Donny Pangilinan learns to ride jeepney for first time for ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’
MANILA, Philippines — In an innovative approach to character preparation, the directors of ABS-CBN and Netflix's eagerly anticipated series, "Can't Buy Me Love," made a concerted effort to immerse Kapamilya actor Donny Pangilinan in the gritty reality of street life in Manila.
This immersive experience was designed to help Donny, the Brent International School alumnus, better understand and authentically portray the role of Bingo, a popular online seller who juggles various jobs to make ends meet in the series.
One of the show’s directors, Mae Cruz-Alviar, recalled how Donny learned to ride the popular Filipino public transport jeepney for the first time.
“’Yung sa jeep na eksena, dapat nagmamadali kayo… so take, action! Si Donny, hinayaan lahat, pumila s’ya! Sabi ko, hindi ‘to pila,” Cruz-Alviar shared at the series’ press conference in a Quezon City hotel yesterday.
The director said she asked Donny to be less of a gentleman and not to let everyone ride first.
“Kasi masyado kang polite in real life, kapag ganyan in real life, dog-eat-dog world, nagmamadali ka…”
When Cruz-Alviar noticed that the actor seemed to be still observing other people how to ride the vehicle, she confronted him: “First time mo bang sumakay ng jeep?”
“Opo,” Cruz-Alviar recalled Donny as answering shyly, sending the actor and his love team partner Belle Mariano laughing during the presscon.
“First time n’ya so nanibago talaga s’ya du’n,” the director said.
WATCH: Donny shares preparations for 'Can't Buy Me Love'
She noted that it was Belle’s first time, too, to play a rich kid through the series as she used to handle poor or middle-class roles before.
To prepare her for the role, she and co-star Darren Espanto, who plays as her best friend, had to learn Chinese.
“Until now, kinikilala ko pa si Caroline, but I did seven days of Hokkien classes and talagang inimmerse ko ‘yung sarili ko sa mga culture ng Chinese kasi ‘yung character nga ni Caroline dito she comes from a wealthy Chinese family so kami ni direk (Mae), parang date, nag-usap kami the whole day about Caroline lang,” Belle shared her preparations for her character in the series.
WATCH: Belle shares preparations for 'Can't Buy Me Love'
“Kapag matatapos ‘yung day namin ni Belle, the more that we immerse ourselves in our environment kasi sobrang magkaiba ‘yung worlds naming dalawa,” added Donny.
“Kami rin ni direk, we scheduled an entire day, umikot kami ng Binondo, Divisoria. First time kong umikot with direk. We just went around incognito kasama ‘yung team…”
Cruz-Alviar, said Donny, encouraged him to observe how people in Binondo and Divisoria work – particularly, how they sell and carry things.
“Kasi andaming pagdadaanan ni Bingo sa series na ‘to kaya I want to make sure na alam ko rin ‘yung mga pagdadaanan ni Bingo at alam ko rin kung papaano sila magsalita. I also get a lot of help from my co-actors here – sina kuya Ketchup (Eusebio), Hyubs (Azarcon), si Anthony (Jennings)…”
According to Donny, he is now able to live in his character’s poor man’s shoes, thanks to the “team effort” of the series’ cast.
Their next immersion project? Food trip in Binondo!
“Can’t Buy Me Love” is set to premiere on Netflix on October 13, 72 hours ahead of free TV and 24 hours before it’s shown on pay TV. Donny and Belle, adorably referred to as DonBelle by loyal fans, previously starred in “He’s Into Her,” “Love is Colorblind,” and “An Inconvenient Love,” also streaming on Netflix. — Videos by Deni Bernardo, editing by Martin Ramos, Anj Andaya
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