Lovi Poe ‘beyond grateful’ as her film claims top spot on Netflix Philippines
Lovi Poe is “beyond grateful” that Seasons, her first film with Carlo Aquino, has made it to the No. 1 spot on Netflix Philippines.
“Grateful for this opportunity to tell stories and there’s no stopping now. I know this is definitely not going to be my last one,” the 34-year-old actress wrote on Instagram.
Besides being the top-trending film on the streaming platform — at least, as of Tuesday, or four days after its premiere — Seasons is extra special for Lovi because the romantic-comedy/drama is her concept. In the the end credits, the story is attributed to “Lourdes Virginia Moran Poe,” which is her real name.
Lovi, who entered showbiz in 2006, has portrayed an impressive range of female characters — from legal wife to mistress, violent wife to martyr, from teacher to policewoman, from femme fatale to even an “aswang”. But her filmmography gives the impression that she’s more interested in melodrama or heavy drama.
Thanks to Seasons, viewers will be introduced to another side of Lovi. She proves to be more than capable of becoming rom-com queen as well.
There are different timelines in the movie to cover the breadth and length of her character Charlie’s relationship journey with Carlo’s Kurt. Lovi particularly shines during the high school scenes or the period where Charlie meets Kurt for the first time and makes him promise to be a forever friend. Through her role, Lovi also revisits her love for performing.
No spoilers here, but the story revives the debate about the good and the bad about best friends becoming lovers, and how it is worth the risk of losing both love and friendship when things don’t work out in the end.
The film also proposes this idea that people in your life can either be classified as “Seasons” (they come at a specific time or stage in your life), “Reasons” (there’s a purpose why you meet them), or “Lifetime” (person/s who deserve to stay in your life no matter what happens).
The STAR asked Lovi if she truly believes in this concept.
“I believe in that. I wouldn’t say that I categorize the people I’ve been with accordingly. But there are some people talaga that you meet and have in your life for seasons only. And there are people that you meet for a certain reason. I feel like these are people that teach you a lesson about life,” she said during a recent roundtable interview at the Netflix Philippines headquarters in Makati.
“Eventually, at some point, if you get lucky, you get to meet your ‘lifetime.’ There was a question earlier about moving on and I just realized that I think it’s important to know about a person who entered your life, (ano) yung gravity ng relationship niyo dalawa and how much you loved each other. Is it only for a season or a lifetime? Then, it’s a lot easier to move on.”
Further sharing how she connected with Charlie, Lovi said, “I think we’ve all made mistakes in our lives and basically, Charlie has to face the consequences of her mistakes. I think it’s something we go through on a day-to-day basis, right? We commit big mistakes or small little things, but we still have to pay for the consequences of our actions.”
She continued, “My take on love and relationships, we have to take full responsibility for our mistakes. Sometimes, we blame others. It’s normal, it’s human nature, we always see the mistakes of others, but we have to recognize our mistakes as well. I think that’s one thing na makukuha ng tao sa film na ito.”
Meanwhile, it was a dream come true for Lovi that her story idea was turned into a film under Regal Entertainment and picked up by Netflix.
“I’m so kilig. More than kilig. Is there a higher level? Hahaha! But just being here in the Netflix office, I’m like oh my god!” she said.
“I came up with the concept of this story and I spoke to our writer Dwein Baltazar. I told her certain stories that I want to inject in this film. I was just so happy it was executed beautifully because it’s exactly how I imagined the story to be,” she further recalled.
“Of course, it’s my dream to one day write my own script. But I’m just happy that the concept that I wanted was brought to life. And so I gave Dwein the freedom to write (the screenplay) the way she wanted it. When I read it, I was very happy with it… Plus, it’s on Netflix. I mean what a dream. It’s such a dream come true.”
The film also paired Lovi for the first time ever with Carlo. She recalled feeling very intimidated during the shoot because she grew up watching her leading man, a former child star, on TV.
She gushed, “To be honest, I used to watch G-Mik. So, I was so intimidated doing scenes with Carlo, I couldn’t memorize my lines. There’s a scene (in Seasons) where we’re at a department store, ang dami kong sinasabi because Charlie’s talkative.
“But I was so intimidated because finally yung isang tao nakatrabaho ko, napakahusay and pinapanood ko lang growing up, ka-eksensa ko na siya. I was stressed… the anxiety!”
Despite feeling the jitters and all, the good thing about working with seasoned or more experienced actors is that “they know how to make you comfortable,” Lovi pointed out about Carlo.
“Plus, he’s very friendly and parang madadala ka sa scenes with him. He’s effortless! No matter how stressed I was, nag-jibe kami, nadala niya din ako. You need that kind of feeling together, especially as partners.
“And we are not just any kind of partners (in the film), we are best friends here. We have to show that closeness and I’m happy that he made me feel comfortable.”
Lovi has done over 30 films to date, around 20 of which casting her in the leading role. She has since leveled up and taking more control as a creative by putting up her own film production company named C’est Lovi Productions.
“For me, doing films is probably one of the best things in life. Acting is my No. 1. Although I’ve always wanted to be a singer, it was my goal as a child, I wanted to be Regine Velasquez, but I didn’t have the voice,” Lovi said.
“Just to discover that one important thing in your life is rare for some people. Some people can do many things. Some people can be an actor, be a singer, be a scientist and all these things, but it’s hard to find that one main focus, one main goal, one thing that you really, really love and I found it. To be able to do like how many films already, I’m really feeling blessed. And I’m really grateful.
“I don’t want to reach the point where I’m taking these blessings for granted. So, I’m grateful for everyone who’s trusting me.”
Produced by Regal Entertainment, Seasons is directed by Easy Ferrer and written by Dwein Baltazar. Check out www.netflix.com/Seasons.
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