seasoned actor Arjo Atayde.
According to Ria, the male members of their family didn't watch the episodes.
"Like mga pinsan kong lalaki, tatay ko, kapatid ko. Okay lang. Merited naman. Valid... Tsaka I'm 31 na. Parang come on, it's 2023."
Ria also believes that it wasn't a significant issue for those around her, considering she had already posed as a calendar girl for a liquor brand earlier this year.
"Feel ko rin kasi it came at that time that I already... na-expose ko na rin yung sarili ko na capable ako or open ako to do things like that. I mean, I did pose for White Castle and I feel like that on its own is already medyo nagpapakita na willing ako to do things like that. So parang okay lang."
Was it challenging for her to perform those intimate scenes?
Well, Ria is just grateful that her rapport with Tony makes the process more comfortable for her.
So, can her fans anticipate seeing her in more projects of this nature, we inquired.
"I want to take it a project at a time. Kung ire-require yun ng project pag-iisipan ko. Pero hindi para yun na yung maging track ng career ko. I'm very happy being a character actress. I'm very happy portraying characters na pwedeng safe, pwedeng hindi. So kung kailangan ng character ko nu'ng ganu'n willing naman ako. As long as it's within the bounds of my comfortability."
How about the possibility of her and Zanjoe sharing the screen in the future?
"I mean right now, we're still enjoying outside of it. I don't know. If we get there, we'll get there," she remarked.
If anything, she's keeping her options open.
"Go lang. Pag-usapan namin. Depende talaga kung maganda naman po siguro yung materyal, game naman po."
In the meantime, when questioned about their relationship, Ria reassured that everything is fine between them.
If Zanjoe is indeed the one, the Kapamilya star emphasized, "I wouldn't invest this much time if I didn't think he was."
What's their plan or timeline for settling down?
"Ayoko po ng timeline. Basta day by day tayo. Right now, I'm enjoying life in general."
Ria's afternoon drama series, where she plays the role of Melinda, intensifies further approaching the inevitable face-off of her character with other lead stars Jane Oineza (Olivia/ Claire), JC De Vera (Philip), and Tony (Lucas).
The new chapter airs from Mondays to Fridays at its new time of 3:45 pm on various platforms including Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, iWantTFC, TFC, A2Z, and TV5.