Currently starring in the romantic drama series Love, Siargao, a story about two strangers who meet on the island of Siargao, Nadine Lustre plays the role of Kara, who crosses paths with Jao (played by Alden Richards). The award-winning actress talked to the press during her solo presscon last July 8 about being paired with the popular actor for the very first time onscreen.
“Hindi siya mahirap pakisamahan. And one of the things that I really loved about him was lahat kinakausap niya. Yung buong team kinakausap niya. He knows how to, kaya niyang makisama, nakikipagbiruan siya, ganun. And everything about him is just so light. Ang sarap niya katrabaho kasi very collaborative siya. Pag may mga scenes kami, parang pinag-uusapan talaga namin. Hinihimay namin yung mga eksena namin,” she shared.
Although this is the first time they have worked together in a series, Nadine clarified that she has worked with Alden before, but only on endorsement deals. “Sobrang sarap niya po ka-work. Si Alden kasi hindi ko po siya first time makatrabaho. I guess yung sa ganito katagal. Mor kasi on endorsement shoots lang. The very first time I worked with him was I think, nasa Pop Girls pa po ako nun so 16 or 17 years old ako nung time na yun. 32 na po ako ngayon (laughs). So that was the first time that we worked together and ano siya, as in ang dami naming napag-uusapan,” she recalled.
While working closely together on the Viu original series on the island of Siargao for an entire month, Nadine shared that and got close to the entire production and said she wouldn’t be surprised if Alden would consider making it his second home in the future.
“Naging close kaming lahat ng buong cast when we were in Siargao. Kasi imagine ba naman, that’s a one month long lock-in and I would always say na one of the things that I would love about doing Love, Siargao is that I had a new family because of the project, which is yung cast members natin. And iba, parang iba talaga yung nagagawa ng isla. Until now it’s really hard for me to kind of explain what it is, kasi even a lot of my friends who just visit the island, parang may something talaga dun sa isla.
"And si Alden, sabi ko nga sa kanya, ‘Uy, minsan magpahinga ka naman.’ Kasi sobrang hardworking siya. May group chat kasi kami niyan. Tapos laging hindi siya nag-re-reply (laughs). Tapos linoloko namin siya, inaasar namin siya. So I would tell him na minsan magpahinga ka naman. I was telling him about yung experiences ko. Sabi ko, ‘Dito ako tumatakbo pag gusto ko talaga huminga,’ ganun. And nakita naman nilang lahat yun. So hindi naman ako magtataka kung eventually he’ll have a house there or dun siya hihinga, yun ang puntahan niya para makahinga siya. And I think naman na he really deserves it,” she explained.
READ: Nadine Lustre on real romance with a future love team partner: 'Huwag na natin ulitin'
One similarity Nadine discovered about her co-star is that they are both hands-on in their business ventures outside of showbiz. “Si Alden very business-minded din siya. There were times na, nung nandun kami, lock-in kami for a month. That’s a very long time, you know, and he would have meetings for his business ventures, ganyan. So alam ko na parehas kami. Even though we’re both in the showbiz industry, we also have other ventures. outside of it, which is really great,” she said.
The Love, Siargao star also revealed that Alden and her boyfriend, Christophe Bariou, share a connection. “Actually si Alden kasi, meron siyang cousin who used to live in Siargao, si April, who is friends with Chris, sa sister din ni Chris. So kumbaga, magkakakilala na. So magkakilala na talaga sila. And I think hindi naman ito first time na maging interested ni Alden sa Siargao. Siargao is such a beautiful place. How can you not be mesmerized by the place? You go there, you feel different and sobrang healing talaga nung isla,” she added.