Bruno Gabriel back to the teleserye grind

MANILA, Philippines — Taking off from the title of his previous series for the millennials, G.R.I.N.D. (Get Ready It’s a New Day), Bruno Gabriel is ready to take on romantic-comedy via GMA 7’s Ang Forever Ko’y Ikaw. He is back to the TV series grind.

“If you look at all the characters, in my opinion, there’s no doubt that there’ll always be somebody for you. It’s not in a way that one person meets another,” Bruno gave a hint on the theme to be explored by the series during a recent small group interview after the standard roundtable. “Because of so much diversity the world has, there’ll always be somebody for you. For every person, (he will have) a match.” This is set against the ideas of serendipity and second chance at love.

Ang Forever Ko’y Ikaw follows the personal narratives of Ginny (Camille Prats) and Lance (Neil Ryan Sese). They are both single parents, who still live in the past. Fate, as one can guess, has something up its sleeve.

“Both of them are sawi (brokenhearted),” Bruno shared. “In real life, you have people who lost their lovers or maybe their lovers left them, or their lovers died... As somebody who experiences loneliness once in a while, loneliness can be pretty sad. It can really be depressing, especially for adults who have once loved so deeply. This story, on their part, is that.” Ang Forever Ko’y Ikaw will encourage everyone to give love another chance.

 Based on the series teaser, the story between Benjie and Marione (played by Bruno and Ayra Mariano, respectively) will intersperse with Ginny and Lance’s.

“Both plots are (part of the) main plots I guess,” Bruno said. “First of all, the purpose of the show is to (elicit) romantic thrill (from the audience) and to entertain them. That’s the actual goal. As a result, all our creativity goes with that.”

From Bruno’s point of view, his character and Marione start off on the wrong foot. “We absolutely hate each other. In the first two to three weeks, we always fight. Since we attend the same school, we’ll get to bump into each other. We’re gonna be in each other’s lives.”

Although the source of animosity between the two is yet to be revealed once Ang Forever Ko’y Ikaw premieres on March 12 at 11:30 a.m., what Bruno could share is “(Benjie) is (friends) with the school royalty, ang pinaka-mayabang na tao sa campus. But my character is the nicest guy in his group and he is kind-hearted.” This side of Benjie will not skip Marione’s eyes.

As for Bruno and Ayra’s careers, working on Ang Forever Ko’y Ikaw is that follow-up to their team-up that started in G.R.I.N.D.

“It’s always a joy to work with Ayra. She is one of those stars who became my first friends in the network because of workshops (we attended). I knew her already before we started (working on a project). Masarap siyang katrabaho. I think that’s why it works.”

As a new actor, Bruno is glad to be cast in a rom-com.

“I actually love rom-com. I love comedy,” he said. “I remember when I was little, I once told my mom that if I’m gonna be an actor, I wanna be in a comedy. I love rom-com, which is one of my favorite genres.”

Asked to explain his leaning to this genre, he answered, “I think rom-com is a very realistic genre. It deals with everyday things. It is very relatable and sometimes you have that inner monologue, especially in kilig moments, na ikaw lang ang nakakaisip pero it happens in a rom-com. So it is very realistic.”

Bruno, who takes acting seriously, appreciates the art of storytelling. He is, in fact, “in love with it. Everything is part of human life and human experience.” Bruno shared, “As human beings, we experience fear, we experience love, we experience kilig, we experience sorrow. Sometimes, we have to connect to the audience who never sees those things.” This is where his pride as an actor comes from, apart from the fact that drama can change some people’s lives. Given the nature of his business, Bruno has the responsibility to inspire and empower viewers on cam (through the roles he essays) and off cam. He likes the experience of truth that the characters live so vividly by acting in a teleserye — in spite of some unbelievable occurrences in it — and watching it.

Though viewers have been used to watching love stories, Ang Forever Ko’y Ikaw is bent on offering a new approach to creating that romantic thrill and recreating a unique tale about love and serendipity. 

“The serendipity part here is you can still love even if you’re brokenhearted or you’re not in good terms with that person,” Bruno said. “…you just give yourself time to get to know them, mapapamahal ka talaga (you will really fall in love with them).”