Julia Barretto learns to be ‘protective of personal life’

Amid the rumor that the relationship of Julia Barretto and Gerald Anderson is having some issues, the actress maintained that she “learned to be protective of my personal life.”

During the virtual media conference of her latest film Expensive Candy, she reacted to some questions linking her movie promotion to what’s going on in her love life. “I’ve always been very private. Well… just recently, with my personal life, I think with everything that has happened before, I’ve learned to be protective of my personal life. So, I like to keep that as private as much as possible. And just drawing that boundary between working (and) my personal life,” said she.

In Viva Films’ Expensive Candy, Julia portrays a hooker named Candy in Angeles City. The premise of the film is about finding love in the most unexpected places and betting everything you have to fight for it.

Renato “Toto” Camaya, played by Carlo Aquino, is a high school teacher, who falls in love at first sight with Candy after a night of paying to be with her. The trailer hints a lot of “what ifs scenario.”

When asked about her thoughts about having what ifs in life, she said, “As much as possible I don’t wanna get stuck sa what if. I always wanna have that mindset na kung saan ako napadpad dun ako meant na mapadpad. Although as persons, it crosses our minds. You know what if you took this way instead of that way. What if you chose this instead of (that).”

“At the end of the day, personally, ako masaya ako eh so, it means tama yung dinaanan ko. Tama yung pinuntahan ko. So, if you go home and your choice makes you feel happy and you go home feeling that you made the right decision for yourself, even if it doesn’t even feel right now. If later on, that’s when you feel good about kung ano man yun, it means, kung anong meant...”

As to how far she will go for love, Julia expressed that “love in general (comes) in all kinds and in all forms, (like) friendship, family, loved ones. Maybe, you know, if it feels… if it feels … (long pause) I’m trying to find ways to answer without it being the headline tomorrow (laughs).”

As she was looking for words to continue her sentence, she conversely turned to direk Jason Paul Laxamana to respond to the question first. The director replied that he’d “do everything for my parents” and will also do the same “for that person.” Julia agreed, “Just always be 100 percent if the love feels right.”

Jason Paul or JP is the director of Julia’s 2019 movie Between Maybes, the film where Julia first worked with her eventual boyfriend Gerald. Expensive Candy is the actress and direk JP’s reunion project. The filmmaker also wrote and directed 100 Tula Para Kay Stella, The Day After Valentine’s and Just a Stranger.

Born and raised in Angeles City, direk JP drew inspiration from the people he encountered in the red light district and added the “hugot” theme to Expensive Candy. The upcoming flick is also the first collaboration between Julia and Carlo.

“She is easy to work with, very open, and giving as a co-actor in our scenes,” Carlo said of his leading lady. “Actually, akala ko hindi ko sya makaka-vibe kasi yun nga parang quiet lang pero kalog din pala si Julia. Kalog na class. Class na dancing queen.”

Julia shared that she wanted to work with Carlo a long time ago. “We call him on set, The Icon, because who wouldn’t want to (work) with Caloy? But it was always about the right project and about the right time. And I feel like Expensive Candy was the right material for the both of us and I’m very happy to have done this with him.”

As Candy, Julia learned two things about her character. “Love without judgment,” she said. “Just (be) proud of who you are and what you have to do, make it and survive.”

“Love recognizes no barriers,” asserted Carlo on being Toto. “When you like someone, when you love someone, or kahit na anong balakid pa yan, kahit gaano kasakit or kahit gaano kataas pa yung walls, you will do everything para mag-iba yun. And you will not lose hope.”

Meanwhile, Carlo was queried if he was also willing to spend money on a girl, much like his character in the movie. “I can give everything without me having to shell out money,” he laughingly said. “It depends on the girl, but mas maganda siguro kung hindi mga material things yung mga kailangan mong ibigay sa kanya kasi marami namang ways to show your love to a person, (like) time, affection. But if you were to ask me kung gumastos na ba ako ng parang ganun, parang hindi pa naman.”

He also admitted that at some point in his life, he visited a red light district to “explore.” “Ano lang naman, nood-nood lang. Ganun lang. Nanood lang kami ng mga tropa, had few drinks and then left the place. Wala naman akong inuwi.”

(Expensive Candy will be shown on Sept.14 in cinemas nationwide.)