Richard and KC: Honey and Babe

Author: Mario E. Bautista
Column: Freehand

THE presscon of "When I Met You" last Wednesday was cancelled because its stars, Richard Gutierrez and KC Concepcion are busy shooting important scenes on location in Subic and Direk Joel Lamangan didn't allow them to return to Manila just for the presscon. "We have a deadline to meet kaya kailangan, tuluy-tuloy ang shooting this entire week," he says.

This weekend, KC is allowed to take a leave from the shooting to join the taping of her mom Sharon Cuneta's birthday special that will be shown tomorrow night. By Monday, they will leave for Coron, Palawan to shoot some major scenes of the movie where they will be shown stranded in an island. They'll be there for one week. Both Richard and KC admit Direk Joel is very strict on the set so they're always well behaved. But they admire his being a fast worker and they maximize each day shooting as many scenes as they possibly could.

Richard and KC are obviously now much more comfortable with each other. Richard even calls KC his Honey while KC calls Richard her Babe. The crew members around can't say if they're serious with the way they address each other or they're just horsing around. "Pero sweet talaga sila sa isa't isa," Direk Joel himself says. "Kaya nga masarap silang idirek kasi napakaganda ng chemistry nila on and off camera. "

KC says that after this movie, it might take a very long time before the two of them can work with each other again. "Kasi nga, we belong to different networks. Bale ex-deal lang itong two consecutive movies namin. First with Star Cinema then with GMA Films. Ang hirap ng pinagdaanan namin just to be able to work together at baka sa susunod, hindi na kami ipahiram sa isa't isa. "

She admits she had to adjust working with GMA. "I felt yung naramdaman noon ni Chard when he worked with Star. Kasi doon, puro babae ang mga kasama namin sa set, so sabi pa niya 'Bakit ganito? Puro babae. ' Ngayon naman, dito sa GMA, puro lalaki ang mga katrabaho namin sa set at ako naman ang nanibago. Pero kung maganda ang trato sa kanya sa ABS noon, maganda rin naman ang trato ng GMA sa akin. "

Richard will have his birthday on January 21. "Baka nasa Palawan pa kami that time at dun na lang ako mag-celebrate," he says.
"When I return here, I'll just have a simple dinner with my family and spend quality time with them in a more relaxing atmosphere. After work, family muna ang priority ko. "

The one who's so happy with the reunion of Chard and KC is his mom, Annabelle Rama. One time, Annabelle visited the set and had a "pasalubong" of four lechons for the entire cast and crew. "Kinilig nga ako noong may eksena silang wedding scene," says Annabelle. "Bagay na bagay sila talaga sa isa't isa. "

Right after shooting "When I Met You", Richard will start taping for his new action series on GMA-7, "Zorro", while KC will be paired by ABS-CBN in a new teleserye with Piolo Pascual. We heard Richard's next movie will be a local version of the hit Koreanovela, "Full House", which starred Rain. They're now looking for his next leading lady and his fans suggest they pair him again with Marian Rivera since their "My Best Friend's Girlfriend" did exceedingly well at the tills and is an even bigger hit than Marian's movie with Dingdong, "One True Love. "

CESAR, SUNSHINE CELEBRATE NEW YEAR TOGETHER
Cesar Montano is glad that 2009 started right for him with him and wife Sunshine Cruz greeting the new year together with their three daughters at their new home in Tivoli Royale. "It's a memorable new year celebration kasi my eldest brother is also with us and our family friend, Bayani Agbayani and his family," he says. "Ang gaganda ng fireworks nina Bayani, e. "

Now, he's back to work and they've introduced some changes in "The Singing Bee" that are working very well and tonight, after "Dragonna", it's going to be a night of songs and laughter as sing-along bars Punchline, Zirkoh, Bulalo Fiesta, The Library, and Music Box send in their army of hilarious hosts for a musical-comedy warfare on the show. Funny guys Pretty Trisza, Kim Idol, Atak, Norman, and Kilai will lead their respective units of three for a chance to challenge defending champions Jhong, Meynard, and Nico of The Streetboys. So far, no team has won the grand prize of P2 million since the program changed its format and raised the jackpot recently. But with the vast knowledge of comedy bars' sing-along masters when it comes to songs, "The Singing Bee" may finally have its first millionaire-team in 2009.

