“Encantadia” director Mark Reyes (center) with the stars of the new teleserye (from left): Ruru Madrid, Gabbi Garcia, Glaiza de Castro, Kylie Padilla, Sanya Lopez and Rocco Nacino / (PHOTO BY GERARD PAREJA)
THE WORLD of Encantadia with its flying dragons and enchanted beings bestowed with supernatural powers will began casting spells in each household starting June 18, airing its first episode after more than a decade of wait.
According to Director Mark Reyes, the series comeback is a requel which means it is a remake of Encantadia that will also double as a sequel, with new actors breathing life into the roles by new young artists.
So what could have cost to bring it back? And for a director, who also helmed its first staging that was made 11 years ago, how will it be different from its first production, changed to fit for the preference of the many?
During the first media briefing held in Cebu City, Direk Mark revealed that it was hard to deal with the pressure since the first series has been a definite hit, some Filipinos are even watching it on iFlix still.
“Coming up with the reboot of the series is difficult since we have to compete with ourselves,” shared Direk Mark to the Cebu media during the press conference last July 2.
He said that some imperfections from the 2005 production needed to be corrected, as well as the lifeline of the characters of Ynang Reyna Minea to be played by Marian Rivera (originally by Dawn Zulueta) and Hagorn, the lead antagonist who will be played by John Arcilla (originally by Pen Medina).
Some characters were added to the plot including the role of Sunshine Dizon, who played the feisty sang’gre Pirena in the original.
“It was very difficult because again, 2005 Encantadia is still on iFlix so when you look at it, that is when will make you realize how it’s still iconic and is timeless for some reason,” he said.
Direk Mark said there were two attempts — in 2009 and in 2013 — to bring “Encantadia” back to primetime television, and yet the idea was put aside, until later last year 2015 when the HBO series “Game of Thrones” became such a huge hit among Filipinos.
With barely four months of preparation, the four sister-warriors who are now ready to become a weeknight habit and guard the four gems representing the four kingdoms of Encantadia namely the Adamya (gemstone of water), Sapiro (gemstone of earth), Hathoria (gemstone of fire) and Lireo (gemstone of air), which is also the home of the royal blood diwatas.
On Tuesday night, the full trailer of “Encantadia” was released during GMA-7’s 24 Oras.
Also revealed were the four sang’gres in full battle gear.
GLAIZA de Castro (Pirena) / (PHOTO BY GERARD PAREJA)
Glaiza de Castro will breathe life into the character of the vindictive keeper of fire, Pirena; Kylie Padilla for Amihan, the keeper of air; Gabbi Garcia for Alena, the keeper of the gem of water and Sanya Lopez for Danaya as the keeper of the gem of the earth.
“It’s hard to catch lightning in a bottle twice, but I think we were able to do that again with this ‘Encantadia’ cast. It was a four months of audition, they did not only appear in one audition. We have to choose the right people for the right role,” said Direk Mark.
But he admitted that Glaiza and Kylie had been his first choices for the roles of Pirena and Amihan, respectively while Sanya and Gabbi auditioned for theirs.
“I’m very passionate about it (Encantadia). If you want to be in this role, you have to be in shape, you think you cannot think follow the life of being armor,” shared Direk Mark adding that all of the cast had to step up their lifestyle and gain muscle to wield the sword or the weapon of choice of their character.
Rocco Nacino, who plays the role of Aquil, shared that he himself had to train and prepare to be physically fit despite his background in martial arts.
“This is challenging of course, di pa rin biro. It’s different when you are competing and fighting and when you want to make a fight scene look good on television,” he said.
For Sanya, a fresh face in showbiz, portraying the role of Danaya required that she learns arnis, as well as be physically fit especially for the fight scenes.
“Wala talaga akong alam sa arnis, unexpectedly nakuha ko ‘yung role,” she shared.
For love team Gabbi and Ruru, who will play the role of Alena and Ybarro, both of them had to get involved in physical activities to get themselves going.
“I was never a sporty girl. I really don’t run, di ako nagda-diet. With ‘Encantandia,’ I had to run in the morning and it’s not a sacrifice, it’s a step up, not for Alena but from my old lifestyle. I even had a crash course in martial arts, do the basics of arnis. I have to really catch up and do my best effort,” said Gabbi.
Glaiza and Kylie, for their part, had to do the extra mile, trying to convert the pressure to a challenge to perform their best for Encantadia.
“Sinabi ko sa sarili ko di ko panonoorin ang original kasi ma-kocompare ko talaga. Alam ko I’m gonna fail this, I won’t be true to my heart and character if gagayahin ko lang si Ate Iza (who formerly played Amihan), I just read the script and internalize, that’s how I deal with pressure,” she said.
Glaiza, who already played several bida-kontrabida roles said that she opted to watch the first Encantadia, and though pressured to interact with Sunshine (formerly Pirena) who is also in the cast, she makes it to a point to transform the energy to a challenge to perform better.
“So far, may pressure kumbaga positive na ‘eh. Kasi nakikita mo pursigido lahat, ulitin ang take, to perform better,” said Glaiza.
Direk Mark says he always reminds his cast to treat everyone as a family and to establish a strong bond that has been instrumental in making the earlier production of “Encantadia” a success.
SANYA Lopez (Danaya) / (PHOTO BY GERARD PAREJA)
Just like the premise of “Encantadia,” where the series revolves around the family and sisterhood of the four sang’gres in the kingdom of Lireo, the cast should also do the same.
“You take out the gems, take out the costumes, basically there are only four sisters trying to prove their selves and trying to unite a family that is disjointed. Sila-sila nag-aaway, it’s very Pinoy,” said director Mark.
One of the scenes which director Mark considers as the heart of the series is the confrontation where the four sisters would fight against each other, when Pirena revolts against Lireo.
“Their characters are basically the four facets of women that will make ‘Encantadia’ work because that is their core pillars, where they will eventually learn to love and grow together and choose family over ambition,” said Director Mark.
The new staging of “Encantadia” will feature mostly fight scenes, portray chaos before diving into romance and drama.
“It is like a movie on weeknights. Sana we don’t disappoint them. Sana we can have the energy to keep it up as long as we can, hopefully the remake and sequel part sumunod sila sa amin,” said Direk Mark adding that they will take advantage of technology advancement and high definition filming for the fantaserye.