MANILA, Philippines — Reel and real-life sweethearts Loisa Andalio and Ronnie Alonte, a.k.a. LoiNie, finally get to play titular roles in James & Pat & Dave, a sequel to the blockbuster romantic-comedy of 2016, Vince & Kath & James, and still under the direction of Theodore “Ted” Boborol.
James & Pat & Dave is a coming-of-age love story that focuses on what it feels like to be in the losing end, and presents a clear view on what is going through the mind of James, the “One Not Chosen” in the prequel.
According to the synopsis of the ABS-CBN Films-Star Cinema flick that is set to roll out in cinemas on Feb. 12, James (Ronnie) is a hard-headed guy whose hostel owner grandmother (Odette Khan) is bent on changing his ways by making him work in the hostel. There, James meets the assistant manager Pat who is assigned to train him.
They often fight like cat and dog as Pat intentionally orders James to do the hard work and the latter deliberately fails to finish. One day, James finds an opportunity to ask Pat to make a proposal for his salary increase by agreeing to pretend as her boyfriend so that her former beau Dave (Donny Pangilinan) will stop bothering her.
Slowly, James and Pat become friends and, eventually, find themselves falling in love for real. Will James be chosen this time?
During the media gathering held recently, Ronnie revealed that he was in high school when he initially felt the pain of being rejected. He courted the apple of his eye for six months and even introduced her to his family yet the girl chose another guy. “I was able to move on through the support of family and friends. Besides, I was still young at that time.”
In Loisa’s case, the good times outweighed the bad. “I was the one not chosen but we were okay in the beginning (referring to her past love) but troubles came. Kaya dumating yung time na hindi niya ako pinili. Masakit kasi iisipin mo anong wala sa akin. But then I realized that it had to happen for God gave me someone better,” she said while Ronnie was smiling from ear to ear in delight. They have been going steady for three years now.
What made Ronnie and Loisa doubly happy is having clinched their first movie starrer as a loveteam.
“We’ve waited for a long time that’s why we’re so excited,” Ronnie said. “2020 is a new beginning and when this was given to us, we told ourselves that we should give our best and prove to them that we’re truly deserving of this.”
Loisa added, “We’re so happy for this opportunity kasi nagsimula kami ni Ronnie naging kami agad at hindi pa kami magka-loveteam nun; kanya-kanya pa lang kami tapos may fans na sumusuporta sa amin kaya ang sarap sa puso na napansin kami. Parang ang tagal naming hinintay ito.”
Asked what makes their loveteam different from the others, Ronnie stressed about their “being true. Hindi namin tinatago kung anuman ang meron sa amin. At saka siguro yung ’pag trabaho, trabaho kami talaga.”
He went on to share that while they were on the set, they were never seen lovey-dovey to each other.
“Never ko siyang kinausap o nilambing kasi ayokong mabaling ang isip ko na kami (mag-on), lalo na yung eksena namin na hindi pa naman kami. ‘Yun ang ginawa ko para maibigay ‘yung dapat na hinihingi ni direk.”
Direk Ted agreed and revealed that at one point he and the whole production team couldn’t help but worry if something was wrong between them. “Napapaisip talaga kami kung may problema ba o may pinag-awayan ba sila. It turned out, it’s just part of the preparation for their scenes (laughs).”
(James & Pat & Dave also stars Awra Briguela, CJ Salonga, Myrtle Sarrosa, Ana Abad Santos, Bobby Andrews, Isay Alvarez and Bodjie Pascua.)