Tomorrow, the show airs after "Goin Bulilit" and will have a different set of guest contestants as "Wowowee" mainstays Mariel Rodriguez, Valerie Concepcion and RR Enriquez bring their mics to "The Singing Bee," not to host but to sing. The perky trio will be up against the cast of other Kapamilya shows like "Parekoy" which topbills Mariel's real life BF Zanjoe Marudo. Two Kapamilya viewers can also get the chance to watch "The Singing Bee" in ABS-CBN by joining the PEP Insider's Dream: Panalo Bawat Pilipino promo. To join, just register and login to http://www. pep. ph/pepid for more details.

ASSUNTA DENIES SPLIT RUMOR WITH JULES
IT seems whatever differences Assunta de Rossi has with hubby Jules Ledesma have been settled as she now denies they ever parted ways. "There's no perfect marriage and even my own parents who've been married for 26 years admit na nag-aaway pa rin sila," she says. "So compared to theirs, our marriage ni Jules is just starting at marami pa kaming kakaining bigas. But the important thing is we are both committed to this marriage kaya mag-conflict man, we try to work things out. "

So what's Jules' reaction to rumors about their breakup? "He's so busy with his work he just doesn't have the time to read gossip columns. Naaawa nga ako sa kanya as he really works so hard. But he has to do it kasi wala namang ibang gagawa para sa family nila. We just celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary in Negros last month with the blessing of our ethanol farm so we had a party for our workers. Noong Chrismas namin, nag-check in kami sa Mandarin with his kids Christina, now 16, and Carlo, who's 12. "

So how come they still don't have their own child? "Well, there's a reason for everything. If it happens, it happens. But the reason why I haven't gotten pregnant is probably wala pa kaming sariling bahay. So I leave it all up to God na lang. His plan is kapag natapos lahat ng obligations niya sa family, sa clan nila, then we can start building our own house. "

LUCY'S NOT PREGNANT
Lucy Torres also made a denial that she's now two months preggy. "Richard (Gomez) and I were surprised when colleagues started congratulating us for our new baby raw as they read in a tabloid na susundan na raw si Julianna," she says. "How we wish that were true, pero natawa na lang kami. Kasi kung I'm really pregnant, kami na mismo ang unang magbabalita. It's common knowledge na matagal na naming wish 'yun ng husband ko but it seems God has other plans for us so we just lift it all up to the Lord. Siya lang naman ang makakapag-decide kung kailan kami magkakaroon ng additional member in our family. "

MARK AND JENNYLYN'S CHEMISTRY REMAINS
THE new afternoon soap of GMA-7 starring the love team of Mark Herras and Jennlyn Mercado started taping this week. This is the remake of the Vilma Santos-Christopher de Leon hit, "Paano Ba Ang Mangarap?" The director is Joel Lamangan, who worked so fast as he is also directing the Richard-KC movie, "When I Met You".

It seems like old times for the former sweethearts who have done several movies and TV shows together before Jen became an unwed mother. Those who've seen the first episodes of "Paano Ba ang Mangarap" say that their chemistry remains intact. Playing the brother of Mark who's Jen's first boyfriend in the story (the late Jay Ilagan in the movie) is Hero Angeles.

