Finally, Zanjoe Marudo has admitted that he and Bea Alonzo have broken up as a couple.
Zanjoe affirmed on national television what many have been speculating for months now—that he and Bea have gone separate ways. He didn’t give a reason for the break-up but explained that it is something that he has to face head-on and process with time.
A man of few words, Zanjoe revealed that the strong feelings he has for Bea remain and he is still hopeful that things can be worked out in the end. “Love is worth fighting for,” he said.
Meanwhile, Anglica Panganiban also broke her silence regarding rumors that Bea Alonzo is now the new love of her boyfriend John Lloyd Cruz.
“Kami pa rin [it’s still us],” replied Angelica to the question often asked of her these days.
She will miss John Lloyd for a week next month as her boyfriend will join the team of Lav Diaz for Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis, the only Philippine entry to the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival. “We’ll get to celebrate Valentine’s Day before he leaves. I’m proud of him and his choices for movie projects,” she said.
THE REWARDS OF BEING NETWORK-FRIENDLY
Joyce Bernal is one of the few in the entertainment industry who can work in competing networks and their sister companies without qualms.
At the moment, Joyce is in the thick of postproduction work for her latest movie, Everything About Her. The movie, starring Vilma Santos and Angel Locsin, is produced by Star Cinema, the movie arm of the Lopez-owned ABS-CBN Entertainment Network.
Bernal is also calling the shots for That’s My Amboy, the new prime-time romantic comedy of GMA. The new show is betting on the tandem of Barbie Forteza and Andre Paras, ably supported by second-generation actors Meryll Soriano and Matet de Leon.
“Loyalty is not an issue at all,” Joyce said about her being able to work with the fierce rivals, adding, “It’s work. I need work just like everybody else. If I’m doing a soap for GMA, I won’t do something of the same genre and on the same time block for the competitor. Like for many years now, I do TV for GMA, but I can shoot a film for other productions, as well.”
Joyce is one of our favorite female filmmakers, because she is straight-forward, unpretentious, shows a lot of substance, is not foul-mouthed, knows how to execute a good script and tells her stories onscreen clearly.
Most of the actors who have worked with her have also become her friends after working on a project. We heard from Vilma Santos that she wants to develop a close friendship with Joyce. “I wish that we can become friends even after this movie is shown. I like her, I like her very much. I think that we are almost always on the same wave length.”
Meryll Soriano, who plays a showbiz manager for the new GMA prime-time show, also thinks highly of the diminutive director with a big heart. “I love direk Joyce. She makes her actors comfortable on her set. She does not have a bloated ego like some that we know. She is very secure of what she can and cannot do. She is honest and looks you straight in the eyes when she communicates with you. Direk Joyce also knows how to have fun, and I love that about her. She can be serious, but she is very warm and lovable as a person. And she gets things done, fast.”
TRYING VERY HARD
Diether Ocampo is trying very hard to make a comeback.
After years of absence, the almost 40-year-old Diether is in the cast of the TV5 soap Bakit Manipis ang Ulap, a modern retelling of the 1980s movie of the same title.
He joins fellow comebacking actors Claudine Barretto and Cesar Montano in the drama, one of the collaborative projects of Viva TV and TV5.
Diether, who has never been known in the inudstry as a good actor, has been out of the scene for many years now. Last year he tried to produce a movie with a Filipino-American filmmaker whose last movie was a major flop, and the project encountered many problems, mostly financial, some of which have yet to be resolved. The movie is officially on hold.
With The Bus Project as a working title, we learned that the film still owes many people their salaries, including some actors who have worked very hard for it. We wonder why it was not brought up during the recent news conference for the new TV show, and we would like to hear what Diether has to say about it—or mumble about it, for that matter.
Cynics don’t feel good about this new show in terms of ratings potential. Although Claudine gave a credible performance in her last film outing, Etiquette for Mistresses, the movie fell below expectations at the box office. Cesar, for his part, has been churning out one flop after the other, and not even the annual December film festival nor former Japanese porn sensation Maria Ozawa could save Cesar from almost being labeled as cinema’s next flop actor.
Then there’s Diether, who has been getting a lot of bad press lately, not just for being involved in a project that did not pay the workers right, but also for apparently talking to the media like he was raised in some rich suburb in California.
Sadly, good luck might not even be enough to wish for this new show.
