When Eula Valdes was offered to reprise the role of Jo Alicante—popularized by actress-director Laurice Guillen in Flordeluna in the early ‘80s—for the new soap opera Maria Flordeluna, she was both excited and nervous.
"Napanood ko kasi ‘yung Flordeluna noon at ang galing-galing ni Laurice doon. Simple lang ang atake niya sa role, pero matindi talaga ang impact," starts Eula during the mini-press con of Maria Flordeluna yesterday at the 9501 restaurant, ELJ Bldg, in ABS-CBN.
"Pero bago malito ang mga tao dito, this is Maria Flordeluna. Same characters na nakilala noon, pero ibang Jo Alicante ang mapapanood nila dito. This is not a remake. Mula ito sa radio series noong ‘70s at hindi yung napanood natin sa TV noon," she continues.
This is also the first time that Eula is paired with Albert Martinez.
"Bale ako yung second wife niya after ‘Elvira' [played by Vina Morales]. Kung may similarities kami ni Jo Alicante sa totoong buhay? Siguro yung pagiging straightforward namin. Ako kasi yung taong ayaw ng paliguy-ligoy. Sasabihin ko agad kung ano ang gusto ko," says Eula.
Playing husband and wife, will there be a love scene between her and Albert?
Eula giggles, "Malapit na! Pero grabe ang pagka-professional ni Albert. If there's a scene na medyo intimate, nagpapaalam muna ‘yan kung puwede ba. Ganoon ka-gentleman si Albert."
And speaking of being a wife and a mother, Eula says that she no longer plans to have another baby.
"Okay na sa akin na may isang lalaki at isang babae na akong anak. Actually, malayo nga ang age gap nila. My eldest [Miguel] is 12 years old and two years old lang yung bunso ko [Juliana]. Tama na siguro yun at mahirap ang buhay!" laughs the talented actress.
Eula is married to businessman Richard Litonjua, who used to work in Australia as an engineer. Richard recently came back to the Philippines and decided to settle here to be with Eula and their daughter, Juliana. Eula's other child, Miguel, is her son with former live-in partner Ronnie Quizon.
Aside from ABS-CBN's Maria Flordeluna, Eula is also busy with the restaging of the musical play ZsaZsa Zaturnnah, which she originally portrayed last year.
The actress admits she has not seen ZsaZsa Zaturnnah Ze Moveeh, the movie version of the musical play. Zsa Zsa Padilla portrayed the role of the title character.
"Baka kasi magaya ko yung acting doon. After siguro ng musical play, panonoorin ko na yung movie version," says Eula about the 2006 Metro Manila Film Festival entry.