SO where does someone like Marian Rivera go after the phenomenal success of her teleserye, Marimar? For someone who reinterpreted the title role of the iconic soap first made famous by Mexican star Thalia in the Eighties, it seems like the sky’s the limit. In Marian’s case, however, this means plumbing new and watery depths.

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While the dagat theme continues as Marian plays the even more iconic Dyesebel, one of komiks legend Mars Ravelo’s more enduring creations, she updates the mermaid tale in the wake of screen sirenas like Vilma Santos, Alma Moreno and Charlene Gonzales.

Even director Joyce Bernal, the first woman to helm a Dyesebel movie, admits to the pressure of doing a soap in the wake of Marimar’s success and the physical demands of shooting in and around water.

“Believe me, it is not easy to direct this soap, madugo!” she confesses.

She continues, “Let me share how difficult is our shoot. For the opening segment alone, we need three set-ups. We have a live set, yung sa dagat mismo. Then we have a pool, then you have a CGI set up na dapat CHROMA, and executing all of them, kaloka! With the live set up, you have to contend with the elements, you are at the mercy of the wave, the coldness of the water and the stamina of the actors.”

But, she admits, “I have no one else to blame but myself. Siempre, me and my big mouth ano! After Marimar, after realizing that they were fully accepted by the Filipino public, you immediately want a follow up project. If we cannot make a movie, I was hoping for another TV show. Sabi ko nga, ano pa ba ang pwede nating ipakita na di pa natin nakikita? It dawned upon me that we have not seen the lighter side of them. So, it excited me very much to do something like my former movies, yung mga kababawan lang, mga pakilig. I feel that it will be wonderful to display a lighter side of Dingdong and Marian.”

Marian herself agrees. “We all agreed that we have to give something new to the public. We want them to see a different facet of our team up. As you can see, we changed how we look, and the story of Fredo and Dyesebel is totally poles apart from Sergio and Marimar. If the Spanish inspired drama somehow was realistic, this one is more of a fantasy love story. Hopefully, our fans and the loyal Kapuso viewers will embrace and love our new characters. I promise them that Fredo and Dyesebel will not disappoint.”

The lore of Dyesebel

Dyesebel was born to a mermaid-obsessed mother who while pregnant, obsessively looked at a calendar filled with mermaids. When her baby was born with fishtail instead of legs, this promptly resulted in domestic tragedy. The baby is then considered a curse until she discovers and thrives in her underwater home with other mermaids and mermen. What she had to go through for love of the human Fredo is what makes her story timeless.

“Dyesebel is a very naughty character, with a slight rebellious streak,” Bernal says. “She does not have the natural comeliness of Marimar; what she has is an innocence that is very endearing and Marian does it perfectly.

“With regard to Fredo, I know that in the past, he was nothing more but a human décor so we fixed the character. After Sergio, Dingdong of course cannot do something mediocre. Fredo now is more fleshed out, gearing towards a leading man for a romantic comedy part, snobbish, a little sinister but he still has a good heart. People will totally see a major Dingdong makeover and so far, he is very competent,” Bernal shares.

She says that both Marian and Dingdong also attended an “unlearning workshop.” This means both actors had to “erase” what Bernal calls “all the things they did in Marimar, the familiarity, the chemistry.” She explains: “We want them to start from zero. We do not want them to be so comfortable. We want them to rediscover each other and their characters.”

And yet, while Bernal and the TV team reshaped the characters and the story to their plot trajectories, the director says there were details that the heirs of creator Ravelo insisted on retaining. “We cannot alter or break the look of the mermaid, the manner in which Fredo and Dyesebel meet and their love story. Of course there will be some differences but we cannot veer away so much from the original.”

As to the question of how the director made sure there were no nip slips, Bernal replies, “We have been very careful. Super hair extension talaga to cover her chest, and we have a silicone cup to cover portions of the breast, and of course, we carefully choose the underwater shots.”

Marian Rivera gets comfortable with her tail

Marian says she trained for a mere seven days in a pool. “It was funny because inside the pool umiikot pa ako, nag-sa-side pa ako, but when we started to shoot sa dagat, it made me nervous,” she confesses. “It is not easy to swim with a fish tail on. At first, I just played around, tried to accustom myself with the waves and the sea temperature, so when I was already feeling comfortable with the surroundings and my fish tail, my dive instructor dinala nya ko sa ilalim, it was like 30 feet. That first time we submerged in the sea really helped me. It made me appreciate all the sea creatures and the corals, napakaganda sa ilalim ng dagat!”

She continues, “This is definitely a very challenging role. Aside from the swimming and the natural elements, I also have to see to it that I bring out the child in me. You see, Dyesebel is very carefree, innocent, and may pagka-pasaway, so I have to be credible in that respect.”

Does she have any unforgettable Palawan experience? “I had a scene na iniyakan ko talaga because I felt so wasted after the shoot. It is like this, every time I submerge myself in the water, the waves that were hitting me were too violent. Parang naglalaban yung gravity ko at yung force ng sea. After that take, I cried shamelessly. That time, I asked when can I have my legs back because that scene was way too taxing! However, once I’ve seen the playback, and it’s clear it was well executed, ang ganda lumabas sa screen, all that feeling of being tired and wasted vanished.

The objective, she emphasizes, is to give viewers a good show. “We want to make people happy.”

She also downplays the rumors that her success has gone to her head. “I just laugh off all the gossip about me. After all, they are baseless. The important thing is my conscience is clear. Wala akong sinagasaan or iniisnab na ibang tao, I am just happy and very thankful that I am doing Dyesebel.”

And the best thing about being Dyesebel?

“I am now an expert swimmer. Mayabang na ko ngayon on that aspect, dati di ako kagalingang mag-swim.”
Joining Dingdong and Marian in this grand telefantasya is a stellar cast including Jean Garcia, Wendell Ramos, Alfred Vargas, Lotlot de Leon, Paolo Ballesteros, Mylene Dizon, Teri Onor, Rufa Mae Quinto, Bianca King, Ricky Davao, Aljur Abrenica, Kris Bernal and a comebacking Hero Angeles.

Dyesebel through the years

THE most popular mermaid for people belonging to this generation is of course Ariel, the feisty princess of Disney animation, The Little Mermaid, loosely based on the Hans Christian Anderson fairytale. For earlier generations, it was Dyesebel, a komiks character created by Mars Ravelo in 1953.

Dyesebel was such a komiks hit, it made the equally successful transition to screen under the direction of, among others, the late great director and National Artist for Film Gerardo de Leon, Emmanuel Borlaza and Mel Chionglo.

Stars who have donned fishtails to essay the role were Edna Luna (Dysebel, 1953 and 1964), Vilma Santos (Si Dysebel at ang Mahiwagang Kabibe, 1973), Alma Moreno (Sisid, Dyesebel, Sisid, 1978), Judy Ann Santos and Carmina Villaroel as young Dyesebels (in 1990) and Charlene Gonzales in 1990. Ara Mina also played the title role in a cameo during the 2005 series Darna, another Ravelo creation.