On a ROLE: Arjo Atayde Plays Maricel Soriano’s Son with Special Needs in ‘The General’s Daughter’
Fresh from the success of his first full teleserye project with mom Sylvia Sanchez, Kapamilya actor Arjo Atayde is set to portray another challenging role in ABS-CBN’s upcoming series, The General’s Daughter. This he shared with members of the media at the launch of his perfume endorsement, BeauteDerm’s Origin Series. In his interview with ABS-CBN’s Jeff Fernando for Umagang Kay Ganda, Arjo revealed he is set to play the role of the Diamond Star Maricel Soriano‘s character’s son, a young man with special needs. We learned from a separate interview with Maricel that his son in the series has autism. Joining them in the cast are Angel Locsin, Eula Valdes, Janice De Belen, and the newest Kapamilya star Ryza Cenon.
On working with the Diamond Star. “It’s an experience, you know. I’m not scared to experience anything bad like that. She slaps hard, that’s her eh, what can you do? That’s her emotions. I respect her.”
On portraying the role of a man with special needs. Arjo continued, “This is going to be one of the most challenging things I’ll ever do on TV. It’s crazy. I told my mom and I talked to Tita Maricel as well. We had dinner a couple of days ago. Sabi ko, ‘Tita, I don’t know how I am going to do it.’ He said Maricel gave him words of advice and he felt reassured knowing she’ll be there for guidance.
Although Arjo said he has yet to figure out how to attack the role, we are confident he’ll create another character to be remembered. His effective performances as the evil villain Joaquin in FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano and the ideal son and principled lawyer Paco in Hanggang Saan are enough proofs of versatility. We are looking forward to seeing more of him again soon.
In case you missed Hanggang Saan‘s final episode last week, watch Arjo’s performances here: