'It’s my baby': Alessandra de Rossi on directorial debut, directing Piolo Pascual
MANILA, Philippines — Since she has been acting since she was young, Alessandra de Rossi thought that directing her own movie would be as easy as breathing.
It was not until she poured her everything, including her and her friends’ and family’s money, into her directorial debut “My Amanda,” that she realized she was wrong.
“I decided to direct it because no one wanted to touch it because they found it unbelievable,” she said of her three-years-in-the-making roving romance drama with Piolo Pascual.
“I chose to direct this film because I knew with Piolo, I wouldn’t have to direct anything. Just come to the set. Just be who you are and just let me think of my shot. And just hope I get it right. I thought it’s going to be that easy. But being an actor and a director, writer and also a producer…
“The producers are all my best friends and my sister and my brother-in-law. So I have to take care of their money. So sometimes, when I’m directing, I didn’t have the privilege to see myself on the screen and acting. It just wasn’t possible. “
Although Alessandra is a rookie when it comes to directing, Piolo said “yes” to her right away.
“I believed in you because you have the energy,” Piolo told his co-star and director at the film’s recent virtual press conference.
“And I always believed in your talent.”
Piolo said Alessandra, as a director, “knew what she wanted.”
“She knew her shots. Taking from Alessandra’s acting prowess, I know she could handle it early on. I know she could take it on, I know she could wing it no matter what. I just believed in the script. I just believed in the project. I just went along with it. I just had fun, you know. I didn’t have to think about anything.
“Because when she asked me, ‘You can be anything. Just come as you are. Just be yourself,’ then I said, ‘I’m good. I don’t have to think about anything, how to act, how to describe. We were actually just being ourselves.”
Despite Alessandra’s fighter persona, Piolo bared that she is actually very respectful as a director.
“Having her as a director? It was always hard for her because she doesn’t want to offend people. She’s the type of person who doesn’t want to cross the line to not to offend the actor.”
Instead of bossing around, Alessandra spoke with actors about her suggestions.
“If there’s one thing good about Alessandra, she’s collaborative. If she knows that something would probably work, she would give way. So it was easy. That’s why she was hospitalized. For me, it was easy,” Piolo laughed.
Alessandra confessed that the script was inspired by her real-life relationship with her guy best friend, named TJ (Piolo is also fondly called “PJ”), as well as Piolo’s friendship with his Spring Films co-founder Joyce Bernal.
“Because most of my friendships are with men and I treat them like my older brothers,” Alessandra shared.
“It’s also something I wanted to share with Filipinos also, that a guy and a girl could be friends, and they could even be like drunk with each other… I don’t want them to be beside the opposite sex and always feel awkward. I want people to treasure friendships and keep them as they are… Not everyone’s there for sex or a romantic relationship.”
Although she used real names (like TJ) in the script, and jot down their real-life banters, De Rossi clarified that the movie is not based on real life.
“I just used the dynamics of the friendship because I want to share a different kind of love story. It’s a friendship that’s intimate and not superficial and rare and sincere. And that’s what I wanted to talk about because all Pinoys are fans of rom-coms and this one’s quite hard. It’s a different take on love… The love language is different.”
Since it was based on their real-life friendships, more than just a film project together, Alessandra and Piolo see “My Amanda” as something very personal.
“I’m just so happy to be given a chance to do it and I hope it would open more doors for Filipino filmmakers to do it in a global perspective,” asserted Piolo.
“It’s my baby and once I put it out in the world, it gets a life of its own,” affirmed Alessandra.
“It’s out of my hands now. It’s up to you.”
RELATED: 'My Amanda': Why Alessandra de Rossi chose Piolo Pascual, not John Lloyd Cruz
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