Rhoda Montemayor

Actress / Dancer / Choreographer

Rhoda Montemayor returns home after a successful 7 months filming the new season of the Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive. She plays the very adorable Rose Ortiz, the Overdrive Pink Ranger. You can watch Rhoda pathing her way as a Filipino Brit making new grounds on Disney's Jetix TV and the ABC cable network. We caught up with the role-model and revisited her interview, to see what has changed since and where she want to thread next.

read the first interview back in Sept 2006..

What has changed since our first interview to now?

In my last interview, I was preparing to relocate to New Zealand for this project, and I couldn't reveal too much information about it at the time. Now that the season has started airing on US television there's no more need for the secrecy! Living and working out here has been the biggest change since then.

What changes have you seen in yourself since filming/or since moving into a new environment?

Well, I guess living on your own away from home, especially in another country, helps you to grow in a lot of ways. At first I was really homesick, but now I’m a lot more independent and confident about being on my own, although I am looking forward to returning to the UK!

What have you learnt?

I've learnt that life is full of surprises, you just never know what it's going to throw at you next. I never ever thought that one day I'd be in New Zealand  playing the part of a Power Ranger, but it happened!

What was the hardest thing being away from home?

The hardest thing about being away from home is missing all your loved ones, especially during the Christmas season. At this time of year New Zealand is 13 hours ahead of the UK , so the window of opportunity to catch anyone on the phone is quite small, which makes contacting home that much harder.

Being Rose

Is Rose anything like you?

Well, I don't know what it feels like to be a child prodigy or a genius!....but I guess me and Rose do have a few things in common, like reading, and we also share the same fascination for myths and legends. Growing up, I was especially fascinated with ancient greek mythology and liked reading the stories about their Gods & Goddesses and heroes like Hercules and Jason and the Argonauts, etc.

How does it feel to have your own fan website?

It's pretty cool! I'm very flattered that someone has taken the time and effort to create a website dedicated to me. However, I don't think that it's quite sunk in yet. I'm still trying to digest the fact that "Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive" will be premiered globally and that JETIX programming reaches more than 270 million households in 80 countries and in 25 languages!....how crazy is that?! It's very overwhelming!

What is the weirdest thing a fan has done already?

Luckily, so far, none of the fans have done anything weird. Most of the time they just want to congratulate me on the job I've done, and sometimes they have specific questions about my character and other roles I've played, and I've also had the occasional request for a signed photo, but nothing strange so far.

Experiences

What is it like with all the action on set? Are you bruised? Have you a new found interest? Are you now highly skilled?

With this sort of work there's always bound to be a few bruises and sore muscles every now and then, but we've been trained to do things like fall in a safer way to minimize the risk of injury. Prior to filming, we had to go through a couple of weeks of intense martial arts and stunt training, which was really challenging (not to mention painful!) but also a lot of fun to do! I wouldn't say that I'm highly skilled now, but I certainly feel a lot more confident about doing stunts and choreographed action. I've definitely found a new interest and do intend to keep up the training when I return home.

What are your co-stars like?

I consider myself to be very lucky because I get on with everyone in the cast and crew. I've become really good friends with the other cast members and I'll be very sad to say goodbye, even though I know we'll all stay in touch. I am very grateful because they've all helped to get the best performance out of me and I've learnt so much from working with them. They have all made my experience on this job a wonderful one, and I couldn't have asked for a better team.

What new ambitions have spawned out of your experiences?

I just don't want to stop! I love my job and I can't wait to explore other roles in the future. I'll do my best to keep aiming higher and higher....sky's the limit!

Moments

What was your happiest/lowest point?

One of my happiest moments was getting the phone call from my agent saying that I was being offered the part of "Rose". I remember jumping for joy afterwards, and then phoning all my family and friends to share the good news!

I think one of my lowest points was right at the beginning, during all the training and acting classes, when we were doing a lot of character development. I began to doubt my ability to do the job good enough, and wasn't sure if I'd be ready in time for filming. Luckily, that wasn't the case!  

Your most memorable moment.. now?

There have been too many memorable moments to mention, but I guess one of them would have to be the first day of filming. I was so nervous and just wanted to make a good first impression, I guess it's like that on the first day of anything!

Success

How would you describe your success now?

I'm not sure. I feel very lucky and grateful for getting this far, so I guess you could say that I've been quite successful, but I also feel like I still have so much more to give, and that I am just at the beginning of a new and exciting journey.

How would you describe this point in your life now?

I think that I've reached a very significant milestone in my life. I'm so happy with the way things have turned out for me so far. I've worked so hard towards this and I have so many people to thank, especially my family and close friends for all their guidance, encouragement and support. I know that there's still a long way to go and a lot more hard work for me to do, but as I mentioned in my last interview, if it's meant to be it will be, I'm sure I'll be guided to do whatever it is that I'm meant to be doing.

How does it feel to be an inspiring role-model to younger girls?

The fact that I'll be reaching millions of children all over the world is a huge responsibility and very overwhelming. It's wonderful to be an inspiration to the younger viewers, especially the girls. I hope that it helps them to realize that we (girls and boys) are all special and talented in our own way, and we all have something positive to contribute to the world. In terms of the show, I hope it teaches them that they too can be heroes by standing up for what is right. I think that children love heroes, and "Power Rangers" relates classic stories of good vs evil enacted in a fantasy world, where the good always win. I like the fact that I'm part of a show which provides the viewers with good examples of teamwork, tolerance and responsibility, some of the qualities the world needs more of.

What wishes came true for you?

I always wanted to be a superhero and to land a role which would involve a lot of action and martial arts.....it's so cool that I've managed to do all of the above in one job!

Future plans?

I'm looking forward to going home after we finish filming. Life has been very busy since I started this job, so it will be really nice to have a rest and catch up with family and friends. In terms of work, well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see....

Watch some of Rhoda's performances at the set of the Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive