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LGBT artist Rita Martinez gets big break in girl's love series 'Lulu'

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Leah C. Salterio

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Rita Martinez" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/entertainment/02/19/20220219-rita-martinez.jpg"/><figcaption>Rita Martinez</figcaption></figure></div> Boy’s love (BL) series became popular even while girl’s love (GL) stories were still scarce. Back in 2012, even before GL became a familiar viewing fare, director Sigrid Andrea Bernardo megged “Ang Huling Chacha ni Anita,” a lesbian-themed film.It has taken Bernardo nearly a decade to write a story and do another film about the LGBTQ community. This pandemic, Bernardo penned “Lulu,” a romantic-comedy about a lesbian relationship.For this GL series, Bernardo picked a real-life LGBTQ member Rita Martinez to star opposite sultry, young actress Rhen Escaño. Martinez won the part after passing an acting audition with equally talented LGBTQ artists.“When I found out about the series, it’s an honor on my part to work with my co-actors,” Martinez told ABS-CBN News. “This is my first-ever drama series in my entire life. When I read the script, I said, ‘Ang galing galing naman.’“But I still did my due diligence. I play the role of Abby. I still submitted everything that I had to. It’s an honor to be part of the show. I’m very excited. When I found out about Rhen, it’s an honor working with her. She’s an amazing and a very talented artist.”Martinez considers “Lulu” a big break for her. “After this, more people will discover girl’s love series,” she said. “I hope to get more projects with direk Sigrid. I am actually very excited. This took a year in the making.”Even before shooting for the eight-part series last November, Martinez made sure she really prepared for the project.“Nag-diet ako,” she honestly admitted. “I did my workout. I recalled everything that happened to me. It was funny talking to myself to practice my acting. Even my dogs, sila ang mga props ko.”Martinez is an artist, musician and chef. She is also a singer and joined “The Voice Season 2,” where she landed as a semi-finalist. She has a band and does corporate events. This pandemic, she started singing online.She has been singing since she was a kid. “I’ve been singing almost my entire life,” Martinez beamed.More than a decade ago, Martinez did a supporting role as the girlfriend of Derek Ramsay in ABS-CBN’s Sunday afternoon series, “Your Song.” “That was a very small part,” Martinez said about her role. “But it was a big challenge for me then.”For “Lulu,” it is more than just a role for Martinez. “It’s what the whole series represents, what we represent,” she insisted. “Since I’m from the LGBTQ community, it is what I represent as Abby.”The film’s title, “Lulu,” is witty. It’s not the name of any character in the series. “It’s the sound that it emits when ladies do the [sexual] action,” Martinez explained. “It’s subliminal and very subtle. Lulu can be a name and also an action at the same time.”Martinez admired Bernardo’s script for “Lulu,” which the former started reading just through Zoom.“The writing is amazing,” she maintained. “The whole story is. It shows the authenticity of what Girl’s Love is. It’s not just the ones that we see, not just fantasy or sensual.“It’s actually about life, not just what the LGBTQ community goes through, not just us, but everyone else.”Martinez admittedly experienced discrimination as an LGBTQ member. “Even lesbians experienced that,” she said. “Masakit siya. With us, we have to prove ourselves 10 times more than everyone else just to be accepted and earn respect from people.“Sinabihan ako before, ‘Ganyan ka. Sino seseryoso sa ‘yo? Walang mangyayari sa buhay mo kasi walang tatanggap sa ‘yo’.”Meanwhile, Bernardo readily sensed the chemistry between Escaño and Martinez, when the two lead stars started reading the “Lulu” script even through Zoom. “We read an entire episode for five hours, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.,” Bernardo recalled. “First time nilang magkita sa Zoom and I could see them as Abby and Sophie together. Kinikilig ako sa kanila. I could not explain it.”“Lulu” is Bernardo’s passion project. “After ‘Chacha,’ I really wanted to make a series,” she says. “From that time, dream ko ng magka-love team at mag-launch. I built a resume for the producers to trust me and I’m very grateful for my movies after ‘Chacha.’“Hindi pa embraced ang girl’s love series. More than a year ago, I conceptualized ‘Lulu’ and this pandemic ko naisulat.“Right timing that this project reached Viva. I pitched this to other producers before. I’m very thankful to Viva for giving this series a chance.”Bernardo wants to cast other LGBTQ actors in her future film projects and create more opportunities for them.“There are a lot of talented actors sa LGBTQ community,” she noted. “So why not give them a chance na maging bida, especially since the story is girl’s love series. Why not cast the real ones na kaya naman umarte? Bakit ako hahanap pa ng iba?“I also want to encourage directors to discover talents from the LGBTQ community. I’m not saying that actors cannot play this kind of role. Of course, they can. But they have more avenues and opportunities.“I want to create more opportunities for the LGBTQ community na hindi lang naha-highlight ang talents nila sa acting and there are a lot of potential actors. Hindi supporting roles lang.&quot;

For this GL series, director Sigrid Andrea Bernardo picked a real-life LGBTQ member Rita Martinez to star opposite sultry, young actress Rhen Escaño.