Jennylyn Mercado To Detractors Who Say She Doesn't Have Chemistry With Jericho Rosales In 'Walang Forever'

JENNYLYN MERCADO won the Metro Filmfest best actress award last year for “English Only Please”. It’s said she has a good chance of duplicating that feat this year as she’s equally good in her role as a writer of romantic-comedies having problems with her own love life in “Walang Forever”, directed by Dan Villegas who also directed her in “English Only”. “Naku, wala po akong ganyang expectation,” she says. “Last year, wala rin naman akong ine-expect, pero ibinigay, so this year, wag na rin lang mag-expect, pero kung ibibigay uli, di maraming salamat po.”

Some folks say she doesn’t seem to have much of a chemistry with Jericho Rosales in “Walang Forever”. “Ganyan din naman ang sinabi last year sa amin ni Derek Ramsay in ‘English Only’. Hindi raw kami bagay, so hindi na bago yan. And yet, nang ipalabas ang movie namin ni Derek, nag-click naman nang husto sa viewers so confident akong magiging maganda rin ang reception ng publiko sa tambalan namin ni Jericho ngayon in ‘Walang Forever’. After all, the same team na gumawa ng ‘English Only’, like Quantum Films as producer, Antoinette Jadaone as writer and Direk Dan as director, sila rin ang same team responsible for my movie now with Jericho.”

But they’ll be up against younger love teams like AlDub, KimXi and JaDine. “That’s true. Malalakas sila. But then, mas malalim ang material ng ‘Walang Forever’ in dealing with the more serious side of loving. Hindi lang ito basta kilig movie. Dito kasi, hindi ako naniniwalang may forever sa pag-ibig dahil naging on na kami ni Ethan, the character Jericho plays, tapos nag-break kami as he’s so self-centered. Then bumalik siya, niligawan ako uli, and then nag-split kami uli. Kaya nga ang tanong ng movie: ‘Paano magkakaroon ng forever kung paulit-ulit kang sinasaktan?’ Maraming makaka-relate dito among those who have been hurt pero marunong pa ring magpatawad.”

How was it working with Echo? “He’s a joy to work with. Friendly sa lahat ng tao sa set, maalaga sa co-stars niya, at pakain siya nang pakain with food from his Kuya J Restaurant. But more than that, napakagaling niyang artista. Kahit drama o comedy ang eksena namin, napakahusay niya. Dream come true for me na makatrabaho siya kasi noong bata pa ako, pinapanood ko talaga siya sa ‘Pangako Sa’Yo’ and I never expected darating ang araw na magkakapareha kami.”

Off-cam, the latest rumor is that she and ex-BF Dennis Trillo have reconciled, but she continues to deny this. “At this point, after so many heartbreaks, talagang takot pa rin akong pumasok sa isang bagong relasyon. I feel na I need to be more careful kasi ayokong masaktan na naman. Saka sa dami ng trabaho ko, work na lang talaga muna ang focus ko.”