Empoy (left) and Herlene Budol pose with trophies from New York Festivals TV and Film Awards. —HERLENE BUDOL/FACEBOOK Working with Empoy can be challenging, Herlene Budol admitted. But not for reasons one might expect.
It goes without saying that Empoy is an effective comedian—too effective, in fact, that Herlene ends up laughing in scenes where she shouldn’t. “Ang hirap po niyang katrabaho, sobrang hirap. His facial expressions make me laugh even if we’re doing a heavy scene where I have to cry,” the beauty queen-turned-actress said in recent video conference for the final week of GMA Public Affairs’ “Black Rider.
” In the primetime action series, which ends on July 26, Herlene plays a battered wife named Pretty. She later on finds an admirer in the motorcycle rider Oka (Empoy), who later convinces her to pretend to be his wife to please his dying father. Their relationship eventually blossoms.
READ: Herlene Budol has proven herself in pageantry despite weak English skills, says Wilbert Tolentino “When I look at him, I can’t help but break character. I become a fan girl. Bata pa lang kasi ako, napapanood ko na ang isang Empoy.
His smallest movements and nuances bring out my real personality,” Herlene said. Their characters’ amusing cat-and-mouse dynamic surprisingly earned them not a few fans who think they have chemistry together. “In terms of chemistry, our director Rommel Penesa, would tell me, ‘Meron talaga.
’ I’d reply, ‘Talaga ba, Dire.