Mundo Mo'y Akin

Main cast

• Sunshine Dizon as Perlita Mendoza

Marilyn's loving and protective mother. Perlita is a simple woman who, although deprived of a beauty appearance, has a kind heart and an adorable character. For her, "it is what on the inside that counts!" She works as a household helper at the Carbonel mansion, wherein she crosses paths with Giselle—the wife of her boss, Ziggy Carbonel—oblivious that the former is her own best friend Rodora Santos in disguise. She was expelled from the Carbonels along with Marilyn after disliking Charito's treatment. As a mother, Perlita is willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of her beloved daughter. But what she does not know is that her daughter is actually not hers.^[8][9]

• Angelika Dela Cruz as Giselle Atienza-Carbonel / Rodora Santos

Ziggy Carbonel's wife and mother to Darlene. With a beautiful face, an impeccable figure, plus a handsome and wealthy husband, Giselle holds the world in her hands. But behind her beautiful appearance and perfect life is a secret past. In reality, she is Rodora Santos, a dark-skinned and ugly woman who underwent plastic surgery with the help of Dona Carmen's wealth. Worse, to make her deception more realistic, she switches her ugly baby with Perlita's beautiful child. Giselle, however, still dreads the moment when she will have to tell Ziggy the truth. Fears of abandonment push her, however, to keep the secret hidden.^[10]

• Jolina Magdangal as Zenaida "Aida" Carbonel

The niece of Charito Carbonel's late husband, Ziggy's cousin and the surrogate mother of Jerome Alvarez. Aida finished her degree in Business Management but ended up working for the Carbonels as a constant aid to Charito's every whim and demand. Aida believes that she also has the rights for the Carbonel's vast properties and is determined to reclaim what is rightfully hers. She holds the key to the secret behind the real identities of Darlene Carbonel and Marilyn Mendoza and uses it to blackmail Giselle Carbonel to get what she wants, as well as to exact revenge on Doña Charito and Ziggy.^[11]

• Gabby Eigenmann as Ziggy Carbonel

Charito's son, Giselle's husband and father to Darlene. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Ziggy is used to being given everything he wants. He works as the general manager of "Carbonel Barongs"–their family business, and later as a resort owner. Happy-go-lucky and vain, Ziggy believes that life is all about pleasure. He is also known for being a womanizer and loves being surrounded by beautiful and sexy women. A vicious man, he can stand up to anyone and he never hesitates to speak his mind on things. But behind his seemingly "perfect world" hid a deep, dark secret that his wife, Giselle has been hiding for him for a long time.^[12][13]

• Lauren Young as Darlene Carbonel / Mendoza-Smith

Perlita Mendoza's biological daughter but was switched with Marilyn. Safe in the make-believe that Ziggy and Giselle Carbonel are indeed her real family, Darlene grew up in affluence and is used to getting whatever she wants, except for one thing — the love of her mother, Giselle Carbonel. She is the main antagonist of the series. She finds comfort in Marilyn Mendoza's company, the daughter of their household helper, Perlita. Despite the apparent differences in their social status, the two became best of friends. However, their relationship starts to falter when they fell in love with the same man – Jerome Alvarez.^[9]

• Jaclyn Jose as Charito de Carbonel

The matriarch of the affluent Carbonel clan. A former beauty queen and model, Charito now owns and runs "Carbonel Barongs", a well-known Barong Tagalog and Filipiniana shop. Arrogant and highly judgmental, Charito believes in the importance of beauty and hates ugly people [making Perlita and Marilyn the objects of her scorn]. A perfectionist and ambitious woman, she will do anything and everything just to accomplish her goals. Unaware of her granddaughter's true identity, Charito treats Darlene like a real princess—she spoils her to no end and sees to it that she has everything.^[14]

• Alden Richards as Jerome Alvarez

The foster child of Aida Carbonel. Good-looking, street-smart, romantic with the soul of a dreamer, Jerome finished Culinary Arts and now working as a sous-chef in the resort owned by the Carbonels. Jerome has an unrequited crush on the bratty Darlene Carbonel, and has been long-time friends with both her and Marilyn Mendoza [a girl who despite possessing an ugly appearance lies a heart of gold]. He eventually embroiled in a complicated love triangle between the two girls.^[15][16]

• Louise delos Reyes as Marilyn Mendoza / Carbonel

The rightful heiress of the Carbonels but was switched at birth with Darlene and grew up in poverty. Marilyn is a caring and obedient daughter who strives to better herself for the sake of her mother, Perlita Mendoza. She is intelligent, brave and kind-hearted, but despite all of these good qualities, Marilyn will experience being bullied and humiliated by others because of her unattractive appearances. During these hard times, Marilyn finds comfort in the company of Darlene Carbonel, the daughter of the family that her mother Perlita works for. But their friendship will be put to test as one guy comes between them – Jerome Alvarez.^[15]

Extended cast

• Kier Legaspi as Romeo "Romy" Alvarez

The irresponsible father of Jerome Alvarez and Aida Carbonel's hot-tempered live in partner. Romy is a lazy leech who wants to get rich but refuses work and loves to gamble. He left Aida and Jerome after discovering that she was making a deal with the Carbonels.

