Starstruck: producer recalls Vilma-Aga-Nadine starrer back story

Metro Manila, Philippines — Director and producer Antoinette Jadaone said she still couldn’t believe that her team will be doing a film with ‘Star for All Seasons’ Vilma Santos together with Aga Muhlach and Nadine Lustre.

In a message to NewsWatch Plus, Jadaone said the team mentioned a concept to Santos and they were surprised when the movie icon obliged.

“Nag-pitch kami, then it was a collaboration with her kung anong gusto niyang kwento, anong genre, anong highlights, ano ang gusto niyang maramdaman ng character niya. Nakaka-starstruck! A Philippine icon na kasama namin sa isang table, talking to us like she’s not the Vilma Santos,” said Jadaone.

The “That Thing Called Tadhana” director recalled her experience collaborating with Santos.

“There was no ego, no condescension. Her love for cinema and storytelling, and for life, yun ang nangibabaw. It was a memorable experience,” she added.

Jadaone added that she initially hesitated to tap the stars whom they thought could fit the characters.

“Then nung natapos na ni Dodo (Dayao, our writer) ang script, at lumabas na ang mga characters, naisip namin, ‘Why not yung isang character ay si sir Aga? Why not yung character na ito ay si Nadine? Mylene Dizon? Kaya ba natin? Hindi ba masyadong ambitious?’” said Jadaone.

[Translation: Then when Dodo finished the script, and the characters were finalized, we thought, “Why not one character is sir Aga? The other character, Nadine? Mylene Dizon? Can we do it? Isn’t it too ambitious?]

“Pero yun ang okay kapag baliw rin mga kasama mo. Yung mga ideas na akala mong crazy and impossible, nagiging possible. Kasi ang ganda ng script, ang ganda ng vision ni Dan (Villegas, his first film in six years, since Hintayan ng Langit in 2018),” she added.

[But what’s okay is if your colleagues are also crazy. The ideas that you thought were crazy and impossible. The script is nice, Dan’s vision is nice.]

Jadaone said Project 8 Projects and Mentorque were also supportive with the film development even if they are small production companies.

“So let’s do this for ate Vi. Let’s do this for the story, hanggang kaya, push! Eh na-push. [So let’s do this for (Vilma). Let’s do this for the story, until we’re able, push! So we did.] So here we are. Fueled by a collective love for storytelling and backed by our collective craziness. This is uninvited,” said Jadaone.

In a recent Facebook post, Mentorque Productions announced the powerhouse cast.

Others are Tirso Cruz III, Lotlot de Leon, Mylene Dizon, Gio Alvarez, Elijah Canlas, Cholo Barretto, Ketchup Eusebio, RK Bagatsing, Gabby Padilla, and Ron Angeles.

While details about the film’s plot remain under wraps, fans have been treated to sneak peeks of Villegas returning to the director’s chair, building anticipation for his latest project.

Santos was last seen in the Metro Manila Film Festival entry “When I Met You in Tokyo.” Muhlach recently starred alongside Julia Barretto, while Lustre continues to garner acclaim, having won multiple awards for her role in the 2022 horror film “Deleter.”

Meanwhile, Mentorque Productions is coming off the success of “Mallari,” a box office hit starring Piolo Pascual, and was one of the entries in the 2023 Metro Manila Film Festival.