“And after all is said and done, it’s just work,” she says. “We broke up nine years ago. I was very young then and he’s my first boyfriend. Ang tagal na. I was very close to his family then. A niece was named after at ako ang kinuhang ninang. What happened was a case of long distance relationship, kasi I was then studying in Paris and he’s here in Manila. Wala pang skype noon, so the relationship suffered. After that, pag nagkikita kami, civil naman kami sa isa’t isa. But we don’t call each other or meet for coffee para magkumustahan. But I’m happy I accepted ‘Love is Blind’ kasi sa first shooting day pa lang namin, we had a long talk. I thought there’d be a feeling of being weird, or awkwardness, pero wala, nagkuwentuhan kami agad like nothing happened.”
Did she have to ask the permission first of her Argentinian partner, Nico Bolzico? “No, sinabi ko lang sa kanya I’m working with Derek and, yun lang, hindi naman siya nakikialam sa career ko. But he told me if you’re not ready to work with him, don’t do it.”
“Solenn’s fiance has nothing to worry about,” says Derek. “Friends na lang kami talaga. Even my own partner naman, okay lang sa kanya for me to work with Solenn. Tanggap naman niya na Solenn was once part of my life. When our relationship ended, she knows I’ll always be here for her as a friend. I was really excited to work with her kasi noong maging kami, wala pa siya sa showbiz. And I must say, bilib ako sa acting niya. She’s a natural actress and all our scenes together went on smoothly.”
Solenn portrays a dual role in “Love is Blind”. She plays a real character and she also plays the imaginary character that Derek sees when he’s in front of Kiray Celis. “Masaya yung movie and I had so much fun doing it,” adds Solenn, who has two movies to be shown consecutively, “Lakbay2Love” on February 3 and “Love is Blind” on February 10.
