John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo reunited on Valentine’s Day to do a live script reading of the 2014 hit independent film That Thing Called Tadhana at an open-air venue in Makati City.
The stars, whose love team topbilled several blockbuster films as well as TV series, showed up at the Ayala Triangle after their 2007 movie, One More Chance, was screened to launch Art Fair Philippines’ 10 Days of Art, an ABS-CBN report said.
Joined onstage by That Thing Called Tadhana director Antoinette Jadaone, John Lloyd and Bea channeled the film’s lead characters Anthony and Mace, originally played by JM De Guzman and Angelica Panganiban.
Everyone knows that John Lloyd’s ex is Angelica but it was Bea who was put on the spot when the actor’s lines mentioned her ex-boyfriend, Gerald Anderson.
As seen in the Instagram stories of Dan Villegas, Jadaone’s partner and Tadhana producer, John Lloyd read from the script, “Bakit kayong mga babae, gwapung-gwapo kayo kay John Lloyd? Parang normal lang naman siya… maiintindihan ko pa kung si Gerald Anderson yan (laughs).”
To which Bea reacted by playfully slapping the actor’s arm and going off script, “Bakit ba kasi sinulat pa kasi to?”
“Sandali! Di pa tapos yung line ko, wait lang! Ulitin ko,” John Lloyd teased a protesting Bea.
Nevertheless, the two proved that “it’s Popoy and Basha pa rin” with their chemistry still strong even after years of not acting together in a film or series.
When John Lloyd asked Bea what is it about him that makes him different, the exchange seemingly felt real enough to make the audience forget they were still in character.
“Anong kakaiba kay John Lloyd? Di ko gets, di ko siya gets,” the actor mused.
“Si John Lloyd kasi, parang hindi artista eh. Parang kaibigan mo siya na pwede mong mamahalinng buo-buo. Parang di ka niya papaiiyakin, parang siya yung iiyak para sa yo. Parang hindi ka niya lolokohin. Parang siya yung tatagal kayo ng maraming, maraming taon,” said Bea, laughing in between.
Despite being scripted, the audience couldn’t help but react to the dialogues with kilig. And when the script called for a hug on stage, the crowd also erupted in cheers.
John Lloyd and Bea last teamed up in a film in 2015 via A Second Chance, the sequel to One More Chance, the cult classic that introduced their now-iconic characters, Popoy and Basha. Both films were directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina and produced by Star Cinema.
The actor took a leave from showbiz in 2017, but is set to make his big-screen comeback in Lav Diaz’s Servando Magdamag under Star Cinema’s subsidiary Black Sheep.
Bea, on the other hand, will star in a new soap with Richard Gutierrez.
