Lalola Philippines is Amazing

Rhian Ramos stars in Lalola, and is elated about the success of the series. Lalola is currently the #1 rating program in the Philippines, and is a remake of the famous Argentinean telenovela about a man transformed into a woman.

Listen, GMA did a fantastic job on this telenovela. The Philippine version is amazing, they expanded the magic aspect of it to an entire Encantadia-like world, which really reflects Philippine culture and folklore, and I was blown away. Because in the original, it was just a boring fat old fortune teller that Lalo went to for 20 pesos. There was no other world, it was just about Lalo's life and the company. The fortune teller sat on her table, put a curse on Lalo, Lalo went to sleep that night, and woke up a woman the next day.
In the Philippine remake, they expanded the magic to an entire universe upon itself complete with it's own storyline (which if you didn't know wasn't in the original) and that was amazing in itself. There are three sisters, one of them was one of Lalo's conquests. There was a whole storyline of Lalo being seduced by Iza Calzado's character Sera. This never happened in the original. They also added a lot of more family aspects to the Philippine remake, and the relationships between fathers and daughters and stepsons, Facundo has a daughter in the Philippine version, he didn't in the Argentine version. I just feel like they added more heart to the Philippine remake on GMA, they added more kapuso.

They also film it in high-def, and it doesn't look like a telenovela (you know, the same side angles in a dimly light studio which is supposed to be a house), which is good. It looks like a film the way they shot it.

Also, they made Lalo's best friend gay in the Philippine version. He wasn't in the original, he was just a womanizing babaero like Lalo in the Argentine version. And Kempee is so great in his role, the interaction between him and Rhian is actually the best part of the series. There's like an entire friendship aspect of the Philippine version that also comes into play, I just feel like all of the characters were really fleshed out and became more three-dimensional in the Philippine version where as to be completely honest, Lalola the Argentinean version felt like Betty La Fea. In the Philippine version, it's different, the characters are deeper and more realistic. I just hope they don't overextend it.

Rhian also talked to the press about the possibility of joining a beauty pageant, and about how she feels about her Lalola leading man JC de Vera.

What did Rhian have to say about the success of Lalola?

"It's such a big deal kasi for me, to know na people appreciate the show and they watch it and they enjoy it. Like, people come up to me and say, 'I laugh so hard when I watch that show!' And I'm just so grateful."

And what about the talks of Rhian Ramos joining a beauty pageant, is the Filipina actress the next Miss Universe?

"That's something that's being talked about right now. And it's been raised...The conversation has been raised many times. Pero ano...it would be an honor for me, but I don't think na at the moment, right now, I don't think it can be part of the agenda. Kasi parang everything's happening right now and I don't wanna let it go..."

Were there awkward moments between her and JC?

"Siyempre, at first, because he's really quiet. I was surprised kasi about how quiet he was, kasi I've worked with him before, nag-uusap naman kami dati...konti. But I've never realized how quiet he was on set."

And what was their first conversation like?

"I was like, 'You okay?' He's like, 'Ay hindi, ganito lang talaga ako, sorry.' And then, he was very cool. Kapag kinausap mo, mahaba-habang kwentuhan."

Are Rhian and JC close now?

"Well, kasi for me, it takes quite a while to be...intimate is the wrong word... Parang, to share that closeness with someone, it takes a while for me to get to that level. But for now, we're really just taking it easy.

"We didn't really talk about, 'Oy, walang mangyayari, ha,' and 'Hoy, we have to be sweet.' Nothing like that. We're just taking it easy and going natural. I think I like it better that way, na some things remain unsaid and we just go with our instincts."

And how does Rhian rate JC as a leading man?

"Above and beyond my expectations, he's a 9! Kaya 9 dahil no one's perfect. Ayoko naman siyang i-ten. Hindi...Naku, yayabang iyan. He's a 9. Don't tell him."