Ever since people first got to know Maris Racal in Pinoy Big Brother, it was clear she had a spark in her that made her destined for bigger things. And in the years since, she has delivered on that hype in a multitude of fields, especially when it comes to acting. In the dozens of acting projects Racal has taken on, the actress has proven to be a natural in front of the camera. It’s a talent that has shone in Sunshine, where she plays the titular young gymnast dealing with an unexpected pregnancy.
The career-defining performance earned Racal critical acclaim and Best Actress wins from a handful of award-giving bodies, most notably her first Gawad Urian, and personally changed how she views her craft. But even before she was twirling on the gym floor and championing women’s right to choose, Racal had been delivering in the acting department for years. Whether it be a comedy, drama, or action, she’s given us performances that have people talking for all the right reasons. Here are a few of her other standout performances, some well-known, others more under the radar, below.
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Gabriela “Gab” Rivera in Incognito
It’s a testament to Racal’s talents and innate star power that in a show filled with an A-list ensembleEnsembleA complete, coordinated outfit in which each garment and accessory is chosen to work together as one look. Stylists build ensembles around a theme, color story, or occasion, and theGo to Ensemble Glossary cast, she not only holds her own but also becomes one of its best parts. In this ABS-CBN series about a group of misfits who form a covert operations team, Racal burnished her potential in the action genre while showcasing that she’s more than willing to give what the role requires. This currently serves as her last mainstream TV project, but as this role and another entry on this list show, Racal should consider doing more in the future.
Irene Young Tiu in Can’t Buy Me Love
Even in a supporting role, Racal more than lived up to the task of making them memorable on their own. Such is the case in this teleserye. As the unapologetically mean-spirited Irene Tiu, Racal relishes the role as she gives us a rich socialite who doesn’t come off as cringe. The evil stepsister archetype in TV dramas has been done to death by this point, but Racal makes the villainess fresh and exciting. Viewers quickly took notice, turning Tiu into an unexpected viral moment thanks to her scene-stealing presence.
Blesilda in Here Comes the Groom
Here Comes The Groom follows two families who, after crashing into each other under a solar eclipse, switch bodies with one another. And that includes Blesilda, played by Racal. In the body-swap comedy, Blesilda is a devout Roman Catholic who holds her rosary and Bible close to her chest. But she switches bodies with Awra Briguela’s Whitney.
For most of the movie, Racal embodies Whitney’s kabogera attitude to a T as Whitney (in Blesilda’s body) revels in the fact that she’s an actual girl with a real family. Remember the “si nena ay baby pa” trend in 2023? It gained popularity thanks to this movie and specifically, Racal’s character.
Cassandra in The Kangks Show
Sunshine showcased how Racal and director Antoinette Jadaoine make for an amazing pairing. But even before the movie, the two showed their dynamic as an actor-director duo in this raunchy series. Here, Angelica Panganiban plays Doctora Kara Teo, a sex guru who hosts a no-holds-barred, bordering on irreverent, midnight sex advice talk show called The Kangks Show.
However, as her ratings plummet, a new upstart rises in the form of Racal’s Cassandra, the host of provocative sultry TikTok show called Kan *toot* Kalimot. As you can expect, their rivalry goes to some heated places. The show is arguably Racal’s most adult project to date, but she takes on the challenge head-on with Cassandra’s unapologetic youthfulness, not to mention holding her own against Panganiban.
Peachy Ann Mabunga in Pamilya Ko
It’s a shame that Pamilya Ko ended its run early due to the one-two punch of the COVID-19 pandemic and the denial of ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal, especially since Racal was considered one of the show’s highlights. In the series, she played the feisty yet loving Peachy Mabunga, who was not afraid to fight for the people she loved and things she believed in. Long before she was winning Best Actress awards for Sunshine or breaking the internet with Can’t Buy Me Love, Racal was delivering with her fiery confrontation scenes in this 2019 afternoon drama.
Maya Hermosa in Ipaglaban Mo
Racal appeared on the anthology drama Ipaglaban Mo five times. And for her 5th and final appearance, she saved the best for last. In the episode titled Kakampi, the actress plays Maya, an immigrant living in Canada with her father, who has a close relationship with her special needs cousin Tin (Mary Joy Apostol).
Sadly, Tin receives harsh treatment from her stepmother and half-siblings while Maya was away. When she discovers how badly mistreated Tin is, Maya files a petition to become her cousin’s legal guardian. Racal came in hard in this episode with a mix of anger and vulnerable emotion as her cousin’s fierce defender who moves mountains to make sure Tin is no longer hurt by her cruel stepfamily.
Featured Image: MEGA Archives, June 2026, Photo by JERICK SANCHEZ
Frequently Asked Questions
MEGA’s list of Maris Racal roles beyond Sunshine covers Gab Rivera in Incognito, Irene Tiu in Can’t Buy Me Love, Blesilda in Here Comes the Groom, Cassandra in The Kangks Show, Peachy Mabunga in Pamilya Ko, and Maya Hermosa in Ipaglaban Mo.
In Sunshine, Maris Racal plays the titular young gymnast dealing with an unexpected pregnancy. The performance earned her critical acclaim and Best Actress wins from a handful of award-giving bodies, most notably her first Gawad Urian, and personally changed how she views her craft.
Maris Racal plays Irene Young Tiu, an unapologetically mean-spirited rich socialite, in the teleserye Can’t Buy Me Love. MEGA says she made the evil stepsister archetype fresh and exciting, and the character became an unexpected viral moment thanks to her scene-stealing presence.
The “si nena ay baby pa” trend gained popularity in 2023 thanks to the body-swap comedy Here Comes the Groom, specifically Maris Racal’s character. Racal plays Blesilda, a devout Roman Catholic who switches bodies with Awra Briguela’s Whitney and embodies Whitney’s kabogera attitude.
Maris Racal and director Antoinette Jadaone showed their actor-director dynamic in The Kangks Show before Sunshine. In the raunchy series, Racal plays Cassandra, host of a provocative, sultry TikTok show, who rivals Angelica Panganiban’s sex guru Doctora Kara Teo as her ratings plummet.
