What Unbreak My Heart means for Philippines entertainment industry

MANILA, Philippines — Pre-pandemic, Unbreak My Heart, the groundbreaking collaboration of GMA, ABS-CBN and Viu, would be unimaginable.

The upcoming primetime series, which united Kapamilya and Kapuso stars and production talents and resources, not just cuts across the “network wars,” but also breaks down if not straddles the divide between streaming and linear media.

In the words of Jodi Sta. Maria, never in her wildest dreams that she thought something like this would happen, given ABS-CBN and GMA’s long and storied history of treating each other as “competitors for ratings and audience share.”

“But now, that has changed,” said one of ABS-CBN’s most prized talents during the show’s presscon on Thursday. Jodi is joined in the lead cast by fellow Kapamilya Joshua Garcia and Kapuso actors Richard Yap and Gabbi Garcia.

Jodi Sta. Maria is Rose, a woman desperate to heal her broken heart and reclaim the family she lost.

“We are no longer rivals but we are here today as collaborators and partners with the same goals. That is to provide more opportunities for the people in the industry that we have grown to love, and to provide our audience with quality entertainment,” she added.

“And so, I feel grateful, honored and blessed to be part of this project and I would like to thank everyone who made this beautiful impossibility possible, with ABS-CBN, GMA and of course, Viu, who would provide us with the streaming platform in strengthening and showcasing Filipino talent worldwide.”

In a separate roundtable chat with broadsheets, Jodi noted how this project became possible after ABS-CBN suffered a “double whammy.”

“Three years ago, as I personally reflect on what happened, na double-whammy ang ABS-CBN. Double whammy in the sense na nagka-pandemic and then a few months after, we were not given the renewal of the (free TV broadcast) franchise. I believe that most of us felt, ‘What will happen now? Where do we go from here? How do we move forward?” she said, recalling the uncertainty.

Gabbi Garcia is Alex, who will fight for her love for Renz.

“Me, personally, nagulat (and) na lost kung paano nangyari yun. Mahirap sabihin it’s a blessing in disguise because ang cliché naman kung iisipin mo. But now, if you look back, may mga bagay kasi sa buhay natin na, at that moment when it happened, you couldn’t understand it. Like, there’s no logical explanation as to why everything is happening but we also don’t have the ability to see the future to console whatever we’re feeling at that moment.”

She believes that what happened to her mother network became a “redirection” that allowed them to become “a leading content provider” and forge partnerships deemed unthinkable before.

“If you revisit that time, parang oo nga no, minsan may pangyayari sa buhay natin na kailangan siya mangyari no matter how hard, how challenging, how painful because it’s going to redirect us to something more beautiful. I believe that this is what happened here… I’m just so thankful that I became part of that redirection that is happening now.

“Parang lahat tayo magkakampi na. We only have one goal — this is for the industry, this is for the audience, this is for the people working within the industry,” Jodi reflected.

Joshua Garcia is Renz, who will help Rose fill up the void in her heart.

As the synopsis puts it, Unbreak My Heart will see the characters of Jodi, Gabbi, Joshua and Richard “push the bounds of forbidden love that may break the hearts of those they hold dear.” The story follows Rose (Jodi), a woman desperate to heal her broken heart and atone for her sins by reclaiming the family she lost.

In her journey, she gets caught up in a May-September love affair with Renz (Joshua), who helps Rose fill the void in her heart. Later on, Renz falls in love with Alex (Gabbi), who will fight for her love for him.

Rose, Renz, and Alex get entangled in a love triangle, which is made even more complicated when Matt (Richard) enters the picture. He will go to great lengths to protect his family, even if it causes the lives of others to take a darker turn. As the series progresses, these questions will be answered: Will Rose fight for Renz even if Alex is already in his life? Will Rose get the forgiveness she’s been longing for or will Matt make her face the consequences of her sins?

