BELA PADILLA says she has no hard feelings that her ex-BF Neil Arce, quickly found a new love in Angel Locsin after they called it quits last year. “After we broke up, okay na rin agad ako,” she says. “We’re friends pa rin naman and I wish them the best. Some people say nga bad year daw ang 2017 because we broke up, but I’m actually happy about last year as I was very productive. I did a soap, ‘Dear Heart’, and two movies, ‘Luck at First Sight’ and ‘100 Tula Para Kay Stella’, Viva published my own book of poems and two scripts I wrote were filmed, ‘Luck’ and ‘Last Night’. So maganda ang last year for me.”
She and Neil used to cook up and produce movies together. Are they still doing it? “Ah, no more. Now, may kanya-kanya na kaming projects.”
She’s happy that 2018 has just started but she already has a new movie, “Meet Me in St. Gallen”, filmed on location in Switzerland and produced by the company of Piolo Pascual and Joyce Bernal, Spring Films. Piolo said that after their mammoth hit last year, “Kita Kita”, several projects were offered to them.
“But this one by writer-director Irene Villamor stood out,” he says. “Kakaiba ang concept and the script really touched our hearts, so when we offered it to Viva as co-producer, Boss Vic approved of it right away. And now, it’s opening on February 7 and we’re glad we were able to cast Carlo Aquino and Bela Padilla in the lead roles kasi they’re both devoted to their craft and hindi mo matatawaran ang kanilang kakayahan.”“Actually, when I read the script, buong-buo na siya and I told Direk Irene sana, sa akin na ibigay,” says Bela. “Gusto ko na agad gawin. I play Celeste, na na-burnt out na sa trabaho ko. The story is told in three acts. Yung first two acts were shot here in Manila and the last act, in St. Gallen, Switzerland. Sa first act, nag-meet kami ni Carlo by chance in a cafe, nagkahulihan kami agad ng loob then nagkuwentuhan kami na inabot ng madaling araw. The next act is set five years later and yung final one, two years later. ‘Meet Me in St. Gallen’ lies heavily on dialogue kasi yung characters namin ni Carlo, kung anu-ano ang pinag-uusapan kapag magkasama kami. Maraming makaka-relate and people will be able to connect with our ideas and topics easily.”
