The Genesis of an Affair

MANILA, Philippines – The AlDub spark started on July 16, 2015 in Eat, Bulaga!’s Kalyeserye.

Millions of AlDub fans around the world would never forget the iconic split screen moment, when Maine Mendoza a.k.a. Yaya Dub and Alden Richards, the Pambansang Bae first “met” on Philippine television. According to Eat, Bulaga!’s creative consultant Jenny Ferre, “My staff was figuring out how to elicit a different reaction from the poker-faced Yaya Dub. One of the Eat, Bulaga! writers told me that Maine had a crush on the matinee idol.” She then instructed Alden, who was in the studio at the time, to sit in front of the camera, just flash his smile and tease the young lady. As soon as Yaya Dub saw him on the monitor from a remote location, she was apparently surprised and delighted. She smiled with kilig in her eyes, and soon did the now-famous pabebe wave.

Along with Lola Nidora, the role popularized by Wally Bayola, Yaya Dub and the Pambansang Bae proved that true love exists even in the generation of smart phones and high-tech gadgets. In the midst of sexy soap operas and dramas that thrive on young people having promiscuous relationships and the like, Eat, Bulaga!’s Kalyeserye proved itself as a powerful anti-thesis that showed love need not be impulsive nor overly passionate. In other words, “true love is patient… true love waits.”

Weeks turned into months, and before Maine and Alden knew it, they have become phenomenal superstars here and abroad. Maine still has a strong following on Twitter, while Alden has always had a strong fan base among females not only because of his mestizo looks, but also because he has proven himself as a good actor on TV and film.

AlDub’s success on TV culminated via a concert titled Tamang Panahon, which was held at the largest indoor arena in the country, the Philippine Arena. The highly-anticipated event reportedly drew about 55,000 people. Finally, Yaya Dub and the Pambansang Bae got the chance to hold hands and hug each other on stage amidst screaming and crying die-hard fans.

From television to multimedia stars

Months after the staging at the Philippine Arena, AlDub has become the love team with the most number of endorsements. Considering that the team-up was less than a year old compared to other love teams, Alden and Maine, whether together or not, can be seen on huge billboards along EDSA and other major thoroughfares. It has even created a misconception among some people, thinking that Maine has been in the showbiz industry for several years, when in fact, she has only started her career a year ago.

From food products, beverages, to clothing and apparel, name it, AlDub has it. The love team has translated its popularity into a slew of endorsements. Apparently, the two have what is called as “Midas Touch” as everything they endorse just sells like hotcakes. Its popularity has indeed reached epic magnitude, not only locally, but also worldwide. Alden and Maine have become the darlings of the advertising industry.

But just as any showbiz love team, the tandem will not level up in terms of career unless AlDub is featured in a movie. Last December, Alden and Maine played supporting roles to seasoned box-office superstars Vic Sotto and Ai-Ai delas Alas in My Bebe Love. The film won for Maine a Best Supporting Actress award from the Metro Manila Film Festival. Although the movie was a box-office success, the AlDub fans just clamored for more. And rightfully so, why wouldn’t they deserve to have a movie of their own?

AlDub reaches a milestone

In the first quarter of 2015, talks had been made among the box-office giants APT Entertainment, GMA Films and MZET. After months of waiting, a movie was finally in the offing and in fact, had started the production stage.

The movie would not be shot locally, but would be set in the picturesque Lake Como in Italy.  According to producer Antonio Tuviera, “If AlDub will have their first movie, it has to have the grandeur of Tamang Panahon or even bigger. We will not settle for an ordinary love story, because their fans have waited this long and they deserve nothing less.”

He added, “We don’t mind spending more for quality because we want a very memorable movie that will be remembered for years or decades to come.”

GMA Films’ Annette Gozon-Abrogar explained, “Alden and Maine are our network’s pride as well, so even with the story pitches, we had to be very careful and selective, so it was really something we had to sit down and talk about. We did not want to rush things then be sorry. So finally, we came to a decision and chose Imagine You & Me.”

The movie storyline came from the creative concept of Renato Custodio and Aloy Adlawan. Renato said it was not easy creating a story for a love team that began in a very unusual way. “AlDub is not your regular love team, and in fact, they were loved by the people not because their team-up was manufactured by the studios, but because their tandem was born from something that is real kaya nakaka-kilig, so my concern was how to re-create the kilig on the big screen.”

From the idea of crush, Renato had to push the love team notches higher with the element of love. According to him, Eat, Bulaga! is basically kilig paradise, and this movie is kilig as well, but this time, the platform is film, so there is a love story, not just a series of humorous live events like how it is done in Kalyeserye. And another difference is, “As opposed to Kalyeserye, Lola Nidora is not here anymore to tell the lessons of love, so the story itself has to explain the morals of the situation.”

Imagine… La Storia D’Amore

Alden and Maine, along with the production team, left for Italy last May and began shooting their first movie as lead stars. At the helm of the project is award-winning director, Michael Tuviera.

Direk Mike, as he is fondly called in showbiz, is known for directing top-caliber actors like Marian Rivera, Richard Gomez, Heart Evangelista, Dennis Trillo and Derek Ramsay. When asked about Maine as an actress, the director replied, “I was surprised because I was not expecting much from a new actress like Maine, but when I was giving her instructions, motivating her, and when we started filming, I realized, wow, this girl has talent.”

Even the Pambansang Bae himself has only good words for his leading lady. “This movie is our third project together. We did My Bebe Love, and an Eat, Bulaga! Lenten drama for television, and I am so excited about this film because it will show a different side of AlDub.”

The supporting cast for the movie includes Irma Adlawan, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, Cai Cortez and Cacai Bautista. How was it working with the lead stars? Jasmine answered, “Maine and I are like sisters already because we have so much in common, and I admire her for being so down-to-earth and naturally humorous.”

Irma said, “The movie was filmed in collaboration with an Italian production team, and definitely not the guerilla shoot type of movie-making, so it was very organized.”

“We already know how hardworking local production teams are, but I am proud to say that the Italian production team was impressed with how creative and professional the local production crew was during the shoot abroad,” said direk Mike.

When Maine was asked how his relationship with co-star Alden was during the shoot, she said, “I love working with Tisoy kasi kampante ako sa kanya at maalaga siya since alam niyang ako yung newbie sa acting. We all know na magaling siyang actor, so I must admit that I got carried away sa mga ibang eksena namin.”

In the movie, Maine is Gara, a young and bubbly Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) who believes in true love and destiny. Alden plays the role of Andrew, a brooding guy who is too pragmatic to believe in fate. Unlike Gara who is an optimist and a girl who is an NBSB (No Boyfriend Since Birth), Andrew has to deal with a painful past.

Alden described his character as, “Mapagmahal din naman si Andrew, pero may mga challenges at dark chapters sa buhay niya na dapat ayusin.”

“Maraming secrets ang characters nina Andrew at Gara, pero ang tanong ay paano magkakasundo ang dalawang tao na hindi pareho ng paniniwala sa buhay?" said Maine.

“But what amuses me is that Gara and Andrew are like what fish is to water, mahirap paghiwalayin kasi kahit may differences sila, they still make each other happy… parang kami talaga ni Maine,” shared Alden.

The loveteam said the movie is their gift to their fans in time for AlDub’s first anniversary on July 16.

Looking at how they gaze at each other, there really must have been a couple of fast-beating hearts in Italy. Maine and Alden’s chemistry in the movie is amazingly natural that it is very hard to tell whether the spark is only on reel or for real.