Denise Laurel on being close to Julia Montes: 'She's so mature in thinking'

During the pictorial for her afternoon soap opera Annaliza, Denise Laurel said she was happy when she heard about the show’s extension for a new season. “That’s what any actor could ever ask for. This job is not here forever so aside from the fact that it’s your passion and your love, it’s also your job. So parang it’s two in one. You get to do what you love and you get paid for it so it’s lucky when you get a show like this that you have fellow co-actors na sobrang galing and then you’re inspired to work harder because the script is so exciting and then na-e-extend pa kayo so todo todo na yung blessings,” she admitted.

With her role as Isabel Garcia-Benedicto, loving mom to Annaliza, Denise said she is happy to hear so much positive feedback about her first maternal role. “That’s really what I wanted to hear. Kasi coming from Pintada, it’s so different. This is my first mommy role. Aside from being a young mom personally, iba kasi yung pinagdaanan nito eh, mas matanda siya sa akin, mas malaki na yung anak niya, so I really wanted to be convincing and something that moms out there can relate to. I want them to feel like how devastating it would feel if what happened to my character happened to them pag napanuod nila yung soap,” she explained. 

Denise said she is also lucky to have found a close friendship with Muling Buksan Ang Puso actress Julia Montes. Despite their busy working schedules, Denise said she and Julia try the best as they can to squeeze in some bonding time. “It’s so hard to see each other because her schedule is insane. So we’ll always just have biglaan where we see each other and there was one time we were in Dubai and she babysat my son. It was so sweet. It was the first time where somebody who wasn’t a relative took out my son and I didn’t get nervous. I was so at peace. So parang wow I trust her so much,” she said.

Denise said even her two-year-old son Alejandro is fond of Julia as well. “He loves her! It’s really so kaaliw because my son already knows not to leave a restaurant if I’m not at least ten steps behind him. He’ll run, he’s free to run around but he’ll always glance back to see if there’s somebody making him bantay because I teach him about security and strangers and all that stuff. With Julia he was so at ease. He won’t really interact with someone if he doesn’t see that they’re constant in my life. So it’s just pretty cool but he’s still polite enough to say hi to people that he’s not that close to. Marunong siya mag-adjust. My son is so heavy, he’s 40 pounds and only two years old and binubuhat buhat siya ni Julia. Julia’s so tiny di ba? Parang nagulat na lang ako when I was in Dubai, I saw pictures of them on Instagram and ang cute cute. She loves kids. He’s getting big so fast na parang every week bumibili ako ng bagong sapatos at damit,” she added.

The talented actress said she is proud of her friend’s accomplishments. “Even if she’s younger than me, I can really see the responsibility in her and how she takes care of her lola and her mom and siblings. It was just actually by chance that we became friends. The first time I ever saw her on TV, I thought that she really has something and then when I saw her she was so friendly. And then I found out she also used to watch me before and then we have common friends and then we just started hanging out. I wish we could hang out more though so parang hanggang work out na lang kami together or I miss you I miss you sa text and stuff. I think it’s weird because with the age gap people wouldn’t think we’re close, she’s 18 and I’m 25 but then again since she’s so mature in thinking,” she said.

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