• Frances Makil-Ignacio as Mama Josie

Perlita Mendoza's best friend and confidante, and Marilyn's godmother. Loud, bubbly and unconventional, Josie owns and runs a beauty parlor. She proves herself a true friend as she constantly stands by Perlita's side through all the latter's ordeals.

• Sef Cadayona as Nonoy Pambide

The friend of Jerome who also works in the resort owned by the Carbonels. He knows about the special relationship between Jerome Alvarez and Darlene Carbonel and soon notices Marilyn Mendoza's feelings for his friend. He has a biting and sarcastic wit, serving as somewhat of a comic relief throughout the series. In the 26th episode, he asks Marilyn for a dinner date, only to reveal later that he only did that because of a deal he made with Jerome.

• Rita De Guzman as Alison Alcantara

The mean-spirited buddy of Darlene Carbonel. She is quite against Jerome Alvarez for her friend. She is also quite against Perlita for her mother due to her ugliness. She is opinionated and often can't help but express her strongly held beliefs.

• Marc Acueza as Harry Renacia

Marilyn's new-found friend, working as a television news reporter. Harry pretends to be Marilyn's boyfriend (to make Jerome jealous) for quite some time on the series, until he realized he already fall in love for her—for real. He left Marilyn after realizing that she loves Jerome.

• Jojit Lorenzo as Chef Andy Santos

Jerome's business partner, friend, confidante, and somewhat a father figure. He is the former head chef of the Carbonels but he later decides to partner up with Jerome and Nonoy and put up their own restaurant. The character provides comic relief to the otherwise dramatic events that plague Jerome.

Ratings

According to AGB Nielsen Philippines' Mega Manila household television ratings, the pilot episode of Mundo Mo'y Akin earned a 22.7% rating.^[28] While the final episode scored a 31.6% rating.^[29]

Critical response

The series was considered a critical success, positively received by viewers and writers, from its premiere episode. Nestor Torre of Philippine Daily Inquirer said "The series generally made a positive impression on me, due to the confident and believable portrayals of its two leads, Angelika dela Cruz and Sunshine Dizon. And I appreciated the show's penchant for brisk storytelling. Unlike other series that start two generations in the past, this one begins with the two leads already as young adults."^[30] Entertainment columnist, Joe Barrameda of Abante described the series as "talk of the town" because of the grand scenes and exciting flow of story.^[31] Dinno Erece of the blog Show and Tell praised Jolina Magdangal's performances in the series, said that "I can see her effectiveness as an anti-hero."^[32] Abante Tonite's resident entertainment writer, praised the acting performances of Jaclyn Jose, stating that "she is one of the reasons why I watching the show", and described her performance as "effortless".^[33] Jojo Gabinete of Abante praised Gabby Eigenmann's powerful acting performances particularly in episode 67, and he is looking forward for another acting nomination and award for Eigenmann.^[34] In his review, Isah Red of Manila Standard Today also praised Jaclyn Jose's acting, said that "Jose's bravura performance [in the scene] when she went into hysterics after hearing words from Perlita that Marilyn is Ziggy's daughter; and when she reacted to the DNA test results confirming that Darlene isn't her son's daughter. Wow! Nobody can beat Jose in that department." Red also praised Gabby Eigenmann's performance said that "Eigenmann's reaction [in the scene] when the DNA results confirmed Marilyn is her daughter, he simply held Darlene's hand and cried quietly. The actor showed restraint only the best actors in the industry can do. Though I am no big fan of soap operas, I think with Jose and Eigenmann around, it won't be much of a waste of time to sit and watch and maybe have some tears go by for 45 minutes," he added.^[35] On July 4, 2013 edition of his column, Red praised Louise delos Reyes acting performance particularly in the scene where de los Reyes […] visited Perlita (Dizon) in the hospital where she is recovering after a brain surgery, "she started showing very realistic emotions when someone sees a member of a family in that kind of state. She cried real tears even as she was blurting out her feelings for a person she knew as her mother. And that was continuous, without cuts. That's what I call good acting! And De los Reyes didn't mind that theprosthesis applied to her face to make her look "ugly" would even make her features even more horrid than already was."^[36]