“It is,” she says. “And I’m glad kasi later sa show, I’ll leave our kingdom, Yangdon, to go to Manila and that’s where I’d get the chance to wear the outfits that I got for ‘Alta’.”
Gretchen demurred when writers asked her about the rumor that her teen daughter Dominique got preggy. “I hope you don’t mind but I’d rather just talk about my career and not my family. I’d like to keep my private life, private. I also don’t want to say anything about my daughter as I’m not here for that purpose but for ‘The Princess and I’. Rumors are just rumors. Basta I’m so happy that because of this show, nakarating ako sa Bhutan, a very beautiful country land-locked kingdom surrounded by Mt. Everest and other tall mountains. I also love my role as Ashi Behati, the queen.”
Doesn’t she mind playing a villain role to Albert Martinez whose throne she wants to usurp? “The truth is mabait siya. Why she’s behaving that way will be properly explained kasi may back story siya which is the reason why maraming galit na kimkim sa puso niya. You’ll understand her better as the show goes on. Mahirap maging queen as you have to control your emotions, kailangang restrained acting lagi, pero firm, strong. Buti na lang I took acting workshops kay Direk Laurice (Guillen) to prepare me for this demanding role.”
She went to Bhutan with Albert, Kathryn, Precious Lara Quigaman who plays Albert’s wife and Enrique Gil who plays her son Jao. “We had a lot of time bonding with each other kasi during the day lang kami puede mag-shoot as we don’t have the lights required for shooting at night. Both Kathryn and Enrique are very young but they’re both very focused on their careers. Di gaya ko when I started na parang naglalaro lang. Now kasi, the competition is more stiff sa dami ng artista. But it’s easy to na they both have a good future as actors as they both love their craft and very serious about what they do.”
