Pilar Pilapil shuns 'evil' roles 'for the Lord'

MANILA, Philippines -- Having been offered to portray three "kontrabida" roles in the past year alone, veteran actress Pilar Pilapil turned to her faith in deciding which ones to pass up, and which ones to take on.

Pilar Pilapil speaks during a gathering of the ABS-CBN Christian Fellowship held Thursday

As it turned out, the former beauty queen said, none of the three would become her comeback TV role after a year of absence from showbiz. This, according to Pilapil, seemed to be the will of God after a tumultuous episode in her life.

"After what happened to me, the Lord gave me somehow the impression that I should not be accepting those roles anymore, that are like the bad woman type, very bad and very evil," Pilapil told ABS-CBN News on Thursday, referring to her life-endangering experience with carjackers last year.

In April 2011, Pilapil was rushed to the hospital after she was stabbed several times by suspected car thieves. 

"I needed some time to recover, and the Lord has been so gracious, and now I'm fully recovered," said Pilapil, who had also been praying for guidance on resuming her career after the incident.

"I prayed to the Lord, 'Lord, if you really still want me to be in show business, this is the trend right now for me (portraying villains), but you can always change the trend for me.' So I prayed and I prayed, and I was able to get this role," Pilapil said, referring to her role in ABS-CBN's upcoming drama series, "Ina, Kapatid, Anak."

In the primetime soap, Pilapil portrays one of the "first-generation" characters, along with veteran actors Ronaldo Valdez and Eddie Gutierrez.

Unlike her villainous portrayals in the past -- among them the scheming Adora in ABS-CBN's "Sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggan" (2001) -- Pilapil said her comeback role is that of a devoted mother.

"I am playing the role of a concerned mother, a mother who really is willing to go all out for her children. That's what the role is all about," she said.

According to Pilapil, the role "is very relevant to what I'm also doing for the Lord," which is why she had taken it up from among the several offers to stage her TV comeback.

Also starring Kim Chiu, Maja Salvador, Enchong Dee and Xian Lim, "Ina, Kapatid, Anak" will start airing during ABS-CBN's Primetime Bida Block on October 8.