Elmo (son of the late Francis Magalona) has been around for some years, first with GMA paired with Julie Anne San Jose and Janine Gutierrez, and now with ABS-CBN, paired with Janella Salvador. Jerome (son of former Viva actor Jessie Delgado) has also been around and is now in the TV soap, “The Good Son”. Kiko (son of Gary Estrada and Cheska Diaz) is a Kapuso who has done various soaps and movies. Donnie (the son of Maricel Laxa and Anthony Pangilinan) is the newest among them. He’s better known as a VJ and this is his first acting role.
Joey Reyes has done several youth movies before like “Guwapings” which is a hit so it had a sequel, “Guwapings Dos”, “Pare Ko”, “Roller Boys”, “Nagbibinata”, “Batang PX” and “Hataw Na”. “Walwal is a story of growing up and it follows the stories of four friends since their high school days up to their initial years in college,” Joey says. “Ipapakita rito ang mga problema at sitwasyong karaniwang kinakaharap ng mga kabataan ngayon in the age of social media.”
What are the roles of the four young actors? “Iba-iba sila. Elmo is the obedient son, the type who follows lahat ng gusto ng mga magulang niya for him. Hilig niya is graphic arts or multi-media, but his parents want him to be a lawyer kaya he’s taking up law. Wala siyang love interest dito. Kaya walang Janella rito.”
And how about Jerome? “Siya yung madrama ang buhay. Siya ang galing sa mahirap na pamilya at ang nanay niya isa a hasbeen na bold star, so hard up ang buhay nila. Si Kiko Estrada naman, siya yung tipong palit ng palit ng course in college at palit din ng palit ng girlfriend. Basta nakapalda, papatulan niya. Then he gets someone pregnant after a one night stand, so nagkaproblema siya.”
And Donnie? “His dream is to be a top filmmaker who’s recognized abroad, parang Brillante Mendoza. Nakagawa na siya ng films but nobody appreciates it except yung isang classmate lang nila. Si Donnie is parang apo ko na, kung tutuusin. Kasi ninong ako sa kasal ng parents niya and I’m happy nabigyan ako ng chance to direct him in his very first movie. Imagine, dinirek ko ang nanay niya sa maraming pelikula. Tapos, ngayon yung anak na ni Maricel ang dinidirek ko. I feel so old! I’ve long been wanting to do a new youth movie at dito, ang sumulat ng script, estudyante ko sa La Salle. Pati musical score, galing din sa estudyante ko. At hindi siya basta rom-com at tungkol sa love. I’m sure maraming makaka-relate na kabataan sa mga situations ng mga karakter sa pelikulang ito.”
Regal has its Walwal Boys while Viva is also introducing its new batch of young actors in “Squad Goals”, called the FBois. Let’s see which one will the viewers bless: the FBois or the Walwal Boys.
Aside from “Walwal”, Regal is also busy shooting another new movie, “My Two Mommies” starring Paolo Ballesteros, Solenn Heussaff and Maricel Soriano, as directed by ni Eric Quizon. This will be Regal’s special Mother’s Day presentation opening in theaters on May 9. Then there’s another new comedy starring Vhong Navarro paired with international beauty titlist, Winwyn Marquez.
