00:00 Well, I found out that we had a teleserie during the Christmas special.
00:05 Remember? It was announced. And I was so shocked.
00:08 And I was asking everyone, "What's this? What's the meaning of this?"
00:12 And then they told me, "You're going to be doing a teleserie titled 'Can't Buy Me Love'."
00:16 And I was so excited because I've always been dreaming to do a teleserie.
00:21 And most especially with him.
00:23 I mean, who else but him?
00:25 I think we knew we had a teleserie.
00:27 Okay.
00:28 But we didn't know the title or anything.
00:30 So I think prior to the Christmas special that Belle sang,
00:33 we just knew, "Okay, one day we'd shoot a teleserie. Maybe in the next coming months or whatever."
00:38 Then it happened.
00:40 You know how they show, "Coming soon."
00:42 Yes, I know.
00:43 It was one of them. It was like in the TV while we were watching.
00:46 It said, "Coming soon, blah, blah, blah."
00:49 And then, "Can't Buy Me Love" by Donny Pangdina and Belle Marianne.
00:52 And we were like, "Huh?"
00:53 Everyone was tweeting.
00:55 And then everyone started tweeting, "Oh my gosh, Can't Buy Me Love."
00:58 And even us were like, "Wow, okay."
01:00 It's happening.
01:01 That's the title of our series.
01:03 Okay, so you followed the title.
01:05 How about the story though?
01:06 Once you heard the story, tell us a little bit about it.
01:09 But once you heard the story, how psyched were you?
01:12 Because I know, Donny, you mentioned that already at the initial,
01:16 when you heard about it, it already had a different feel from the roles that you've had in the past.
01:22 That was the first thing that came to our minds actually is,
01:25 wow, when we kind of had a general idea of what the story was going to focus on,
01:32 we were like, "Okay, this is super different from our previous characters."
01:35 And we just started to imagine how it would be on set
01:40 or how we would portray those characters.
01:42 And then them meeting up and the whole story unfolding.
01:46 Yeah, there's just so much going through our minds.
01:48 Because I could just imagine also Belle as Caroline.
01:51 Tell us a little bit about the story, Belle.
01:53 Okay, um.
01:56 It must be hard now because I'm so nervous.
01:59 But from what you know, okay, rich girl, Chinese.
02:03 Meets a guy from Binondo.
02:05 And from two different worlds, how will they make things work?
02:10 And it's with a bit of mystery there.
02:14 So, a lot of plot twists.
02:17 And it's my first time doing this type of genre too.
02:19 So, I'm very excited.
02:20 So, when you say this type of genre, explain a little bit about the genre.
02:23 Because you've done a little bit about the student, you know, teen.
02:28 The normal romcom, the usual romcom.
02:31 I think people might expect a romcom here, which it is.
02:36 But that's not the only thing that this story has.
02:39 It's so much more than that because there are so many genres.
02:43 I mean, if you see the trailer in itself, it starts with her screaming.
02:47 So, it's not just all...
02:49 She doesn't normally scream, right?
02:51 No, I...
02:52 There's not much...
02:54 Yeah, I mean, this is the first time that you could see there's that much danger or something involved in a project we're working on.
03:00 So, that's a really cool aspect.
03:03 And did you have to learn Mandarin for this?
03:05 I did. I did a seven-day course.
03:08 Just seven days.
03:09 It's not just seven days.
03:10 Seven sessions.
03:12 But because the teacher is also on set.
03:15 On set.
03:16 So, they have lessons on the set, too.
03:19 How was DirecMae?
03:20 I mean, any pressure from both of you to work with DirecMae, who has come up with successful series and movies?
03:30 I love DirecMae.
03:31 Yeah, she is.
03:32 She's strict.
03:33 I love her.
03:34 She's like a mother on set.
03:35 She's very hands-on.
03:37 She really takes care of us.
03:39 And whenever...
03:40 She's really open to our suggestions, too.
03:42 We talk about our characters since we're still shooting.
03:46 Throughout the process, we're still learning about the characters, as well.
03:50 So, she's very hands-on.
03:51 We talk about Caroline and Bingo all the time to her.
03:54 Yeah, I'm just so happy that our first telese is directed by her.
03:58 Yeah, because, you know, it's the best.
04:00 So, how much of yourself were you able to put into the character?
04:06 Were you able to make suggestions?
04:08 Were you able to change it up a little bit?
04:11 Oh, wow.
04:12 We're making suggestions every time.
04:14 And I'm so happy and blessed that they're listening.
04:18 And when we have a suggestion, they really put it into account.
04:23 They put in the script.
04:24 They change the blocking.
04:25 They make certain adjustments just so that they can accommodate those suggestions,
04:28 if it's in line with their story.
04:30 Even with how we dress.
04:31 Down to that, they're very open.
04:34 So, so far, based on the few tapings that you have had,
04:39 what is the one thing or the few things that you like best about your character?
04:43 I just love the fact that I'm able to portray someone who's so far from me in real life.
04:47 It's just so fun.
04:48 And it's so cool to be able to go through that process.
04:50 And you could see in the trailer, me driving the Kuligling.
04:54 That's probably one of the best things I've--
04:56 the funnest things I've done on set.
04:59 Yeah.
05:00 For you, Bel, same?
05:02 That, too.
05:03 And the food.
05:04 It's delicious.
05:05 Oh, my gosh.
05:06 Imagine, packing the chow fun.
05:08 Yeah.
05:09 Thank you.
05:10 Abdon, Bel, we wish you all the best.
05:12 Congratulations to you for your first primetime scene.
05:15 Thank you.
05:16 Thank you so much.
05:17 Thank you.
05:18 Watch her every day.
05:19 [LAUGHTER]
05:22 (whooshing)
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