Bea and Angelica topbill film focusing on female friendship for a change
MANILA,Philippines — Angelica Panganiban and Bea Alonzo team up for the first time on the big screen in Star Cinema’s Unbreakable, which opens in cinemas tomorrow, Nov. 27. For a change, it’s a film that focuses on female friendship.
Written by Vanessa Valdez and directed by Mae Cruz-Alviar, Unbreakable tells the story of college best friends Deena Yambao (Angelica) and Mariel Salvador (Bea), whose long-standing friendship will be put to a test when they marry into the same family.
The story veers from the “usual” mainstream fare for it doesn’t revolve around a love triangle nor it is an “affair” film.
“Primarily, this is a friendship movie. Di ba tayo, we’re used to (romantic) movies. We have a lot of romance films. But this film is the story of unconditional love between friends. We haven’t seen that in a long time or in a while. So, this is a refreshing story,” said director Mae Cruz-Alviar in a recent presscon for the film.
“It’s not a kabit film. It’s not what you think it is. It’s a story about friendship and then life happens. The obstacles would be the marriage, love, internal conflicts and conflicts with other people. But it’s still more about the journey of the friendship,” direk Mae added.
Writer Vanessa Valdez further explained how the story came about. “We do a lot of romantic stories, but we rarely do love stories that feature friendship. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there are now more people who are single or choose to be single. And for those people who choose to be single, I think the important relationship outside the family is the friendship. So, actually, they’re saying and I sort of believe in this, that the breakup of a friendship could be just as devastating as a romantic breakup. And so I thought, it was interesting to put it here.”
The two female leads talked about their characters.
Angelica said, “Deena is a dependent person who is always seeking for love from people. She’s a people pleaser. She wants to please people around her, thinking she could win them over, thus making her feel loved and welcomed in their group or families. So dun na niya nakilala si Mariel, sa ganoong klaseng pagkatao.”
Bea, on the other hand, said of her character, “I’m Mariel, the best friend of Deena. We will see her grow from being an idealistic woman, a go-getter, a fixer she likes fixing things and people to become this woman, who has surpassed a lot of difficulties in life. You will see up to what extent she’s willing to take things that life throws at her.”
Vanessa related the process of casting the female leads, who had the opportunity to work together in the 2006 ABS-CBN series Maging Sino Ka Man, also incidentally directed by Mae Cruz, but never in a film.
“For several years now, I’ve been wanting and hoping that they could do a film together. I started with Star Cinema 15 years ago and 2007 was an important year for me, and they were my stars (in the projects I did then),” Vanessa said, referring to films she wrote, A Love Story with Angelica and One More Chance with Bea.
“Since that time, I had hoped for them to do a movie together. I was so happy that when we asked them early this year, ‘Would you be willing to do a movie together?’ and they were like, ‘Yes, what is it about?’ And when we pitched the story to them, that this is about friendship and the breakup of a friendship, they latched on to it right away. And from the very beginning, we always say that this is a story of friendship, and it’s the kind of story that you rarely see on screen but it’s a story worth telling because a lot of us can relate to having friends. Actually, hindi naman lahat tayo kinakasal, hindi lahat tayo nagkaka-boyfriend di ba, pero lahat tayo may kaibigan.”
What attracted both Bea and Angelica to the film besides the chance of working with each other for the first time on a film, was the opportunity to rekindle their friendship.
They’ve been friends for a long time. They said they have watched most of each other’s films and text each other reviews. But there was a time when they drifted apart.
So for Bea, to state that she’s happy to have finally worked with Angelica is an understatement. The 32-year-old actress added, “Masayang masaya ako na umabot kami sa ganito na pinagdaanan namin ang journey ng pagkakaibigan. I’m very excited for more... I’m excited to know what the future holds for our friendship, like when we have our own families. I mean, we would talk about getting pregnant about the same time (laughs). (The thought of it is) so exciting for me. More than this being a blessing because this is a good movie, for me, the biggest blessing really is to rekindle my friendship with Angelica.”
Direk Mae proudly noted that Bea and Angelica’s chemistry as actors is a must-watch. And for the stars, it’s the real friendship that is translating well to the screens.
But just like other close friends, they had their share of conflicts in the past, which they no longer elaborated on.
“But during times when we didn’t talk to each other, you’d hear things about her and still get affected. You still think about the person, still wish and pray that she gets better. Walang ka showbizan. When life just happens, but you know that this person is a good person, and this person deserves the best, and I’m so glad I get to tell her that now,” Bea shared.
Angelica also opened up to confirm they went through misunderstandings, ill feelings and “selosan” to the point that they would avoid each other because “naiinis talaga kami sa isa’t isa.” But she believes that time heals all wounds, big or small.
“Bigla nalang inayos kami ng time. Tapos nagkatoon, kinausap kami kung gusto mag-movie. Lahat talaga na nangyari, may dahilan talaga,” the 33-year-old actress recalled, adding, “Our relationship has gone deeper and it shows in the film.”
Amidst their renewed bond, Bea described Angelica as the kind of person who will fight for her friends and treat them like family.
Angelica, for her part, described Bea as the kind of friend who will take care of you. “Between us, ako yung mas impulsive mag-decide at magsalita. She’s the person you will hang on to and you’ll ask for help when you don’t know what to say or do.”
She continued, “When she came to my life, parang may light na ulit, lightness, parang gusto mo maging mabuting tao kasi pag may na-disappoint ka, may tatalak sa’yo.”
Both can honestly say though that what truly bonded them together this time around was very similar experiences in life, including heartbreak. No need to specify but they went through headline-grabbing love woes and breakup controverses in the past months.
“To tell you the truth, feeling ko oo, malaking bagay na may pinagdaanan siyang things in the past and then ako halos, parehos yung pinagdaanan namin. ’Pag naka-relate kayo sa pinagdaanan ng isa’t isa, bonded kayo because you help each other heal and move on. We pull each other up,” Bea admitted.
The film explores the “unbreakable” ties that bind people, but the two Kapamilya stars also had lessons to share on how to be “unbreakable” as women.
Angelica: “You just maintain that hope and faith in what’s in your heart, and in who you are. Don’t lose your trust in people just because you were hurt by one person. Don’t think that all people are the same.
“If you need to move on and move forward, kailangan mo gamitin lahat ng experiences mo in your life to be stronger. Basta kung meron kang pain at meron kang goodness sa puso mo, maniwala ka na lahat ng nangyari sa ‘yo may dahilan at para sa ikabubuti mo. You just have to accept everything. Masakit, mahirap at ang dali lang sabihin, pero yun talaga.
“You need to face it, you need to do it, you need to experience it because I believe that God is preparing you for what is yet to come. And when it does, you already know what to, you know how to handle it and you know how to surpass it.”
Bea: “I want to agree (with our director Mae Cruz-Alviar said) that pain makes you unbreakable. If you are able to soar above all the difficulties in life, if you are able to get through everything that life throws at you, at lumabas ka dun ng buo, that makes you unbreakable.
“As long as we are alive, there will always be challenges. But I believe it’s the Lord’s way to make you more unbreakable and to make you learn more.
“For all that I went through, I realized that you don’t avoid the pain. Dapat ini-endure mo siya, dapat natuto ka, dapat di ka natatakot pag may lungkot napaparating. Face it head-on and learn from it. You will become unbreakable and you will learn from it after. You just have to believe in it.”
Unbreakable also stars Richard Gutierrez in his first drama under Star Cinema after a decade. Ian Veneracion, Rosanna Roces and Gloria Diaz are also cast in special roles in the film.
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