“A for effort.”
Heart Evangelista revealed that her husband sought help from ABS-CBN’s top bosses to locate the original face cast taken for her years-old teleserye to give it to her on her birthday.
The actress on Monday shared that Sen. Chiz Escudero gave her the bust sculpture of the face cast used for her 2007 Kapamilya drama “Hiram na Mukha” as a gift for her birthday, which falls on Valentine’s Day.
“17 years ago, I filmed my telenovela ‘Hiram na Mukha,’ they took a molding of my face at that time. I was 21 years old… through the years, I always wondered where the molding was,” she said in an Instagram post.
“I briefly mentioned it to my husband 3 [three] years ago and lo and behold… he was able to locate the original cast (white heart emoji),” Heart added.
She said that Chiz had the bust sculpture commissioned by one of her favorite artists, Ferdinand Cacnio, after locating the original cast.
“Amazing the happiest birthday indeed, thank you @escuderochiz,” the actress said, tagging the account of her husband.
Her post has earned over 230,000 likes and several comments so far.
In one of her replies to an Instagram user, Heart said that ABS-CBN executives Mark Lopez and Carlo Katigbak helped Chiz locate the original face cast for his gift idea.
Mark is the network’s chairperson while Carlo is its president and chief executive officer.
Meanwhile, Chiz’s thoughtful gesture made Heart’s followers swoon in giddiness.
“Take note, husbands! A for effort,” an Instagram user commented with a clapping emoji.
“Oh my! This is beautiful!!!!” broadcast journalist Karen Davila exclaimed.
“More than the gift, it’s the fact that the husband remembers the small things (heart-eyed emoji) it means he’s paying attention,” wrote another Instagram user.
“Wow!! Such a beautiful story and statue. And such effort of Sen. @escuderochiz. Happy Birthday, dear. You deserve all the best in life,” a different Pinoy said on the platform.
Heart and Chiz have been gaining traction on social media after the latter resurfaced on the actress’ Instagram account following separation rumors last year.
The speculation started after she dropped the name “Escudero” from her account last August. It was followed by the alleged disappearance of her wedding ring in her hand.
The rumors became more rampant when Heart revealed in her vlog that she was going through “some personal struggles” and that she was “in a search [of] just being happy.”
She also failed to publicly greet Chiz on his birthday despite constantly dedicating posts to him since they got married.
The politician was first mentioned by Heart anew on Instagram last December.
ALSO READ: Lovers in Paris: Fans gush over Heart Evangelista’s sweet photo with Chiz Escudero
The teleserye
“Hiram na Mukha” was one of Heart’s early teleseryes in her showbiz career when she was still in ABS-CBN.
She starred alongside Geoff Eigenmann and TJ Trinidad, while Katya Santos, Cherry Pie Picache, and Sharmaine Buencamino were among the supporting casts.
The 29-episode drama was based on the 1992 film of the same name.
Heart played the leading role of Carissa, a young woman ridiculed for having a face that resembles a monkey.
In the series, Carissa and her disfigured family face persecution from the people around them who consider them bad luck.
Carissa then meets plastic surgeon Dr. Hugo Roldan (TJ), who offers to put her under a revolutionary surgical procedure that could copy another person’s face.
Heart said that playing Carissa was the hardest role she has ever taken since it required her to don prosthetics to make her face look disfigured on television.
“I couldn’t breathe under that mask. The hole was on top here [pointing to her nose bridge] and these [her nostrils] were covered so I had to breathe through my mouth,” she said in a 2021 interview.
“We had to film from morning. So, I’d come in like, 5 a.m., they’d do na the prosthetics and then after, we finish at 3 a.m. the next day, and I was wearing that mask the whole day,” the actress added.
“Hiram na Mukha” aired on Channel 2 from April to June 2007.
It was the second installment of the network’s “Sineserye Presents” which serializes films to television dramas. (J. Malasig, Interaksyon)
CAPTION: Heart Evangelista with her bust sculpture in this photo on her Instagram on Feb. 13, 2023 (iamhearte/Instagram)