Taking on the role of the school queen bee, Marla Briones, in iWant’s new series Miss Behave, actress Alexa Ilacad said that her real-life personality actually worked for her in playing the smart and headstrong alpha female in her group. In the show, Alexa leads a group of girls who plot revenge against male students when their scandalous private content mysteriously spreads across campus.
“One thing about me, I think people can tell naman, palaban naman talaga ako. At bukod sa palaban, ang word of my life ngayon ay matapang ako. So that’s what I had to channel for Miss Behave. Kailangan ko siyang tapangan. Kung gagawin ko ito, it’s all in or nothing at all,” Alexa said during the iWant media con for the series.
More than just being a series about girls who experience trauma and humiliation after having nude photos leaked to the world, Alexa shared what was the inspiration for her and the entire production while shooting the series.
“Everybody who was here, we have a goal. We have a purpose kung bakit namin ito ginagawa, kung bakit namin kailangan galingan ayusin. It’s not just for the art, but it’s also for all the victims, for all the girls who had this happening to them na something important taken away from them, having their voices taken away from them.
"And also for all the people na feeling nila maybe they’re not ready to speak up, they’re not ready to fight back. Yun yung sinusubukan namin gawin, sinusubukan namin lumaban para sa kanila, with our dialogue, with how we treat each and every scene. We treat it so delicately. And full of heart talaga. Again, everything with a purpose and a goal,” she explained.
READ: Alexa Ilacad on her first kissing scene with JC Alcantara: ‘I was feeling very nervous!’
Miss Behave deals with some heavy emotions, which Alexa admitted was a big acting challenge for her and the rest of the cast.
“It was very emotionally challenging for me kasi we had to dive so deeply into our emotions. I had to tap traumas I thought I had locked away before. I had to open up so many parts of myself and my heart na could be very, very draining talaga since we do it so often. Kaya si direk, he dives with us. He dives with us. Sasamahan niya kami. He takes us through the process or through the journey of our characters. So lagi namin ginagawa yun. Sama-sama naming ginagawa yun.
"And when the scene is done, sama-sama din kaming parang nagpapagpag. Kasi hindi naman siya yung agad-agad kang makakabitaw, especially if it’s so real to you. Siyempre, that’s what we try to give di ba? Real. Raw. Kaya nga kahit ang hirap, kahit ang sakit, talagang we tap into our own traumas talaga eh, dun sa pinagdaanan namin, kung paano kami makakarating dun sa character namin, kung paano namin mabibigay yung emotions na pinagdadaanan namin. Ang hirap po talaga,” she admitted.
READ: Alexa Ilacad portrays her boldest role in iWant’s new original “Miss Behave”
Miss Behave stars Alexa Ilacad, Xyriel Manabat, JC Alcantara, Akira Morishita, Raven Rigor, LA Santos, Zach Castaneda, Reign Parani, Andi Abaya, Rans Rifol, and Zach Guerrero. Directed by Ivan Andrew Payawal. Miss Behave is now available for streaming, only on iWant.