Maja gets vocal; Matteo defends her from playgirl tag

CEBU, Philippines - When the romantic-comedy movie My Cactus Heart was first offered to Maja Salvador and Matteo Guidicelli, the young stars weren’t a romantic couple yet. If we are to go by their story, they were still constant textmates then who eventually fell in love, fought and made peace in the course of completing the said film for a year and doing a TV project together.

While Matteo was eager to share how their real-life pairing came to be during a press conference at the Sai Gon Quan Vietnamese restaurant of Parkmall in Mandaue City, Maja beside him was quite apprehensive at first. She later gave in and gamely took turns with the Cebuano racer-turned-actor in relating their eyeing-each-other days, but still took care not to give out everything, even refusing to divulge their terms of endearment for one another and more so how long they are officially an item.

The 22-year-old mainstay of the recently-concluded My Binondo Girl recalls that Maja was among his three showbiz crushes (KC Concepcion and Cristine Reyes were the other two) before he plunged into the acting industry. “When I moved to Manila and did Agua Bendita, I told my director how I found Maja so beautiful. I didn’t know my director was close with her. I never imagined for her to be my girlfriend. ABS-CBN gave me the opportunity to work with her in Wansapanataym’s Inday sa Balitaw. That’s where we became close. I was mesmerized by her. Sobrang bait eh. When you’re hungry on set, she would provide food for everyone. Anyone, even if you weren’t close to her, she would take care of you and smile at you. I thought, ‘Wow, she’s even better in person.’”

For Maja’s part, it was actually her fellow Star Magic actress Melissa Ricks who first had the hots for Matteo. She only knew him as a karting athlete from Cebu, but did not know how he looked like.

Maja narrates, “Every time Melissa would celebrate her birthday in ASAP, her surprise guest would be Matteo since the production knew he was her crush. They all became excited when he was in the show. Since I don’t follow racing, I didn’t know how he looked like. So I went up on stage to get a glimpse of him. He still had long hair then. Sabi ko, ‘Ah, oo nga naman, pwede…’ The next year during Melissa’s birthday again, I knew he would be the guest, so inabangan ko siya.”

That fateful night

Long after that, the two would remember how they would often chance upon each other in a restaurant at The Fort which Matteo frequented every Sunday with his racing buddies. One of those Sundays, the Fil-Italian half-jokingly quipped to his friends that if he saw Maja tonight, it was a sign that they were meant-to-be. Unknown to him, Maja was also around the vicinity that same night, jogging with friends.

Matteo continues, “We’ve been eating for a while, and no Maja came. Suddenly, a girl came in and it was her! When she saw me, she covered her mouth with her hands in shock for about ten seconds. When she was already my girlfriend, I asked her why she reacted that way. She told me, that same night, she also told her friends that if we saw each other, that was a sign we were meant-to-be. So both of us we’re on the same wavelength.”

After a tumultuous 2011 for the sweethearts --- Maja became the reason for a fistfight between Matteo and Coco Martin, constant third party issues, persistent break-up rumors --- both are one in declaring that they are in a more blissful and mature state right now. They brush off the widely-reported encounter after a formal ball as a “simple misunderstanding.”

According to Maja, “We’ve all matured and we’ve come to fully understand our work. Since it’s 2012, we’ve already settled it.”

Matteo looks at the experience as a lesson to learn from, thanks in great part to the support of his family and Cebuano friends. Not known to be in the center of trouble since his beginnings as a celebrity, he considers the incident as a stepping stone to make himself a better person. 

He expresses, “I’m very lucky that I met Maja in my life. She’s my first showbiz girlfriend and at first I thought, this is fun. Later on, it turned out hard, and then the fistfight happened. Despite all the problems, God has a plan for all of us. Now I can say I’m a better person, and my relationship with Maja is also stronger.”

For promo?

The public has gotten used to Matteo’s forthrightness, which can’t be said for the apple of his eye. So much so that showbiz observers can’t help but feel suspicious why the lovely actress has suddenly come up with bold declarations of undying love for Matteo. Is it because they are in the middle of a movie promotion (or in a new shampoo commercial as a couple)?

To this impression, Maja has only this answer, “We’ve been open since September of last year, and we weren’t promoting this movie back then. Ang pangit naman kung sabihin na because of the movie lang.”

On why she chooses to guard her personal life, Maja is of the opinion she does not owe the public the nitty-gritty. “I consider my love life very private. I don’t think it’s part of my work to share the details of what’s happening with us, whether we are fighting or how many months we’ve been officially together. I think it’s enough that people know that we’re together, but to update everyone about everything that happens to us, sana ibigay niyo na sa amin yun para meron namang matira sa amin.”

Since they currently have a movie together, a first big-screen lead role for Matteo, she gave in to sharing what occurred between them during filming. She also wanted to correct the notion that it was only the guy who was into this relationship.

“I’ve heard a lot of stuff about Matteo being the only one in love while they think I’m not too serious with him. I’m really the type of girl who wants to keep things private. Between the two of us, he’s chattier. But when I declared my feelings for him in a presscon in Manila, I realized it was a good feeling to be proud of your relationship with your boyfriend. I think it’s been worth it,” Maja says.

If the above accusations were not enough to get the versatile actress down, there’s also the “playgirl” tag to contend with. This one she addresses politely, “If that’s what they want to think, I can’t do anything about it. At least I, Matteo, my family and the people around me know the real me. That’s what’s important. If that’s their opinion, I respect that. But if possible, I hope people don’t judge me. Please respect us also.”

And not without impressing a few in the room for being a knight to his hounded princess, Matteo was quick to defend Maja. He insists, “The people don’t know everything about us. We also have private lives. Maja is not a playgirl. She’s a one-man woman. She’s a very good actress, so maybe the people get carried away with her characters sometimes. In real life, if you’d get to know her, I think every guy would like to have a Maja Salvador in real life.”

‘Thorny’ flick

In My Cactus Heart, Maja portrays a girl named Sandy whose father’s infidelity results to her swearing off love. She finds reasons to reject her numerous suitors, and becomes known among peers as a woman with a heart full of thorns.

Carlo (Matteo), a waiter in the Macalintal family business and Sandy meet, and both feel an undeniable attraction. But Sandy stands firm in her belief that love will only hurt a person, and so she repeatedly rejects him. In the beginning, Sandy found it easy to resist his charms. But slowly, she finds her cactus heart starting to open up to love and fear makes her turn her attention to her new boss, Benedict Gotiaco (Xian Lim) so she can distract herself from the real man she loves.

Maja has a string of movies to her credit, so it is naturally Matteo who feels more nervous with this big break of his. “I am so scared. This is such a big blessing. It’s hard to believe that I finally have my first leading role. This is a dream come true for me. I did my best in this movie to represent Cebuanos well,” says Matteo, who reveals to idolizing John Estrada among our Philippine actors.

“I dreamt of doing a lot of big things in my life. Up until now, I always tell Maja, you know this is so weird. I can’t believe this is all happening. When I see myself in the movie posters, it seems surreal. The feeling is great! But one thing I’ll never forget are the people I started with, most especially my racing friends,” ends Matteo who is still very much adept with his Bisaya, and even taught Maja a few naughty words from our dialect.

Directed by Enrico Santos, the film also stars Ramon Christopher, Rosanna Roces, Ricky Davao, Joy Viado, Pinky Amador, Bettina Carlos, Kristel Moreno, Lemuel Pelayo and Niña Dolino, with special guest appearances of Karylle and JM de Guzman.

Under the production of Star Cinema and Skylight Films, My Cactus Heart now open in theaters nationwide.