Showbiz Periscope

THE BALLAD OF KATHRYN AND DANIEL

by Pablo A. Tariman
Manila
July 12, 2014



Now they are re-united in another love story culled from a teen bestseller which has become the title of the movie.

 “We both started in teen TV attractions and I’d say I saw Daniel evolve as an actor and as a person,” says she. “We developed instant rapport both in the teleseryes and in the movies and for the good outcome, I have reasons to be proud of him.”

For now, Bernardo enjoys being one of the top leading ladies and probably one of the highest paid. “What I enjoy now is that I am given roles that otherwise I will not encounter in real life. I like giving life to characters in my own modest way. But I know I have so many things to learn and so many things to absorb before I can consider myself an actress. Hopefully, I am on my way to becoming a better actress.”

Director Cathy Garcia-Molina points out she has to be one of the boys to be able to do justice to a teen love story.

In this presscon teeming with screaming fans, Molina looks like she’s one of the boys.

          She is playful like most of them, she speaks their language which is strange to this senior citizen and she shares incessant laughter with them as though she’s holds the key to their common secret.

          But as a mother of two, she is no teenager.

          She joined showbiz in the summer of 1992 as a continuity script assistant of director Chito Rono. She was later promoted to assistant director and given a directorial break in one edition of MMK in the late 1999.

          With the onset of the new millennium, she megged several blockbusters that broke box office record among them “Close To You,” “One More Chance,” “A Very Special Love,” “You changed My Life” and “Miss You Like Crazy.”.

          Thus far,  the youngest love team she has handled is the Kathniel tandem.

          “On the whole,” she rues, “I treat actors I work with as part of my family. I treat Daniel (Padilla) as my bunso as John Lloyd (Cruz) as my  panganay.”

          Doing “She Is Dating A Gangster” is a totally new human landscape for her as she is dealing with teenagers with teen mindset and concerns.

          Molina points out: “For one, our main material is straight from a bestselling book patronized by teenagers who are the main market of this love story. Since we are adapting it into film which is another medium, we have to change a few scenarios, add more inputs to make it more interesting on screen. So we ended up with a more expanded story and a more exciting product for cinema. I straddled points of interests and I made sure not only teenagers can relate to the film. I like Moms like me to be able to watch it as well without looking silly.”

         “”She Is Dating A Gangster”  opens in all theaters on July 16.