JOHN ESTRADA is very happy to do comedy again in TV5’s new sitcom, “John en Ellen”, that starts showing this Sunday at 7 PM. He shares the title roles with Ellen Adarna. How does the story go?
“Ellen and I met in college but I’m older than her,” he says. “I fell in love with her. I have a college degree but I have yet to be given his big break, so poor ako and she has a very rich dad, si Ronaldo Valdez.
"The show teaches good family values. Our family, we just make do with what we have, which is what we should all do, specially now na maraming nade-depress dahil sa pandemic. But if we’re solid as a family, then we can all support each other and mas masaya ang buhay.”
The show’s producer Bong Sta. Maria asked John to help in putting up the show.
“When we were first casting it, they asked me, sino gusto mo makapareha. Sabi ko, sana si Angelina Jolie. E, hindi raw siya pwede. And when I told si Ellen, pumayag agad sila. Better choice daw si Ellen.”
He then got in touch with Ellen.
“At first, I thought hindi papayag si Ellen kasi I heard ayaw muna niyang mag-artista. But thank God, pumayag siya kasi nagustuhan niya ang project.
"Alam din niya, ang proyektong ito is para sa kanya talaga. I’m glad to be able to work with such a beautiful human being who’s bubbly and brings great energy on the set.
"She’s a natural comedian. Walang effort, even in her IG stories. Ako naman, I really do miss doing comedy, lalo na with Long Mejia who I got to work with in ‘Everybody Happy’ before.”
John feels blessed because some actors are jobless because of the pandemic but in his case, he’s very busy. Aside from this sitcom, he is also cast in GMA-7’s new drama series, “Babawiin Ko ang Lahat”, with Carmina Villaroel.
It’s good GMA allowed him to cross over to TV5. “Yes, nagpaalam naman ako nang maayos and I’m thankful they gave me the permission to do this show.”
What if people would compare them to Dolphy and Nida Blanca of the long running hit "John en Marsha"?
"I have no illusion na papalitan namin sina Tito Dolphy. They’re institutions na. Sana wala na lang comparison, pero if you’d say na ‘John en Marsha’ in the 80s is napakasarap na adobo, kami naman sa bagong henerasyon ngayon is napakasarap na sinigang.”
