After taking a five-year hiatus from teleseryes, fans of Arci Muñoz are surely delighted to see her back via the hit ABS-CBN Studios primetime action-drama series "Coco Martin's Sigabo." She portrays Police Lieutenant Maxene "Max" Jacinto—a fearless, disciplined, and highly skilled police officer from NLEA and the influential Jacinto family.
As we all know, Max is the older sister of Julia Montes' character Samantha "Sam" Jacinto, who—just like her, their father former PMGen Ricardo Jacinto (Edu Manzano), and their late brother RJ—serves in the law enforcement as one of the top agents of the National Crime Investigation Agency (NCIA).
While viewers are only beginning to witness Max's journey unfold, ABS-CBN Studios recently had the chance to catch up with Arci via this exclusive interview, where she talked about her stint in "Sigabo."
The talented actress began by sharing how much she enjoys working alongside Julia and the show's lead star-director, Coco Martin.
"Julia is my little sister and we get along too well, too much. We're having so much fun on set. With Direk Coco, such professionalism that I am striving to achieve as an actor. Kaya, I look forward to every single day that we shoot and I always tell that to my manager," she related. "We all just have fun but when it's time to work, we really work. Gano'n talaga."
With regard to her preparations before stepping into the scene, Arci revealed that she has been doing martial arts training by herself nowadays. However, she hopes to eventually return to boxing and undergo training with the stunt people from the show once their schedules align. While building strength and endurance is essential for her action sequences, Arci related that her approach to dramatic scenes is much more instinctive, explaining that she's "more of the moment or the emotion."
Although getting into her character and executing the scenes have come naturally for her since she has been surrounded by an exceptional powerhouse cast, Arci confessed that the biggest challenge of returning to teleseryes has actually been adjusting her body clock.
She further admitted that she used to have a hard time getting out of bed at around 4 in the morning after being accustomed to waking up whenever she pleased for quite some time. While it took some getting used to, she has since embraced the routine, saying it has instilled not only discipline in her work but in her everyday life as well.
Asked about the most challenging scenes she has filmed so far, Arci recounted three scenes—one with Coco and two with Julia. She initially mentioned the scene where Max visited the home of Gabo's family in Ginintuang Lupa as she tried to settle the issue surrounding the alleged involvement of the NLEA and the Jacinto family in the shooting of Gabo's father, Rudy (Joey Marquez), who remains in a coma. But instead of directly telling Gabo and his family, Max offered them financial assistance while making it appear that the donation came from a non-government organization she supposedly represents.
WATCH | Gabo, nahalata ang tangkang pakikipag-ayos at areglo ni Max | Sigabo
What made the scene especially unforgettable for Arci, however, was Coco's compelling performance. She confessed to feeling intimidated by his acting, conveying that simply looking into his expressive eyes was enough for her to genuinely feel the emotions of his character.
Meanwhile, with Julia, the first scene that came to her mind was the recent heated spat between their characters, as Max—being the ate—reprimanded Sam for once again disrespecting their dad, Ricardo, after he criticized the way her team handled the case of notorious gold-smuggling syndicate leader Victor "Tigre" Zafra (JM de Guzman).
WATCH | Sam, napaluha nang mabanggit ni Max ang nakaraan | Sigabo
She recounted how she found it difficult to scold Julia because she genuinely loves her and treats her like a younger sister off-camera. But Julia reassured her that it was definitely okay since it was all part of the job, allowing Arci to fully immerse herself in the emotionally charged scene.
Apart from that, Arci also found the bus robbery sequence remarkable because she was amazed by the sheer scale of the production and the massive crowd involved in filming it. More importantly, it was during that shoot when it finally sank in to her that she was officially back to acting after years away—and she couldn't be more grateful.
WATCH | Gabo, hindi napigilan at hinalikan si Sam | Sigabo
As for what's in store for Max, Arci playfully said that people should watch out for the upcoming episodes since even she doesn't have any idea about what's going to happen next, and she's actually just as excited as the viewers are to find out.
However, she teased that fans could expect more scorching confrontations between Max and Sam, as well as more encounters between Max and Gabo. She also hinted that viewers should brace themselves for even more intense scenes not only in Ginintuang Lupa, but inside the Jacinto household, too.
The exclusive interview concluded with Arci inviting everyone to continue following "Sigabo," saying, "Sana subaybayan n'yo po ang susunod na episodes dahil very exciting 'to!"
Don't miss the thrilling action, kilig romance, lighthearted moments, and gripping drama in the next episodes of "Coco Martin's Sigabo." Catch it weeknights at 8:00 PM on ABS-CBN sa ALLTV2, Kapamilya Channel, TV5, A2Z, Kapamilya Online Live (KOL), or stream anytime on iWant!
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