Allen Ansay gets out of comfort zone for LUV IS role

Allen Ansay is the other half of Team Jolly. As every Kapuso fan knows, Sofia Pablo is his perennial loveteam mate. They are both regaling viewers with their characters — she as the bubbly, hardworking Florence, while he as the quiet, wealthy Nero — in the GMA 7 primetime series, LUV Is: Caught in His Arms. The Sparkle Sweethearts’ following appreciates the hard work they put in the two-month lock-in taping, as shown by the show’s good ratings.

“First and foremost, Sofie and I are thankful to GMA and Sparkle (GMA Artist Center) for the trust they have given us,” said Allen in a recent press conference prior to LUV Is: Caught in His Arms’ premiere. “I’ve given my 100 percent here.”

That is true since his character, whose full name is Nero Sebastian Ferell, is a far cry from what he used to portray in previous shows like Raya Sirena, where his Gavin was the son of a caretaker in a resort, owned by the family of Sofia’s Raya. There’s a reversal of fortune between their Raya Sirena (Gavin and Raya) and LUV Is: (Nero and Florence) characters.

Allen added that Nero is different “from who I am, like the way he speaks, he acts (and lives), he comes from a rich family. I was really surprised when I got to learn that I’m playing rich here (and I asked myself) how to become one.”

At ease with his first language, Allen found it challenging to speak the home language of Nero, which is English. He got by with the help of the LUV Is: Caught in His Arms team, led by director Barry Gonzales. “I’m grateful to (him) and those who have supported me,” said he, who carried out the English dialogues by doing the approach “word for word, I’m not really good at speaking English.” This worked well for Allen. Sofia could attest to how he improved, yes, by leaps and bounds, in terms of English word pronunciation.

“With Sofie and I, our secret really is when we do kilig scenes, natural siya (we’re natural in them), parang effortless,” Allen said of their work chemistry. “We really worked as a team on set because we know each other’s weaknesses.”

Allen and Sofia acknowledged the contribution of direk Barry to present a different kind of kilig from them, which one might think is emanating from their characters’ differences, personality and social status-wise.

“Mas napapadali ko yung trabaho kapag nandyan talaga si Sofie (Work becomes easier when she is around) because I know her at alam niya kung paano palakasin ang loob ko (and she knows how to encourage and cheer me up),” said he.

What one could glean from the interview was the cast and crew of LUV Is: Caught in His Arms finished taping sometime in July of last year. It was only natural for the young stars to anticipate that it would be aired soon or before 2022 ended. But the plan was for the Allen and Sofia starrer to be the network’s initial primetime offering for 2023. The long wait is over as it has been airing weeknights on GMA Telebabad primetime. Allen and Sofia were willing to wait since they were not in a hurry and knew that it would be seen by viewers at the right time.

“Actually, yung pag-move po nung show namin mas naging maganda pa nga po (it turned out well),” said Allen about the show’s premiere, “kasi mas naging maganda yung mga edit at tsaka may Can This Be Love na binigay.”

The people behind the rom-com series used the song as theme, which aptly captures the eventual feelings Allen and Sofia’s Nero and Florence have for each other. The GMA Sparkle talents are aware that their first primetime show has big shoes to fill. Start-Up PH with Alden Richards and Bea Alonzo in leading roles, and the Mano Po Legacy: The Flower Sisters did a good showing in the ratings game. The challenge for their show is to come close or equal what these shows have achieved.

“(I hope) they (audiences) will love the story of (the) Wattpad (web novel-based TV show),” said Allen of the first-ever collaboration between GMA and Wattpad Webtoon Studios, “and we felt nervous at first because it is in the primetime slot.”

And so far, Allen and Sofia’s portrayal of their characters has been engaging in reminding everyone about young love and family.