Francine Diaz as actress in the eyes of her leading men

Francine Diaz has remained “humble” and is easy to work with, according to her leading men, BGYO’s Akira Morishita and The Squad Plus’ KD Estrada, in the iWantTFC original series Bola Bola.

In Bola Bola, KD plays his first lead role and he finds it natural to build chemistry with Francine as co-actor.

“If you’re gonna act with your lead actor, may connection na kayo. We have a friendship established and luckily me and Francine, this is not our first-time meeting. We met a few times before, especially sa Squad Plus, (in) a birthday party din. We had a chance to chat,” he told The STAR in a virtual call.

He added that during the filming of the six-part original series, he and the Kadenang Ginto actress would converse about acting stuff. “It just came super natural sa mga scenes na parang we were just having fun. Nagbabardagulan. It just came naturally because parang tropa ko na rin si Francine.”

Prior to Bola Bola, KD played a supporting role as a band leader in the miniseries Unloving U.

On the other hand, Aki revealed how Francine would do ad-libs in some of the scenes. “Meron din ako ng pabiting eksena dun sa ad-lib po talaga ni Francine. Yung parang kinukuha ko yung cellphone na hawak-hawak niya. Kahit po ako nagulat na, ‘Ay, bakit kailangan yung cellphone.’ Ayaw niyang ibigay. Totally nag-ad-lib po dun si Francine,” he recounted.

Aki was very thankful for the tips and pieces of advice his co-star had shared to him. “Naalalayan nya po ako sa pag-acting. Nakakatuwa rin po siya katrabaho kasi kahit po may pagka-corny rin yung mga jokes niya, nakakatuwa naman po (laughs),” he quipped.

Aki met Francine for the first time years ago when the latter was doing a mall show for Kadenang Ginto and the former was guesting as a trainee of the P-pop boy band BGYO. “Natuwa po ako kasi nakilala niya pa rin ako. She remembered my name. And when we did work together, nakakatuwa po kasi sobrang welcoming niyang tao. She is talkative and maraming kuwento,” he said of her.

She is “very humble,” he furthered. “Even though she has been in the showbiz industry for quite some time, she still keeps her feet on the ground. Hindi lumaki yung ulo. She would give acting tips. Nagpapatawa kahit sabihin mong pagod na lahat. Sobrang nakaka-amaze na tao si Francine, on cam and off cam po.”

The series has also marked Aki’s comeback in acting. He previously appeared in some indie films. “Sobrang laki ng adjustments kasi ilang years po ako nag-stop sa pag-acting. I’m now used to performing. Kumbaga may acting po sa performance, pero iba yung acting na sa series or kung ano pa man,” he explained.

His fellow BGYO members were likewise supportive of his acting endeavor. “When they learned about it, they were very happy. (They said to me) ‘Galingan mo. Dalhin mo yung buong BGYO. Alam naming kayang-kaya mo yan,’” shared Aki.

KD and Aki were part of the Bola Bola official soundtrack featuring the songs: Mahal Ba Kita? by KD, Mahal Na Kita by Aki, and Mahal na Kita version by BGYO.

Meanwhile, KD’s onscreen partner Alexa Ilacad encouraged him to give his 100 percent in this project. “Of course, I want to impress Alexa kasi antagal niya dito (in the industry). Of course, I want to show off din. Wala naman siyang binanggit na specific, but she did say na based on the trailer, she saw that my eyes were very expressive, that’s good. At least I got a comment from her,” divulged KD.

Alexa is also “super proud” of him despite him working with a different love team. “Hindi talaga yan maiiwasan na kaming dalawa ay magkakaroon ng projects na hindi kami magkasama or iba yung ipa-partner sa isa’t isa, but, of course, I’m proud of her din. Like yung music video with Benedix (Ramos). And that’s OK with me,” uttered KD.

“I’m having this project with Francine. That’s OK. The thing is, just trust each other lang naman talaga. At the end of the day, at the end of work, kami yung ano, ayoko ng magsalita, basta ano,” he added.

Bola Bola is based on the best-selling romance novel by Anna Geronga, which tells the story of Thea (Francine), a 220-pound high school student whose greatest love is food. Thea will experience the joys and pains of first love as she learns the importance of self-love and self-worth.

As per media release, KD portrays Julian, Thea’s best friend and No. 1 support system who has a secret crush on her. Aki plays Lucas, her lifelong crush who’s not into plus-size women, while Ashton Salvador is Josh, her fitness trainer who used to be in Thea’s shoes, weight-wise, and who begins to fall for her.

(New episodes are coming on April 9 and 10 on the iWantTFC app and website iwanttfc.com).