A fan accepted veteran actress Susan Africa‘s challenge to find an actual teleserye scene in which she coughs, after the actress dared Filipinos to do so amid an ongoing online joke about her previous roles.
The actress, who has been jokingly dubbed the “Star for All Ubo” because of her supposed associations with “coughing” characters on television, insisted it could be a case of the “Mandela Effect,” saying she does not recall playing any role in which she coughed.
The discussion came after online Filipinos cheered her “role upgrade” in “Blood vs Duty,” in which she played Dra. Teresa Reyes, the mother of Richard Gutierrrez’s character.
“THE STAR FOR ALL UBO is now officially a doctor! Congratulations, Miss Susan Africa! Ikaw na ang magpapagaling sa mga may ubo!” a showbiz-oriented page quipped in April.
Susan was later interviewed about the joke, saying it could be a “Mandela Effect” since she does not recall playing any role in which she coughed, except in her 2019 film “The Mall, The Merrier” with Vice Ganda.
The “Mandela Effect” is a psychological phenomenon in which a large group of people remembers an event differently from how it actually occurred.
“Kasi kung pag-aaralan mo ‘yun, hindi naman ako umuubo sa mga roles ko. I don’t remember any teleserye na umubo ako,” Susan said last week.
“Sa ‘Mara Clara’ nagkaroon ako ng stroke, nagkaroon ako ng sakit, pero never akong umubo,” the actress added.
“Pakitaan niyo ako ng video na umuubo ako sa isang teleserye and I will give you P5,000. Not ‘The Mall, The Merrier’ ha,” Susan further said.
ALSO READ: Susan Africa challenges fans to find ‘ubo’ scene, says it may be a ‘Mandela Effect’
On Sunday, July 19, the actress announced on her Facebook page that someone had actually won the dare.
“Yes, we have a winner! Ms. Sheena Rose Traifalgar, a [third] year college student in Iloilo, was the first to submit a video of a scene from Mara Clara where I was coughing,” Susan wrote in a post.
“Thank you for refreshing my memory of a scene I did many decades ago which I’ve already forgotten, Sheena,” she added.
Susan played the role of Susan Davis, an impoverished but resilient mother with an abusive husband, for five years in the iconic ’90s ABS-CBN teleserye “Mara Clara,” which starred Judy Ann Santos and Gladys Reyes.
The veteran actress admitted that she does not remember the scenes that many Filipinos had “submitted” as entries to her dare.
“I have been blessed with four decades in this industry playing myriad roles, so I cannot remember all the details. But my sincerest thanks to all who joined this cough challenge. I appreciate your efforts in finding scenes from my past works. I hope you all had fun joining this amusing game,” she wrote.
“As for the Mandela Effect, I concede that although it might not be accurate at this point, I maintain that though I may cough occasionally in a few roles in the past, I do not cough in ALL of my teleseryes,” Susan added.
“My deep appreciation goes to ABS-CBN for the many decades of multiple roles given to me in various teleseryes. And most especially to JRB and Tita Cory Vidanes, who most recently gifted me with a breakthrough role as Dra Teresa Reyes in ‘Blood vs Duty,'” she continued.
“May you all have a blessed week filled with gratitude and kindness! And congratulations again to Ms. Sheena!” Susan added.
The actress also shared screenshots of her conversation with the winner, Sheena, including proof of the prize.
Sheena said she posted a scene from “Mara Clara” in the comments section of ABS-CBN News’ Facebook post.
The scene featured a sickly Susan coughing as she sat by the roadside.
Susan is known for her memorable portrayals of impoverished and oppressed maternal characters in teleseryes.
She has been in the showbiz industry since the 1980s, after becoming first runner-up in Binibining Pilipinas 1980.
