Action may be considered a “male-centered genre” for certain viewers. Still, and Kaila Estrada made it a point not to go unnoticed in “Incognito,” which demanded their physical ability and strength.

“Incognito” is Racal and Estrada’s first time to take on the action genre, marking a departure from their usual projects. Comedies and slice-of-life dramas are Racal’s signature drama since she can shift from making audiences laugh to shedding a tear in a snap.

Estrada, on the other hand, was a scene-stealer in “Linlang” and “Can’t Buy Me Love” with her gut-wrenching portrayal of her characters’ despair.

Their signature work ethic didn’t change in “Incognito.” But filming “challenging” action scenes are moments where Racal and Estrada — who star as Gab Rivera and Max Alvero, respectively — feel empowered as women.

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“[We feel empowered] whenever we finish very hard, challenging scenes [that] demand a lot of physical ability and strength,” Racal told INQUIRER.net in a sit-down interview.

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“Every time matatapos namin siya, before kami ni Kaila mag-shoot, we feel so intimidated. Kasi challenging talaga ‘yung mga action scenes (Every time we finish filming, Kaila and I feel so intimidated. The action scenes were very challenging),” she continued. A nodding Estrada pointed out that it was their “first time” doing such scenes.

The actress-singer shared that her male co-leads found their action scenes complicated as well.

“Even the men of [‘Incognito’] say na complicated ang mga eksena. There’s a lot of intimidation,” she said. “But whenever we finish, it’s wow. We feel like we’re as strong as them. Kaya naman talaga with proper training and direction.”

(Even the men of “Incognito” say the scenes are complicated. There’s a lot of intimidation. But whenever we finish, wow. We feel like we’re as strong as them. We can do it with the proper training and direction.)

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Estrada shared that her and Racal’s characters are “very strong women” which is “nice” to have in the action drama.

“Action is such a male-centered genre. Even just having our characters portrayed that way, [where] our skills are equal to the men in the group, I feel that’s empowering enough for us,” she said.

For the lead actresses, they consider filming their scenes as a “badge of honor” that they want to share with the viewers.

“Every day, we just want to get through a taping day carrying that as a badge of honor and to do justice to our characters, and hopefully we can inspire people who watch it,” Estrada said.

The Lester Pimentel Ong-helmed drama, which was filmed in the Philippines and Italy, also stars Richard Gutierrez, Daniel Padilla, Anthony Jennings, Ian Veneracion and Baron Geisler.