Coleen Garcia returns to her comfort zone

After wholeheartedly embracing the role of motherhood in real life, Coleen Garcia is ready to commit to acting anew. While it’s not her first project since giving birth to her son Amari, Viva One’s “Kung Hindi Lang Tayo Sumuko,” marks the actress’ comeback to the genre she feels comfortable working on.

Garcia was last seen in the 2020 romantic drama film “Mia,” before taking a break to prepare for the arrival of her first child with husband Billy Crawford. She gave birth in September 2020 in the middle of the pandemic.

The actress was excited to do lighthearted scenes anew. INSTAGRAM PHOTOS/COLEEN 

Since then, she set aside acting to focus on caring for her growing family.

In 2022, she returned to acting via Viva Films’ action-drama, “Adarna Gang.” That same year, she starred in the Cinemalaya official entry “Kaluskos,” which was a psychological thriller.

“I really liked the story of ‘Kung Hindi Lang Tayo Sumuko’ and it gave me the chance to do something in this genre. Coming from my last film [Kaluskos], which was heavy and very dark, I appreciated this one because the mood is lighter and there are layers and development to my character,” Garcia said at the series’ media conference.

“I missed doing happy and cutesy scenes,” she added.

The actress, however, cautioned that though the show has those feel-good scenes, she could not promise viewers wouldn’t find themselves reaching for a box of tissue.

Kung Hindi Lang Tayo Sumuko — based on the book of the same title by Marcelo Santos 3rd — is a heart-wrenching six-part series that will teach viewers about love and when to give it a second or even a third chance. It is currently streaming exclusively on Viva One app.

Garcia with ‘Kung Hindi Lang Tayo Sumuko’ co-stars (from left) Kiko Estrada, Ryza Cenon, Carlo Aquino, Rhen Escaño and Jerome Ponce. 

Garcia plays Allie who met Benedict (Carlo Aquino) through a whirlwind romance. Years later, Benedict proposes to Allie, and the two look forward to their years of growing old together.

Things are promising for the couple, but as they prepare for their wedding, the buried cracks and flaws of their relationship start to resurface and make them rethink their decision.

Allie and Benedict also stumble on close friends facing relationship problems, which brings more confusion to the struggling couple. Georgina (Rhen Escaño) and Mark (Jerome Ponce) are in an LDR situation (long-distance relationship) and are slowly drifting apart. Sandy (Ryza Cenon) and Derrick (Kiko Estrada) are a married couple who has problems with infidelity and a broken ego.

Garcia revealed the project could not have come to her at a better time.

“Before I accepted this project, I was trying to figure out if I was really ready to go all-in and go back to work fully. Doing this role made me realize that indeed, I was. As early as the pitching stage, I got excited that I immediately said yes to play Allie.”

The actress took a hiatus to raise Amari, her first child with husband Billy Crawford. 

The 30-year-old also said Allie was relatable because she grew up experiencing the same feelings about her onscreen role.

“She’s so relatable to those who have no self-confidence perhaps because they grew up without physical affection or words of affirmation, which was the case for me. These things could create a lot of doubt and uncertainty, like what Allie experienced.”

But in the end, Garcia claimed Allie also taught her valuable lessons.

“I learned from her that your happiness and peace of mind is your responsibility.”

Produced by Studio Viva, Kung Hindi Lang Tayo Sumuko is a series directed by Carlo Catu.