Rochelle Pangilinan says it takes her 2 days to break free from 'Pulang Araw' character

Rochelle Pangilinan has nothing but gratitude for the positive feedback “Pulang Araw” has been receiving, and the praise given to her for her role as Amalia.

In an interview with GMA News Online, the Sparkle star said that it feels like all of their hard work has paid off because of the viewers’ good reactions.

“Sobrang grateful na naa-appreciate ng lahat ng nanonood ng ‘Pulang Araw’ ‘yung konting mga eksenang ginawa ko doon. Thank you po. At ‘yung hirap kung paano namin ginawa ‘yon, worth it. Nakakawala ng pagod,” she said.

Rochelle shared that it takes her two days before she finally recovers from doing emotional scenes for the series.

“Nakaka-trauma ‘yung isang location, lalo na dun sa part ng comfort women, may trauma na ‘yung pakiramdam ko dun sa location namin na ‘pag nakikita ko, ‘Shocks, ang bigat nito,’” she said.

“First time ko din na nagkaroon ng character na nahihirapan akong kumalas ‘pag pauwi ng bahay. So, mahaba-haba, kailangan two days bago ako kumalas doon sa character ni Amalia. First time,” Rochelle added.

Among the things she does to address this is working out and playing with her daughter, Shiloh.

“Pinapagod ko ‘yung sarili ko. Tapos ‘yung attention ko, talagang iniiba ko. Minsan nagwa-wine ako para lang kumalma. Minsan nakikipaglaro naman ako kay Shiloh. Lahat na yata ginagawa ko mawala lang ‘yung attention ko dun kay Amalia,” she said.

Amalia is the aunt of Adelina (Barbie Forteza) and Eduardo (Alden Richards).

As shown in previous teasers, Amalia will suffer as one of the comfort women raped by Japanese soldiers.

"Comfort women" refers to the victims of sexual slavery practiced by the Japanese imperial army in countries like the Philippines, Korea, and China during World War II.

The few remaining Filipina survivors, who are in their late 80s or 90s, have been fighting for reparations from the Philippine and Japanese governments for decades.

"Pulang Araw" airs weeknights on GMA Prime at 8 p.m. after "24 Oras." —JCB, GMA Integrated News