LOLIT WILL BE FORCED TO TALK?
MANAY Lolit Solis didn't hesitate to call Hayden Kho a liar when she found out that he didn't really go to Marinduque last Saturday, his reason why he wasn't able to show up live at Startalk as he had earlier promised. It turned out he was just in Manila all the time. "He's a congenital liar kaya walang maniniwala sa kanya," she says. "Kung ayaw niya talagang mag-guest, hindi naman siya pipilitin, so hindi siya kailangang magsinungaling. "

Because of this, we won't be surprised if Manay Lolit would now reveal what she saw in the video from Hayden's laptop that Dr. Vicki Belo herself allegedly showed her. So many have tried to convince her to share and narrate what she has seen on the video but she says her lips are sealed. We heard all she'd say is that she's not surprised that girls find Hayden irresistible as he's really well endowed. To which, a senior talent manager tells her: "Kasi, kakaunti pa lang ang manoy na nakikita mo. "

DINGDONG, MARIAN STILL DENY RELATIONSHIP
THE first taping day of the third Dingdong Dantes-Marian Rivera teamup, "Ang Babaeng Hinugot sa Aking Tadyang", took place last Monday. Both of them are excited with this new show as it's entirely different from their first two shows, "Marimar" and "Dyesebel", since it's action-oriented.

"We both prepared for our respective roles," says Dingdong. "Ako, araw-araw sa gym kasi I gained some weight during the holiday season when I had a vacation in Boracay with my family. It's my only time to bond with them well kasi pagbalik ko sa Manila, puro trabaho na naman. "

So were they together last Christmas? "No. Marian went home to her grandmother in Cavite for her vacation. Nagkita na lang kami noong New Year's eve sa GMA countdown and then sa taping na. "

As for Marian, she welcomes her action role. "At least, hindi ko kailangang sumayaw dito na ala-Marimar o mag-underwater swimming ng may buntot ala-Dyesebel," she says. "Yun nga lang, I have to be careful kasi kailangang hindi muna mapuwersa ang paa kong nagkaroon ng fracture at nalagyan ng cast for sometime. Hindi puedeng biglain at baka umulit daw. "

Now that both of them are free and single, is there a possibility that they might really hook up with each while taping this third show of theirs? "Naku, huwag nyo na lang kaming pangunahan," she implores. "Basta tungkol sa mga lovelife, ayoko munang pag-usapan. Napagbintangan na nga ako noong may kinalaman sa breakup nila kaya mas mabuti pa, iwasan na lang 'yan. Mas mabuti pang pagandahin na lang namin ang aming bagong show. "

What can they say about the allegation that their show is copied from Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" where they played a married couple who are both assassins. "Ang alam ko, this is based on a komiks novel of Direk Carlo Caparas that was written in the 80s pa," says Dingdong. "E, bago lang 'yung kina Brad Pitt, di ba? So, ibig sabihin, mas nauna ito kaysa roon. "

HELEN FACES KAREN
Karen Davila's "Wonder Mom" today at 9:45 a. m. will have Helen Gamboa as its special guest. Helen was at the peak of her career in the 60s when she chose to give it up and marry Tito Sotto who was then part of the band called Tilt Down Men. She became successful in being a happy and fulfilled wife and mom who raised all their three daughters and one son well. In "Wonder Mom", she will share with the viewers all her experiences as a mother and the challenges she faced while they were growing up, also the secret of her lasting relationship with her husband.

TOYM awardee Karen will also teach viewers the proper way of feeding a child to avoid accidents and show both the traditional and modern ways of delivering a baby. She will also bring the rare condition of Baby Hannah who, for two years now, has been suffering from Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome (CCHS). CCHS is a disorder that affects breathing especially during sleep thus, a hole must be made on the patient's throat so as to insert a tube that will connect the lungs to a respirator. To date, her parents already spent about P3 million for medical needs and keep her alive.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PRESERVING FILIPINO FILMS
TONIGHT, Howie Severino is in search for an extant copy of the original Darna movie starring Rosa del Rosario. He and his team end up in Bangkok and northern Thailand . .. and find an intriguing connection between the Filipina superheroine and Buddhist monks. Relive their journey of discovery on "Pantasya ng Bayan", when it airs this Saturday night on Sine Totoo. There they find a vintage film with a familiar character with snakes sprouting from her head. But is this film really the original Darna? And if so, how did it end up in this corner of our Buddhist neigHBOr? Before this feature airs, Howie Severino, also Sine Totoo host, explains how his team rode on the popularity of Darna to discuss the deeper issue of preserving Filipino films.

Source: People's Journal