Melissa to show more daring side in ‘Nasaan Ka, Elisa?’
After years of playing supporting roles on television, young Kapamilya actress Melissa Ricks finally lands what could be her biggest project yet—the titular role of the ABS-CBN newest afternoon soap opera, "Nasaan Ka, Elisa?" Here, Melissa plays Elisa Altamira, the daughter of a business tycoon who suddenly goes missing.
"Nasaan Ka, Elisa" is actually a remake of the Chilean telenovela "Dónde Está, Elisa?" produced by Telemundo. The show has been aired and remade in countries such as the United States and Spain, among others.
In an interview with Yahoo! Southeast Asia during the show's press screening last Tuesday, March 8, Melissa said she was surprised when ABS-CBN offered her the role of Elisa.
"When it was offered to me, hindi ko alam na brand pala sya ng mga teleserye na ginagawa sa Latin America. So nung nalaman ko itong remake, sobrang natuwa ako and pinanood ko yung some episodes of the original. I'm thankful na binigay sa akin ito ng ABS-CBN kasi I never asked for a lead role," she said.
Melissa added, "I just wanted work, I just wanted a nice role na mapapasaya yung mga sumusuporta sa akin pero this is so much na binigay sa akin. So talagang excited ako. And at the same time kinakabahan kasi it's a different kind of role and it's a different kind of character."
In terms of difficulty, Melissa would rank "Nasaan Ka, Elisa?" a "12," in a scale of one to 10.
"This is a role na is so far from what I've done. Lahat ng di ko ginagawa dati, gagawin ko sa role na ito. Kahit ako, natatakot ako bago ko gawin yung mga eksena, pero pag (gagawin ko na), inhale na lang ako na maganda naman yung kinakalabasa," she said.
Her last project before "Nasaan Ka, Elisa?" was the Piolo Pascual-starrer "Noah." While most of her previous projects made her play supporting roles, she was one of the lead stars of the 2008 afternoon soap "Kambal sa Uma" with Shaina Magdayao.
At 21, Melissa said her family understands she has to portray characters that are far from her previous sweet and "pa-tweetum" roles.
"Siguro with age rin comes the maturity sa mga roles. Kailangan I have to move up din naman. From pa-sweet, kailangan mag move up din naman," she said.
But is Jake Cuenca just as understanding?
"Basta pag may trabaho, kanya kanya kami. Whatever he knows, kanya yun. What I do, akin yun. Walang bawal," Melissa said. "Ito yung pinasok naming trabaho. With this work, pag kailangan ng istorya, kailangan naming gawin."
"Nasaan Ka, Elisa?" premieres this March 21 on ABS-CBN.
