SANYA Lopez feels so blessed to be chosen as the new leading lady of Gabby Concepcion in the new GMA TV series, “First Yaya”, playing the title role no less. She will replace Marian Rivera who begged off after she learned that the show’s taping will be locked in and she felt she cannot bear to be taken away from her two kids, Zia and Ziggy, for a long time.
“Hindi ko kaya,” Marian said. “Ang babata pa ng mga anak ko.” And GMA execs easily let her go, understanding her situation as a caring mom.
Now, her loss is Sanya’s gain. Sanya first gained fame as Danaya in the reboot of “Encantadia” then went on her own in soaps like “Haplos”, “Dahil sa Pag-ibig” and “Cain at Abel”. She says she couldn’t believe it when she was informed that she will be taking the place of Marian in “First Yaya”, a real breakout role, and she feels it a great honor to be paired with Gabby Concepcion no less.
Gabby plays the role of the country’s vice president who will later be elected as the President. He is a widower with two kids and Sanya will be playing the children’s yaya or nanny. Romance will later bloom between the president and the beautiful and smart yaya.
Also in the cast of “First Yaya” are Pancho Magno, Cassy Legaspi, Glenda Garcia and Ms. Pilar Pilapil as Gabby’s mom who will oppose his romance with a lowly yaya. This is under the direction of hitmaker L.A. Madridejos.
Sanya is really so fortunate as she has also started taping as the leading lady of Sen. Bong Revilla in “Agimat ng Agila”. “First Yaya” is scheduled to be seen daily while “Agimat ng Agila” is meant to be shown on weekends. Some actors might be idle because of the corona pandemic, but definitely not Sanya who has two big regular shows no less.
And she also has completed a new movie, “Isa Pang Bahaghari”, with a big cast headed by Nora Aunor and Phillip Salvador. She’s now even busier than her kuya, Jak Roberto, who has no regular show at the moment.
Ian doesn’t mind playing dad to three kids
IAN Veneracion was introduced as a child actor in the sitcom “Joey and Son” on Channel 9 in 1982 with Joey de Leon as his dad. Now, the tables have been turned after 38 years as it is now Ian who plays the dad in TV5’s new sitcom, “Oh My Dad”. And he has not just one but three kids, and they’re not children but all grown ups.
Ian doesn’t mind playing dad at all as he already has grown up kids in real life. In “Oh My Dad”, he is not even aware that he has kids. He sowed his wild oats as a young basketball player in the story, not knowing he sired kids with various women because he went to the United States after his career as a cager waned because of a sex scandal.
He returned to Manila after more than a decade and lives with his dad, Ariel Ureta. It is then that his three kids started showing and introducing themselves to him as the products of his wild and wanton days. First was Louise Abuel, the teen actor who won the Dhaka International Filmfest best actor for the socially relevant coming-of-age film “Edward”.
Then comes Sue Ramirez, a Kapamilya actress best known for the acclaimed film “Ang Babaeng Allergic sa Wifi”. Last one is Macoy Dubs, a former OFW in the Middle East named Mark Averilla who became a Youtube star for dubbing Hollywood films humorously like “The Devil Wears Prada” and “Mean Girls” into Tagalog.
“This comedy series is really a riot but it also imparts good family values about love and acceptance,” says Ian. “Lock-in ang taping namin so we got the chance to really know each other. Most of them, ngayon ko pa lang nakatrabaho but kasama rin namin dito si Dimples Romana as my love interest, pamangkin siya ni Gloria Diaz na neighbor namin. I’ve worked with Dimples before in the movie ‘Block Z’ kaya magka-vibes na kami.”
“Oh My Dad” is written by Alan Habon, directed by Jeffrey Jeturian who earlier made the long-running hit, “Be Careful with My Heart”, and produced by Atty. Joji Villanueva Alonso of Quantum Films who did the hit comedy, “Here Comes the Bride”, and the blockbuster award-winning romantic comedy “English Only, Please”.
Also in the cast are Ynez Veneracion, Adrian Lindayag, Gerard Acao, Fino Herrera, Marx Topacio, Viveika Ravanes and Paolo Ohara. The show will air starting October 24, Saturday, at 5 PM.
