My Zombabe brings out the big-screen chemistry of Empoy and Kim

Comedian Empoy Marquez has been paired with young and pretty leading ladies of late. He was the leading man of Alessandra de Rossi in the highly successful romantic comedy, Kita Kita, megged by Sigrid Andrea Bernardo in 2017.

Empoy was also paired with Cristine Reyes in director Victor Villanueva’s suspense comedy, Kidnap for Romance, that was shown last year.

Recently, Empoy had singer-actress Kim Molina as his partner in the horror-comedy flick, My Zombabe, written and directed by Bobby Bonifacio. Although it’s their first time to be paired on the big screen, they earlier worked together as a couple in the top-rating teleserye, Ang Probinsyano.

In the film, Pong (Empoy) becomes the loneliest man on the planet due to a zombie apocalypse. This all changes when he meets Yasmin, a woman in the process of zombifying.

“The character was really meant only for Empoy,” said direk Bobby. “Even Viva agreed from the start, the project was really for Empoy. I was so thankful that Empoy accepted the project.”

For the first time, Kim was not paired in My Zombabe with her reel and real-life partner, Jerald Napoles, who recently also appeared without her in director Crisanto Aquino’s comedy-drama, Instant Daddy.

“It’s refreshing, of course, to have a new and different partner for me onscreen,” admitted Kim. “Empoy and Je (Jerald) are friends in real life. I’m a fan of Empoy. It’s very exciting for me to work with him.

Kim and Empoy with direk Bobby Bonifacio and co-star, comic newcomer Yanyan de Jesus.

“In a way, they’re the same but they are not. Empoy brings something different to the table. When I watched Kita Kita, I was so happy that finally, Empoy was the leading man. I was very happy for Empoy.

“Je is likewise excited for Empoy and I. Je is very supportive about My Zombabe. Working with a different leading man, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. During the pandemic, I got so used to working with only Je as my leading man. Now, it’s someone different for me.”

Kim is really thankful to her Viva bosses to give her and Jerald separate projects. “We were able to re-introduce ourselves respectively as different artists,” she said. “It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.

“I discovered myself again without Je, who is my mentor in theater. It’s always fascinating and interesting for me to work with a different group, that includes direk Bobby and Yanyan.”

Empoy, on his part, cannot be thankful enough that he was paired with Kim on the big screen. Not surprisingly, they have onscreen chemistry. From the start, it helped that they became comfortable on the set.

“Sobrang harutan kami sa set, sobrang saya,” he said. “On and off camera constant ang bonding namin. Masarap ka-trabaho si Kim. Sobrang barkada, sobrang saya. Overwhelmed ako to work with Kim. Professional lahat ng cast. Kapag may kailangan sa eksena, binibigay naming lahat.”

Direk Bobby has made a number of titles from the time he started working at the helm of films in 2003.

The horror-comedy, My Zombabe, was the first project he pitched to Viva back in 2018.

“May mga inayos sa material at ng mag-uumpisa na sana kaming mag-shoot, pumalo naman ang pandemic,” shared direk Bobby. “Blessing in disguise pa rin sa amin dahil nai-ayos pa namin ang script to fit real situations. Finally, after almost five years, maipapalabas na namin ang pelikula.”

Direk Bobby is interested in horror, which prompted him to revive zombies in Philippine movies. He is likewise interested in the horror genre. He wanted to crossover to different genres like My Zombabe, which is horror-romance.

His inspiration was Jonathan Levine’s paranormal romantic zombie comedy, Warm Bodies, that made him tackle the subject in My Zombabe. “I was playing around the zombie idea that is not horror, but romance,” direk Bobby said. “My cast, the pairing, became ideal.”

“Finally, when I was told that Kim was my female lead, I was so happy because I know that Kim can offer a lot as the new leading lady of Empoy,” direk Bobby said. “We got excited. Kim had a lot of additional inputs to make the film better.”

Direk Bobby megged memorable early films like Tahan, Bula, My Lockdown Romance and Kahalili for Vivamax. Early on, Direk Bobby megged the award-winning Cinemalaya Film Festival entry, Numbalikdiwa (2006).

My Zombabe is Viva Films’ year-opener for 2024. The horror-comedy started its theatrical release last Jan. 8.

Joining Empoy and Kim in the comedy-romance are comic newcomer Yanyan de Jesus, with Billy Villeta, Jao Mapa, Suzette Ranillo, Liz Alindogan, Andrea del Rosario, Andrew Muhlach, Nico Locco, Garry Lim, Isadora and Marnie Lapus.