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Working on “Hello, Love, Goodbye” has been more than just a new film project for the Kapuso superstar, it has been a journey in self-discovery. Far from content with what he has achieved, the experience has opened his eyes to what more is possible.
By CHUCK SMITH
July 30, 2019
It is still hard to get a hold of Alden Richards.
We are at the Empire Studio at the Uptown Mall in Taguig City. Alden’s schedule is jampacked; promotion for “Hello, Love, Goodbye,” his upcoming movie, will begin in a few days. The schedule consists of your usual press conference, a lot of mall shows, and TV guestings on both major television networks.
We get an opportunity to talk to Alden in between takes during his shoot for the GMA Artist Center Folio. This is the last day of the two-week shoot for the catalog, and Alden is the last artist scheduled to do the pictorial. Experience dictates that getting the last slot often means everyone’s schedule has to adjust around yours.
The best we could do is to ask our questions when a chance presents itself.
Alden arrives for his photo shoot. He is wearing black jeans, a white shirt, and shades. The photo studio is inside a mall, so maybe the shades were to avoid attention? He goes right down to business.
After small talk with members of the photo shoot crew, he proceeds to the dressing room to change his outfit. No time is spared; he moves in a leisurely pace, yet no movement is wasted, as if he knows every second is priceless. But in all of the organized chaos of the photo shoot, Alden remains polite and friendly.
At the start of his career, he was tagged as the “Pambansang Dimples.” The tag isn’t exactly original — Aga Muhlach was similarly noted for his very prominent dimples. But when you see Alden, you wouldn’t care if the tag isn’t original because it makes sense. It’s almost impossible to see him not smiling.
For a brief minute, as we watch Alden being interviewed by a television crew, we didn’t mind that we had to ambush Alden for a solo face time.
“I’m good. So far, very relaxed at the moment kasi hindi pa masyadong heavy yung workload. We’re around promoting the movie,” Alden tells us when we finally get our interview time with him.
“Parang, chill pa,” he adds.
As he says this, I admit to myself: I have underestimated Alden Richards.
It’s been eight years since he entered show business, a promising upstart whose origin story in the industry — it was his mother, now deceased, who pushed him to become an actor — could induce enough tears to deserve its own movie.
It’s been six years since his breakthrough as a TV romantic lead with Louise delos Reyes in soap operas such as “One True Love” and “Ang Mundo Mo’y Akin” — cementing him as one of his network’s top male stars.
It’s been five years since his highly acclaimed turn and award-winning turn as Jose Rizal in the TV drama “Ilustrado.”
It’s been four years since the height of his love team with Maine Mendoza, when he was catapulted to a legitimate A-lister to an undeniable phenomenon.
It is now 2019, and his star just might be as bright as ever before, inspiring shrieks and adoration from fans who await and fawn on his every move.
More importantly, pulled away from what originally made him part of a showbiz phenomenon, he could be whatever he wants to be.
At the peak of AlDub success, Alden’s time was more valuable than gold. Everybody wanted a piece of Alden but only a select few were lucky enough to get it.
In 2019, we naively thought we could have enough time to ask Alden what we’ve wanted to know from him. How does it feel to be Alden Richards — an invincible force in showbiz, on top of an invincible hierarchy that every one of his kind is trying to climb?
How does it feel to be Alden Richards — and how do you move on from being Alden Richards, one-half of what is essentially the most phenomenal showbiz entity of his generation, to being the Alden Richards that he wants to be?
What does Alden — the young actor who started out in show business as a reality TV reject and is now the showbiz poster for dreams coming true — truly want in his life right now?
But this is the reality: In 2019, it is still hard to get a piece of Alden Richards.
“I never thought this would be possible.”
Alden is talking about “Hello, Love, Goodbye,” which opens in theaters on July 31. It is easily one of the most anticipated movies of the year — and could just as well be one of the biggest.
Consider the facts. “Hello, Love, Goodbye” is produced by Star Cinema, ABS-CBN’s movie production arm. The film is directed by the studio’s top director, Cathy Garcia Molina. And it co-stars one of ABS-CBN’s top talents Kathryn Bernardo.
In “Hello, Love, Goodbye,” Alden and Kathryn play two strangers working in Hong Kong who — at least based on its trailer — end up falling in love with each other. But their love is hindered by dreams. “The whole conflict begins when these two strangers meet each other and fate will decide kung saan sila dadalhin,” Alden says.
