The best friend

Instead of coming up with an epic Valentine tearjerker like last year’s The Promise , GMA Films prepared a feel-good romantic comedy instead: My Bestfriend’s Girlfriend. Let’s explore the best friend’s role as portrayed by JC De Vera. Text by Jillian Q. Gatcheco. Photos by Connie M. Tungul. Playing Mark In this Valentine flick, expect a more mature JC. “Para akong nasa Pasan na mas matured pa. Kasi tumatabi ako kay Richard Gutierrez, e. Pag umarte ako na parang bagets-bagets, parang hindi na kami [magka-edad]. Mag-best friends kami, so pag yung isa, umangat, maiiwan talaga yung isa. Kailangan kong mag-adjust. Mukha akong mature dito -- akala mo, nasa 24-25 years old na.” JC is only turning 22 this March. Mark, his character’s name, is the boyfriend of Grace, played by Marian Rivera. Unfortunately, Mark’s mother doesn’t like Grace because of her financial status. “Kasi si Grace, hindi naman poor na poor, pero hindi siya kasing-level namin. Basta [noong] naghihirap siya, pinasok niya yung isang work na talagang [hindi accepted ng iba].” When Mark goes to the States, he leaves Grace in the care of Richard’s character. “Nagka-develop-an sila hanggang sa time na umuwi ako dito sa Philippines. The whole time na nandito na ako, hindi ko alam na mayroon na palang ‘something’ sa kanila, [but] umaarte akong walang alam.” Little does Grace know, however, that she was once a victim of a mean prank, and when she finds out who did this, will she be able to look at her secret love in the same way? According to direk Mark Reyes, doing My Best Friend’s Girlfriend is a breather, since most of what he has done recently have been heavy on special effects. “Coming from Tiyanaks, Resiklo, and now Kamandag, at least this one gives you a breather to be a filmmaker, to do something light,” he says. Direk Mark adds, “The story itself is pretty solid, and I know for a fact that it’s for Valentines, so the order of business at hand is to make it dramatic and colorful.” The bf and the gf JC shares that he treats Richard as a brother, especially since they have the same manager, Anabelle Rama [Richard’s mom]. “Very professional at mabait si Chard. At saka very approachable. Yun yung pinakamaganda [na] hindi alam ng lahat sa kanya. Syempre Richard yan, e. Akala, suplado at mayabang, pero hindi!” Although JC has worked with Richard before [The two were in Sugo (2005) and Mars Ravelo’s Captain Barbell (2006)], it’s his first time to be with Marian Rivera. “Syempre, sobrang saya ko, kung baga privilege sa akin makatrabaho [siya]. Lalo na ngayon, sikat na sikat si MariMar, tapos makaka-partner ko!” He jokes that he’ll probably be all tongue-tied whenever they have scenes together, because he has always regarded her as beautiful and talented. “Before siya pumasok ng GMA, kasi sa Tape [Productions] siya nagsimula, na-recognize ko na siya talaga. Nagandahan na ako sa kanya. Syempre, sa akin lang yun -- oo, maganda yang si Marian. Until lumabas na nga siya [as] MariMar -- okay, hindi lang pala ako nagkakagusto sa kanya – marami rin pala!” Watch out for more updates on My Best Friend’s Girlfriend only on iGMA! Text JC to 4627 to Feel the Fun with Fanatxt! To receive MMS from him, text GOMMS JC ON to 4627. (Each SMS costs P2.50 for GLOBE, SMART, and TALK N TEXT, while it costs P2.00 for SUN subscribers. Each MMS is P5.00 for all Networks.) More about JC: JC’s official iGMA forum thread The sentimental suplado JC De Vera up close iGMA Live Chat transcript