MANILA, Philippines — If you only had a short time to live, how would you spend it with your loved ones?
“I promise, I won’t give up ‘til the very end,” Ricky (played by Seth Fedelin) declared to Elise (Andrea Brillantes) in the tear-jerker snippets of Saying Goodbye, one of iQiyi’s first local originals in Southeast Asia, set to premiere on Saturday.
A narrative about love and the impending loss, the series will not only bring kilig over the tandem of Seth and Andrea, but will surely make the viewers feel emotional at the same time. Also known as #SethDrea, the two young stars take on the roles of Ricky and Elise, “whose paths fatefully cross at an old record store fighting over the same album of their beloved artist.”
Elise is a medical student, while Ricky is a chef, who has a heart ailment. Their first meeting will turn into a beautiful friendship, bonded by their love for life, adventure and music.
With the help of Elise, Ricky tries to fulfill his bucket list and achieve his dreams despite his conflicting views towards life.
Seth and Andrea are joined by newly-formed loveteam of Andi Abaya, as Joni, Elise’s childhood best friend, and Kobie Brown, who plays Ricky’s best friend Vic.
During the digital media conference held last week, the afternoon was filled with love and bliss as they got to talk more of the series, of course, with their genuine smiles and affection for each other’s respective on screen partners. Their moods were reflected when the four of them unanimously answered yes when asked if they were in love.
On life and love lessons from the series, the stars shared their own take on the matter in relation to their characters.
“(As Ricky), I don’t really care about death. Kung ano yung mangyayari bukas, wala siyang pakialam. Basta kung ano yung nakikita niya ngayon, kung saan siya nakatayo, yun lang yung papakialaman niya,” said Seth.
“Love is everything,” he continued. “The message we want to convey in the series is, don’t look at death as a deadline. Look at it as a motivation to do the things you want to do. So, you will have no regrets.”
“Umamin ka na, don’t waste your time,” said Andrea about love and relationships. “’Wag kang magpadala sa takot na kasi madaming technical, ayaw nito, at bawal ganyan (limitations). Be courageous enough to tell what you really feel. Sometimes, it’s good to say what you want to say before it’s too late.”
Giving an idea of what to expect from the series, she added, “When you watch Saying Goodbye, you will understand what I mean, kung bakit ko nasabi na umamin ka na and don’t wait for seven years.”
For Andi, “love is one of the greatest feelings in the world,” and her take on unconditional love was, “Kung may mahal kang tao, ibuhos mo yung pagmamahal mo para sa taong yun kasi wala namang masama ‘pag nagmahal ka.”
Andrea chipped in, quoting The Beatles, “All we (you) need is love.”
“Time is gold (in relation to love),” said Kobie. “Spend as much time with not just a girlfriend or a boyfriend, but with your family, too. Love your family, friends, mom, dad and siblings. Spend as much time as you can with them because you never know when one day, you might not have that time anymore.”
Saying Goodbye is a very special series for Kobie and Andi because this is their first project together as a love team. Both felt “honored and grateful” for the opportunity.
“It’s a blessing and I’m happy I got to work with Andi. Dahil alam ko sobrang talented siya. I did learn a lot from her. I can learn a lot from her. I felt like when we were working together, it was very smooth,” uttered Kobie.
Seth teased the two, “Ganun po talaga kapag kasama mo inspirasyon mo sa trabaho.” Kobie earlier admitted that he is courting Andi.
Moreover, Seth and Andrea were both thankful for the blessing that came their way. They also felt the pressure in doing a pilot project for iQiyi in partnership with ABS-CBN.
“We are both very happy indeed for this blessing and thankful to God and our hearts are full. We just really feel a lot of pressure since this will be seen by a wider audience. We’re trying to push ourselves beyond our limits to make the fans happy from the Philippines and internationally,” shared Andrea.
Seth admitted that they are all nervous over this new project. However, “I am very grateful to all those who have entrusted us with this project, to our bosses, and to God who made it all possible.”
(Saying Goodbye will debut on iQiyi on Dec. 4 at 8 p.m. with new weekly episode.)