Nadine can now call the shots

These days, Nadine Lustre is in the driver’s seat, at least as far as her burgeoning showbiz career is concerned. After the box-office success of her movies — the big-screen adaptations of the best-selling novels Diary ng Panget and Talk Back and You’re Dead — Nadine has definitely earned the right to call the shots.

One of the first things she decided was to go solo. Having been a member of the all-girl group Pop Girls (a girl band put together by the Viva Artists Agency) before she got her big break in Diary ng Panget, Nadine wanted to try her hand at putting out an album on her own, an experience she now describes as “great.”

Nadine says being able to have a hand in the entire process — from deciding on a musical direction for the album, to choosing all the songs and giving her input on the arrangements and the production of the songs — made the process really exhilarating and fulfilling for her.

While she enjoyed being part of the Pop Girls, she wasn’t able to be as hands-on when they were working on their first (and so far only) full-length release, which hit stores in 2009. Everything to do with that album had already been decided for them by other people long before they went into the studio.

“Before, they just gave us all the materials,” she reveals. “But when I was working on my own album, if ever I wanted to change or tweak something in the song that I was recording then, I could,” she says. “That’s why I’m very happy with my album because all of the songs there are my favorites. There are five songs in the album and I love all of them.”

The album came to be self-titled and was released in August 2014. The music video of the first single Mr. Antipatiko went viral hours after it premiered online last November. Nadine’s perennial onscreen partner James Reid (who appeared opposite her in Diary ng Panget and Talk Back and You’re Dead) played her love interest in the music video — harkening back to when their partnership first started.

James and Nadine first worked together on the music video for his first single, the bouncy Alam Niya Ba. But Nadine reveals they met before that. “The first time I met him was at our workshop but we never talked. During our lunch break, nagkukwento siya and ako naman kain lang ng kain. I wasn’t listening at all. I was just minding my own business while he was talking.”

Nadine clarifies that she didn’t snub James; she just kept to herself because she was shy. Eventually, given the number of projects she and James have done together, they became good friends. Nadine now refers to James as her “security blanket” because he makes her feel at ease when they’re together.

Having James by her side probably made becoming a Kapamilya easier for Nadine. Earlier this year, she and James inked exclusive two-year contracts with ABS-CBN. “For me, the other network was kind of like home na din kasi. When I was with the Pop Girls, we were there. So doon din talaga ako galing. Of course, being in ABS felt weird at first. Nakakapanibago kasi hindi ako sanay sa mga kasama ko unlike doon sa kabila kung saan kilala ko na yung iba. ABS was a totally new world.”

Nadine says other Kapamilya stars also helped her adjust. “Okay din naman sila, super bait nila,” she says. “Like si Alexa Ilacad, nakasama ko na siya sa isang fashion show before. Andrea Brillantes was also really nice. Sinasabi pa niya sa akin noon na napanood niya yung Diary ng Panget and nagpa-picture pa siya sa akin, which was nice.”

Nadine is now in the position to call the shots with regards to her career, but she’s aware that it also comes with a certain amount of responsibility.

“I have to be careful with whatever I do. I don’t party that much, but there are occasions na parang you can’t avoid going out. Like if birthday ng best friend mo, siyempre you have to attend the party, right? It’s okay but kailangan mag-ingat kasi yung image ko ngayon, kids look up to me, so I have to be responsible,” she says.