John Lloyd & Jennylyn: No first-time jitters

It was bound to happen, a casting coup waiting for the tamang panahon. And the right time is now.

Bar none, John Lloyd Cruz and Jennylyn Mercado are today’s most bankable actors whoever their screen partners are. John Lloyd’s last rom-com, Star Cinema’s A Second Chance (his latest screen outing with Bea Alonzo who is rumored to be his “new squeeze” after he broke up with Angelica Panganiban), was a megahit, the highest grosser of 2015.

Dame Luck has been on Jennylyn’s side for years now. Touted (by FHM magazine) as “The Sexiest Mom Alive,” she won Best Actress in two Metro Filmfests in a row, for English Only, Please (with Derek Ramsay) in 2014 and for Walang Forever (with Jericho Rosales) in 2015. They say that if you’re lucky in your career, it usually follows that you’re unlucky in love. Hello, not true in Jennylyn’s case. Despite her and Dennis Trillo’s denial (negated by the intimate photos they regularly post on their Instagram accounts), it’s safe to conclude that the ex-lovers are “on” again (so what’s wrong with it?). They have a few things in common, mainly their having love sons (Jennylyn’s by former boyfriend Patrick Garcia and Dennis’ with ex-girlfriend Carlene Aguilar).

John Lloyd himself has a colorful romantic background, although he is mum about it. Thus, he and Jennylyn bring a wealth of experience on that score in their first team-up, Star Cinema’s Just The 3 of Us, directed by hitmaker Cathy Garcia-Molina (who has worked with John Lloyd in several movies), which opens nationwide on Wednesday, May 4. Very briefly now (with no spoiler alert): John Lloyd plays a pilot and Jennylyn a ground crew. I leave it to you to find out how they meet and match.

“It’s not the usual kind of love story that begins with boy-meets-girl,” Cathy told Funfare. “Nauna yung produkto…you know, yung anak bago sila nagkakilala at na-in love. How? Sorry but I can’t reveal how it happens.”

Because she hasn’t seen any of Jennylyn’s movies (“Too busy with work to even watch the teleserye on ABS-CBN”), said Cathy), she felt like she was starting from scratch in handling Jennylyn (who is a Kapuso).

“Jennylyn is not a homegrown talent,” explained Cathy. “I mean, Kapamilya stars have a certain style of acting that is very much of their own. Jennylyn came in as raw to me, fresh and new. It’s harder because you have to find where her strengths are. But I made her feel that she’s a new member of the family, who was being taken good care of.”

On the first day of shooting, Cathy related that she sat down with Jennylyn and laid down her cards, explaining to Jennylyn how she worked, and asking Jennylyn what she wanted and expected.

“Ayokong magkagulatan kami,” said Cathy. “Soon, I would know how easy she was to work with, napakabait na tao, simpleng tao, no demands, no nothing. It helped that I had not seen her movies so we were starting on a blank slate. Para lang kaming naglalaro. I would ask her, ‘Anak, nagawa mo na ba ito?’ before starting to shoot a scene. She would say, ‘Hindi pa po!’ So okay, we would do a scene that she had never done before so that the moviegoers would see what something new Jennylyn could offer.”

No such breaking-the-ice experience with John Lloyd, except when they shot the love scenes.

“He’s very careful,” shared Cathy. “He’s like that with all his leading ladies.”

One scene called for John Lloyd to touch a certain part of Jennylyn’s body but he couldn’t do it, until Jennylyn came to his rescue.

“It was Jennylyn who guided John Lloyd’s hand to show him that it was okey lang,” smiled Cathy.

In an exclusive interview with Funfare, John Lloyd and Jennylyn related how they became comfortable with each other.

How different are your characters in Just The 3 of Us from your previous ones?

JLC: My character, si Uno, para siyang isang...isa siyang tao na napunta sa ganung estado, yung sa ganung...how do I say this...naging ganun si Uno, he became selfish, self-centered and ambitious maybe because of his past. He was abandoned so it seems that he never experienced true and unconditional love. He never met his real parents and he never felt close to those who raised him.

This kind of characters are hard to understand because what they have gone through is not the usual, hindi typical. It’s quite a challenging character and quite a challenging story to tell, involving a child inside a woman’s tummy. I’ve never done this kind of stuff in my rom-com starrers.  The Uno character is quite alien to me.

Jennylyn: It’s my first time to really let loose as an actress. I really left my comfort zone. From the way my character CJ talks and walks to her mannerisms, iniba talaga ni direk Cathy ang pag-atake ko sa character. It’s different from the characters that I have played. This time, I’m the one running after the guy. So kung sina Tere at Mia (my characters in English Only, Please and Walang Forever, respectively) nagpakatanga sa pag-ibig, times 10 mo pa si CJ, kasi this girl is full of love. But as you watch the movie, you will see her growth as a person.

It’s your first time to work together. Any “first-time jitters” and how did you overcome them?

JLC: Actually, none. Excitement, yes; but first-time jitters, no. Jennylyn is one of those outside of (ABS-CBN/Star Cinema) whom I’ve been wanting to work with, so I’m happy that it’s a dream coming true. At least, galing sa dalawang malaking network nagsama sa iisang pelikula.”

Jennylyn: Up to now, kinakabahan ako. It takes time for me to warm up to people I’m working with for the first time. Since it’s my first time to work under Star Cinema with direk Cathy and JLC, sobrang kinabahan ako, not because it’s my first time to work with them but because I have been a fan of theirs before pa. It’s a bit intimidating working with people that you admire.

How many of each other’s movies have you seen and what can you say about them?

JLC: (No answer)

Jennylyn: Lahat, hahaha!!! All I can say is that direk Cathy and JLC are so good and it’s a privilege for me to work with them.

What’s your most memorable scenes in the movie?

JLC: We met in one scene It’s a beautiful scene that only somebody like direk Cathy could think of. That scene, it’s a very interesting first meeting that happens in a convenience store. While she was rehearsing me, direk Cathy made Jennylyn hide; and while rehearsing Jennylyn, ako naman ang pinatago. It was only during the “take” that Jennylyn and I actually met.

Jennylyn: Our first scene when I confess that I am pregnant by Uno. That was also the very first time that JLC and I met.

How were you on the set between takes? Did you compare “personal” notes?

JLC: Jennylyn is very professional and very dedicated. She knows what is expected of her. If your co-star is like her, parang wala kang puedeng i-expect na hindi mo magugustuhan, eh. So what you should do to live up to her, pantayan man lang yung kanyang ibinibigay.

For us working together for the first time, it means a lot that we can draw something from each other, that we can learn from each other…pero yun bang dedication, yung sa labas na mismo ng trabaho. So malaking bagay na ganun siya, medyo nga too good to be true kasi walang mali, para bang walang mali sa kanya.

Jennylyn: Tahimik lang. Direk Cathy would feed us instructions on how our scenes would be shot and how our characters would feel off the set. By the time a “take” was called, we were already in character.

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