MANILA, Philippines – With the hit series remake Pangako Sa’Yo ending on February 12, actress Jodi Sta Maria opened up about what she learned after playing the vengeful Amor Powers for months.

Jodi spoke to reporters about her character on Tuesday, February 9, at a press conference for Avon – Jodi is the new ambassador for their perfume, “Cherish.”

“Siguro yung power of forgiveness… love and forgiveness,” Jodi said on what she learned from portraying the Amor.

Jodi explained that Amor started out sweet – she was a young, hopeful girl who wanted to be a chef and fell in love with Eduardo Buenavista (Ian Veneracion). But because of a series of difficult experiences, Amor ended up becoming hateful, and wanting revenge on Eduardo and his family.

“It’s important na yun nga, we learn to forgive, because sometimes, resentment and anger will drive us to do something na lalo nakakasakit, hindi lang sa tao na gagantihan natin, kung hindi sa ating mga sarili,” explained Jodi.

(It’s important that we learn to forgive, because sometimes, resentment and anger will drive us to do something that hurts more, not only to the people we want to get revenge from, but to ourselves.)

“And yun nga, parang unforgiveness is like drinking a bottle of poison [and] expecting the other person to die,” added Jodi. “So parang yun yung isa ko talagang natutunan sa kanila yung power of forgiveness. So kung merong unforgiveness sa mga puso ninyo,” she said, laughing, “I mean, we will never lose naman diba (right) when you humble yourself and forgive.”

(And not forgiving is like drinking a bottle of poison [and] expecting the other person to die. So that’s one thing I really learned from them, the power of forgiveness. So if there’s any unwillingness to forgive in your hearts, I mean, we will never lose right, when you humble yourself and forgive.)

When asked if she’s the kind of actress who brings her character off-set, Jodi answered no – she doesn’t do that anymore, and it’s never happened with Amor.

“It has happened to me so many times in the past, but now talagang siguro habang tumatagal natututunan mo na ang trabaho ay trabaho lang din talaga, so iwan mo na yun sa set yung character mo (I guess after so long you learn that work is really just work, so you have to leave your character on set),” explained Jodi, who entered the industry when she was a teenager.

“Kasi (Because) it’s so hard, can you just imagine, if you portray a role with bipolar, so uwi mo yung bipolar character, kawawa naman yung mga nasa paligid mo diba (So you’ll bring home your character who has bipolar disorder, the people around you will suffer too right)?”

For Amor, Jodi said she’ll usually open old wounds and relive them, but close those memories again after a scene. “And kung baga I always go back and tell myself, ‘Wait, it’s just work. Hindi ito yung realidad (This is not reality).'”

On the final episode of Pangako Sa ‘Yo, Jodi said that the ending surprised the cast: “It’s something that – we never thought na the story would end, na parang when it was discussed to us parang we were surprised, and sabi namin, ‘Extended ba yung show?’ Parang sa sobrang dami pa talagang mangyayari, and we only have, what, 3 taping days left?”

(It’s something that – we never thought that the story would end, that it’s like when it was discussed to us, we were rusprised, and we said, ‘Is the show extended?’ It’s like there’s so many more things that will happen, and we only have, what, 3 taping days left?)

Jodi confirmed, though, that Pangako Sa ‘Yo won’t be extended – the show will end on February 12, as planned.

Pangako Sa ‘Yo began airing in May 2015, and aside from Ian Veneracion, Jodi stars in it with the popular love team Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla.

How do you feel about Pangako Sa ‘Yo‘s last few episodes? Who was your favorite character on the show? Let us know in the comments! – Rappler.com