BELA PADILLA, CARLO AQUINO RECALL THEIR 'SPECIAL MEMORIES' ON AND OFF SCREEN

EIGHT YEARS AFTER THEIR FIRST PAIRING in "Meet Me in St. Gallen" (2018), Bela Padilla and Carlo Aquino are teaming up again in the romantic drama flick "A Special Memory," directed by Jerry Lopez Sineneng and written by National Artist Ricky Lee.

- CHARMIE JOY PAGULONG

The Viva Films latest offering is a local remake of the acclaimed Japanese series “Pure Soul.”

Bela was surprised to feel nervous about working with Carlo on their first day of taping. “I think because I’ve been watching also his project the last eight years and I could see that after ‘Meet Me in St. Gallen’ he kept accepting good roles that sometimes may mga ginagawa siyang pelikula na naisip ko na sana ako yung kasama niya dito or like I wish I was given the chance to or something like that,” she explained.

“I saw that he just kept getting better and better over time. So when I finally get to the set, I was a bit nervous. So I told Carlo, ‘Wait lang ha. I have to keep up or catch up or warm up maybe.’ Carlo is a great actor and this movie is from his POV. So I won't be surprised kung marami ‘tong hahakutin (awards) next year.”

Carlo, on the other hand, described the filming experience as “reunion with an old friend.” “When we came on set, nag-catch up kami. She has become more mature and her life choices have changed. I’m just excited about this reunion movie.”

In “A Special Memory,” Bela and Carlo are joined by Lotlot de Leon, Joel Torre, Yayo Aguila, Jaime Fabregas, Phoebe Walker and Paolo Gumabao. It will open in cinemas nationwide on March 11.

Ricky admitted that writing a script for an adaptation can be both easy and difficult. He shared that he had requested Viva a long time ago to let him do a Korean adaptation but was not given the chance. “A Special Memory” marked his first time doing one and he was thrilled when it was offered to him. He became even more excited when he learned that he would be working with direk Jerry, Bela and Carlo.

“It’s easy and, at the same time, difficult,” Ricky stated. “It’s easy because you already have material on which you can base your story — there’s already a structure and an idea. And then later you realize that it’s hard because ikukumpara nila and then paano mo papantayan.