For Joshua, audiences can glean different lessons on love from the characters in the series. “Unbreak My Heart kasi iba’t-ibang kwento ng pagmamahal, pagkaka-unbreak ng mga puso ng mga characters kasi parang lahat ng characters broken,” he said during the roundtable interview. “So maraming mga side na pwede matutunan ang mga tao. Makikita nila may mga OFWs sa story, there’s love for parents, love for a partner, love for friends. Marami silang makukuha dito, depende sa pinagdadaanan ng taong nanonood.”

Richard Yap is Matt who will do everything to protect his family.

Gabbi, on the other hand, stressed, “It’s not your typical boy meets girl, but you’re gonna fall in love. A lot of twists will happen, a lot of unexpected moments are going to happen.

“Even us, actors, whenever we read the script, every time there’s a fresh script coming, we always look forward to reading it because there’s always something different per week. There’s always character development and all. It offers a different flavor to the audience. They should watch out for the crazy love story naming tatlo (Jodi, Joshua and myself) and Papa Chen (Richard) as well.”

The actress considers herself lucky to be part of the project. She’s the only “homegrown” GMA artist in the lead cast as Richard used to be with ABS-CBN, starting with My Binondo Girl where he became known as Papa Chen, and then starring in several projects with Jodi, including the hit Be Careful With My Heart.

“Technically, out of us four, ako talaga yung homegrown GMA na parang, at times, I would question myself, what am I doing here (laughs)? But it was a really, really great blessing for me because I got to take a peek at both networks. Not everyone gets the chance to do it. I got to learn a lot from the work ethics of ABS and bringing my GMA values to the set as well. It comes hand-in-hand,” said Gabbi.

Meanwhile, based on the teasers, one of the major themes in the series is how destiny plays out in the lives of the characters. During the print media interview, the stars (with the exception of Richard, who wasn’t present at the press event) shared their personal takes on the subject.

Gabbi said, “(My character) doesn’t believe in destiny but I do. My mom would always tell me when I was younger, if it’s for you, it’s for you. That’s destiny for me. Because I would always get frustrated as a kid, bakit mga ka-VTR ko, colleagues, all of them artista na, bakit ako hindi? But my mom would always tell me, kung para sayo, para sayo yan. Your time will come.”

Joshua said, “I believe in destiny, yes, and that everything that happens in our lives is part of the story leading to what will really happen in the future.”

As for Jodi, owing to the show, she’s been mulling over the idea of destiny “na parang has everything been written about you and you’re just walking through the story of your life? Or, do we have some sort of freedom to control the narrative?”

She continued, “If you’re going to ask me now if I believe in destiny, my answer would be, I believe that even before we were conceived in the minds of our parents, before we were even born, I think there’s something that has been laid out for us. There has been something planned out for us, but we cannot negate the fact that we have to be responsible also for the choices we make in life.

“Yes, maybe life has destined you to become a writer. But if you don’t act on the opportunities given to you, if you don’t take care of the gifts that are given to you, how will it materialize? So, for me, it’s like 50-50. Yes, you’re destined for something but you also have to do something about it.”

Unbreak My Heart officially premieres tomorrow, May 29, on GMA Telebabad, Pinoy Hits, and I Heart Movies at 9:35 p.m. from Mondays to Thursdays, 11:25 p.m. on GTV, and is also available on GMA Pinoy TV and TFC. It has begun streaming on GMANetwork.com and iWantTFC, as well as in 16 territories outside of the Philippines via Viu.

Filmed in Switzerland, Italy, and the Philippines, Unbreak My Heart is directed by Emmanuel Palo and Dolly Dulu, and produced by Dreamscape Entertainment. It also features Laurice Guillen, Eula Valdes, Sunshine Cruz, Nikki Valdez, Romnick Sarmenta, and Victor Neri, with Dionne Monsanto, PJ Endrinal, Maey Bautista, Marvin Yap, Mark Rivera, Will Ashley, Jeremiah Lisbo, and Bianca de Vera.