It’s a healthy competition among the four lead stars of GMA-7 and Viu’s collaboration, Slay.

Four Sparkle stars play the lead roles in the series: Julie Anne San Jose, Gabbi Garcia, Mikee Quintos, and Ysabel Ortega. The story begins with the death of Zach (Derrick Monasterio) and the four girls–who are all connected to the victim–are being suspected to be the killer.

With four prime artists of GMA-7 and Sparkle joining forces in one series, there are expectations that they might compete with each other.

But based on their answers during the show’s recent media conference, it seems like they are enjoying to be working with each other and just engage in a healthy competition with each other.

Gabbi says, “We have an all women cast, isa rin yun sa nagpapayag sa akin because the four leading ladies are just so powerful. Sorry, boys!

“All the four ladies are really… talagang sabi nga ni Mikee noong storycon namin, ‘Magpagalingan tayo!’

“And, I feel like, it’s such a healthy, a non-toxic, healthy competition at saka we lift each other up, we support each other.”

Julie Anne adds, “I love that I get to work with these very very talented and passionate actors. Talagang nakaka-overwhelm, pero ang sarap sa pakiramdam kasi I know that we are creating something that’s really good.”

Slay started airing on Viu on March 3, with a pilot premiere on GMA-7 on March 24.

What made them say yes to Slay?

Meanwhile, the four girls seemed to have something on common when it comes to saying yes to their roles in Slay, which has something to do with acting.

Mikee revealed that she actually auditioned for two other roles before getting the role of Sugar.

She added, “Gusto kong i-stretch yung instrument ko, like, gusto kong mag-try ng mahirap na bagay, lalo na yung hindi ako kumportable.

“Hinahanap ko with my past projects na weakness ko ang anger sa lahat ng emosyon. As in nanggigigil ako na weakness ko siya so gusto ko siyang makuha sa show na ito.

“Gusto kong maaaral kung paano ko titimplahin, how to get there and see this opportunity that Viu trusted me with. I feel like it’s the best way to really stretch my instrument as an actor and find a new side of myself na kaya kong ipakita pa para hindi ma-bore yung mga tao.”

As for Gabbi, who plays Amelie, this is the first time that she will be tackling a role like this.

She explains, “It’s also very different. I’m used to roles that hindi rin anti-hero. Medyo spoiler pero medyo anti-hero din ako dito so it’s nice to explore, it’s nice to see more options for characters.”

Julie Anne, whose last project was the hit series Maria Clara at Ibarra, wanted to make the most out of every acting opportunity she is being offered with, like the role of Liv in Slay.

She shared, “It’s my first time really doing this kind of genre. Noong narinig ko na murder mystery yung story ng Slay, na-curious ako kasi ang tagal kong hindi umarte.

“Gusto ko rin ma-maximize ulit yung capabilities ko pagdating sa acting and katulad ng sinabi ni Mikee kanina, I want to explore, I want to discover myself even more, kung ano pa yung pwede kong mai-offer pagdating sa larangan ng pag arte.

“Ako kasi, personally talaga, nae-enjoy ko whenever I get these roles and first time kong magkakaroon ng ganitong klaseng role and minsan, kapag gumagawa kami ng mga eksena, nasu-surpirse ako kung pano siya lumalabas at kung papaano ako nagiging sa set.”

Ysabel, on the other hand, is happy to get out of her comfort zone for Slay.

“When I heard about my role Yanna, na-realize ko na this was something out of my comfort zone. This genre is something I’ve never done before and sobrang opposite ng last kong project. I played a superhero, I played a heroine who was always on the good side.

“So, na-excite ako to know how my character, who can be seemingly innocent, have the capacity to possibly kill a person, di ba? So, that kind of question played in my head and kung paano ko gagawin yun.”

Photos courtesy of VIU