Rica Peralejo opened up on what made her decide to return to acting. The actress is set to star in the upcoming Metro Manila Film Festival 2025 entry Manila's Finest alongside Piolo Pascual.
In an interview with MJ Marfori, Rica recalled that watching the film GomBurZa in 2023 sparked the desire to act again.
"'Yung GomBurza, when I was watching that, dun ko lang ulit na-feel na gusto ko pang umarte. Prior to that wala na. Parang I really didn't want to come back or anything, not because I don't like it or what, pero I'm just really focus on being a mom. And I just really love my privacy and my private life, di ba? Akala ko okay na ako dun but I guess when you're once an actress, you are always an actress, and you will feel that bugso ba, may spark may mga ganung projects na feeling mo may spark siya talaga," she said.
Rica recounted that she messaged Gomburza's director, Pepe Diokno, after watching the movie. "When I was watching [GomBurZa], I really thought na okay manonood lang ako ng pelikula, paglabas na paglabas ko [ng sinehan], I was texting direk Pepe (Diokno), I said, 'If you're gonna make a film again that's like this, kahit extra I will be willing,'" she relayed.
Rica remarked that being offered a role in Manila's Finest was something she did not anticipate. "I really didn't expect this. This came na wala ako talagang notion. I didn't even plan on coming back on the big screen or on TV, wala akong plan," she pointed out.
The actress relayed that one of the main reasons that convinced her to accept the project was the opportunity to work again with Piolo. "That's also one of the things na nagpa-yes sa akin kasi one, I know when [Piolo] makes movies, it's always kumbaga qualilty film siya, magandang materyal 'to. So that was one of the things that made me say yes," she relayed.
The actress went on: "And secondly because I am coming back from like a long, long time of not acting, I needed to have something familiar and Piolo is very [familiar]. We had a lot of projects together, tsaka magkaibigan kami," she said.
Will she accept more acting projects in the future after this film?
"That is something that I can't answer for now. I want to just focus on what I have now and let's see if in the proces I will fall in love with it again and want to do some more, or maybe not. Open ako sa pareho basta lagi ko lang naman sinasabi, basta hindi masisira 'yung buhay-pamilya ko na maike-keep ko pa rin 'yung meron ako sa private life ko," she responded.