GMA network said the “stars aligned” for the casting of Bea Alonzo and Alden Richards to lead the Philippine remake of the hit Korean drama Start-Up.
Over the weekend, Alden, Bea and the rest of the cast did the first script-reading for the upcoming show where they already came in character. Filming is set to begin this April. The series also stars Yasmien Kurdi, Jeric Gonzales, Jackielou Blanco, Gina Alajar, among others, under the direction of Jerry Sineneng.
Anticipation is high because this is also the first project of Bea since transferring from ABS-CBN in July of last year.
“Actually, the moment I signed with (GMA), I wanted to start right away. Kaya lang siempre may iba pang inasikaso, especially because it’s a Korean title. I know that pinagbuhusan nila ng panahon at hard work yung title na ‘to. That’s the reason why it took them this long para mag-start kami eventually,” Bea recently told The STAR and other press on the sidelines of her Beautederm endorsement launch.
The actress is “very, very excited” because she’s been missing acting so much. “Imagine for three years, ang ginagawa ko lang ay content for YouTube, shows or endorsement shoots,” she said.
“Of course, I want this to be a hit because it’s my first and siempre yun ang expectations ng GMA. But I also want it to be a very good show.”
Meanwhile, the network had no other star in mind but Alden as Bea’s first leading man. Its film arm, GMA Pictures, is also co-producing Bea and Alden’s first movie together, Special Memory, with Viva Films and APT Entertainment. It’s the Philippine adaptation of the Japanese drama Pure Soul, which also spawned the 2004 Korean box-office hit A Moment To Remember.
“With the arrival of Bea, we really thought of Alden as her partner for her very first project (as a Kapuso),” GMA senior vice president for Entertainment Lilybeth Rasonable said in a separate media interview.
“We really looked for a material that would fit them and Alden has always expressed, including Bea, that they would want to do a Korean adaptation… Sabay-sabay siya nangyari (everything was happening simultaneously). It was not one thing happening before the other,” she continued.
“We were really looking for a material that would be good to adapt after doing the successful Descendants of the Sun (starring Dingdong Dantes and Jennylyn Mercado). At the same time, we were already talking to Bea and already thinking of the next project for Alden. Kumbaga the stars aligned… That’s why the Bea-Alden casting happened for Start-Up.”
When news leaked out in fan pages before the official project announcement in early March, Rasonable admitted they were amazed but felt tense as well due to stipulations in the partnership deal with Korean entertainment company CJ E&M. “Nakaka-tense kasi mahigpit din yung may-ari ng franchise. They have a certain way of doing things. Kelangan rin namin sabayan like how we will promote, how we will announce, the kind of announcements that we will do.”
When it came to cast finalization, Rasonable described it as a “long, tedious process” filled with arguments “because we had different ideas” as to who would best play the roles.
“Personally, I really loved the show so much. So, kapag nag-iisip ka ng casting, gusto mong i-dikit talaga. But at the end of the day, there should be consensus as to who is the most fitting, who will fit Bea and Alden… as sibling, grandmother, all of those things. It was quite difficult.
“Of course, there’s always that risk that you won’t satisfy all the fans of the show. But we’re just hoping that we will be able to do a good job at the remake, in the Filipino way, that hopefully audiences will like more.
“That is what we want to happen — in the same way with Descendants of the Sun (remake), we didn’t disappoint. Of course, there were a lot of comments before, even bashing when it came out, that they didn’t expect this or that. And yet, when they finally watched it, (the bashing) stopped. Because they saw that we really did our best and I think we really did a good job with that one. I am confident that we have that experience backing us up, that this will be another good remake for our Filipino audiences,” she said.
Asked by The STAR about plans to adapt more K-dramas, like Vincenzo (a rumor circulating among Kapuso fans), Rasonable clarified: “Ang hirap gawin ng Vincenzo. Actually, sa totoo lang gustong-gusto ko siyang gawin, but I just don’t know if it will work here (in the Philippines) because the ending… ano siya galing siya sa mob, so the hero here ay pumapatay. So, to be honest, kelangan pag-aralan ng maigi kung mag-work yan sa audience natin na ang bida that we are rooting for, eventually, he really kills and he kills violently. It just starts out may pagka-comedy and everything… But later on, he’s literally an eye for an eye, that’s how he works. Although I love the show and actually, we inquired, later on, we weren’t sure if it would work.”
Vincenzo, as well as Start-up, not to mention other successful K-dramas these past two years — Crash Landing On You, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, the ongoing Twenty-Five Twenty-One — are produced by tvN, the pay-TV network owned by GMA’s Korean partner CJ E&M. No word yet if the Kapuso station has acquired new Korean titles for remake possibilities after the Bea-Alden starrer.
Nevertheless, GMA continues to be on the lookout for K-content. Rasonable said, “We’re on the lookout for K-dramas not because we’re running out of stories to tell. But sometimes, it’s also nice recreating something that you loved watching on Netflix or other streaming platforms, and to be challenged to do something as good as that. We’re still on the lookout.”