It is a romance movie, a genre that Kathryn and Alden have both excelled in. Yet, here, they star in a romance film without their established onscreen partners — Maine for Alden and Daniel Padilla for Kathryn.
The novelty of the movie does not end with its unique pairing. Four years ago, just the idea of the two starring in a project — let alone a romance project— would have been insane. In 2015, Alden and Maine as a love team on Eat Bulaga was an unstoppable TV juggernaut. In an attempt to match them, the rival noontime show on their September 26, 2015 episode featured their network’s top four love teams — including Kathryn and Daniel.
The four rival love teams were no match for Alden and Maine. Eat Bulaga won in the ratings game that day, cementing their status as the country’s top stars.
We didn’t remind Alden of this snippet of Pinoy pop culture history, so we don’t know if he remembers this. But even without this context, he agrees. “Who would have thought na Alden Richards and Kathryn Bernardo would be paired up in a movie at some point in time?” Alden says.
Alden says he enjoyed working with Kathryn, describing her as driven and professional.
“We share the same sentiments when it comes to acting,” he adds. “And ano talaga, hindi ako nahirapan to work with her.
“She gave me a breath of fresh air when we did this movie.”
But Alden says he is “so in love” with Direk Cathy, who brought “a lot of undiscovered areas” in his range as an actor. “A part of her is already with me,” he says.
Cathy is known for being a strict, meticulous director. In a way, Alden confirms this — and enjoyed every single bit of the experience. “Direk Cathy made us work as actors din. May mga scenes where she motivated us. May mga scenes na she doesn’t motivate us,” he shares. “Kapag hindi mo nabigay ‘yung gusto niya, she’ll do it all again. She has all day. You have to give her what she wants.”
To prepare for their roles as OFWs, Cathy made Alden and Kathryn experience working in Hong Kong firsthand. Alden was made to “immerse” as a bartender (and Kathryn as a waitress) in Lan Kwai Fong, a popular nightlife spot in Hong Kong.
“That was a fun experience. Mas naging in the zone kami to portray the characters, kasi ‘yun talaga totoo. I get to serve drinks to guests, I socialized with them. Ang saya,” Alden gushes.
He adds: “This movie has done me a lot of good.”
By that, Alden means the experience of working on Hello, Love, Goodbye — and the experience of working with Kathryn Bernardo and Cathy Garcia-Molina — has made him realize that he can “always be more.”
“There’s more of you that you don’t know at the moment. You just find that intuition to pursue what that ‘more’ really means in you,” Alden says.
“Sometimes, you just have to have good people around you to discover that. Sometimes, you have to look for more and you be more. You don’t get to be contented with what you have achieved. You always strive for more and inspire more people.”
Alden doesn’t elaborate what he means by this. Does this mean he is no longer satisfied with what he has done? What were the past aspirations that he has accomplished and what are the new goals he is striving for? But we don’t have the time for further elaborations; our time is limited and he has a photo shoot to finish.
“It’s sort of like… I don’t know how to put it in words. This is going to be one of my biggest highlights for my 2019 career,” Alden says as we continue talking about the movie. “Hello, Love, Goodbye” is his first movie since the 2016 hit “Imagine You and Me.” It is also his first acting project since his 2018 TV show, the fantasy series “Victor Magtanggol.”
“It’s a comeback in terms of my craft as well,” he says.
“This project means a lot. It’s really more of self-discovery. Na akala ko hanggang dito lang ako, na akala ko hanggang ito lang ang kaya kong gawin. But there’s more to acting — there’s more to my acting — na hindi ko alam,” Alden adds.
After the interview ends, we linger in the studio to see Alden in action. Everyone in the room is accustomed to the presence of celebrity. But they cannot help but look at Alden as he works the cameras.
“You like looking at yourself at photo shoots?” we ask him.
“I’ve grown accustomed to it,” Alden says with a laugh.
The photo shoot ends on schedule. Alden leaves with his two-person entourage. Again, he is wearing black jeans, white shirt, and jeans. We are inside a mall and it almost dinner time, so there are more people in the area this time. The customers in line at the milk tea shop beside the studio recognized Alden walking out of the studio and there is a slight — but polite — commotion. He looks at them and smiles. A woman, perhaps in her 40's, approaches Alden and asks for a selfie. He obliges.
We weren’t able to ask Alden the questions we really wanted to ask — except for one.
“Do you love what you’re doing right now?” We ask him.
“Yes,” Alden answers immediately. “I’m very much in love.”
We have no reason to think he is not telling the truth.
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