Anne Curtis on being scared of acting with Claudine and working with ex-boyfriend Richard

Anne Curtis finds it real sweet that Annabelle Rama made a remark that, among all the girls that Richard Gutierrez had a relationship with, it is Anne whom she would like to see her son end up with.

“I am touched. That’s probably why I still get invitations to the gatherings of the Gutierrez family,” said Anne at the presscon of “In Your Eyes,” which opens today in 100 theaters nationwide. “It feels good.”

But Anne admitted that there’s no more hope or chance for her past romance with Richard to be rekindled since they’ve both moved on after breaking up some years ago. But they have since became friends and they especially enjoyed each other’s company while filming “In Your Eyes” in the United States.

What added to Anne’s excitement for this Mac Alejandre film was the opportunity to work with Claudine Barretto, who plays her sister in the flick. “At first, I was really scared to slap her in our confrontation scene in the movie but Ate Claudine said that I have to do it. Doon ako mas natakot when she told me I really have to do it to make the scene realistic. Baka I might not be able to do it right eh kailangan naming ulitin ang scene,” said the Swatch endorser.

“I was very vocal with my desire to work with Ate Claudine. When she transferred to GMA 7, I thought I’ve lost the chance to work with her. It’s a good thing this project came along that enabled me to work with her. In our first few scenes together, I was really scared. I was having a hard time looking at her eyes ‘coz nahihiya ako. Buti na lang when we shot abroad, we had great bonding time together and we got along really well.”

In this new movie, Anne plays an adventurous, spontaneous kind of woman, who’s really something out of the box. Anne has stepped out of her comfort zone in “In Your Eyes.” She couldn’t have done well in her role if not for the guidance of Direk Mac, as well as the support and encouragement given to her by Richard and Claudine.

Taking on the role, Anne said, has helped her grow as an actress.

This 2010 is a banner year for Anne. On TV, her “Showtime” is a winner and is now on its second season. She is also a significant mainstay of ABS-CBN’s Sunday variety show “ASAP.”

She has also started taping her latest soap opera titled “Green Rose,” which reunites her with Jericho Rosales, with whom she was paired in the award-winning movie “Baler.” Through the said film, she received her first best actress award.

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Writer-director Adolf Alix, Jr. is clueless as to why his latest movie “Muli,” featuring Cogie Domingo and Sid Lucero in gay love story that spans four decades, was given an on-hold rating by the MTRCB.

The film was submitted for review last week and when it was over, Adolf was asked if he would be willing to shorten the first love scene involving Sid and Arnold Reyes (who plays an activist) although he was not asked to edit out the entire scene.

“I asked them if it’s possible not to shorten the scene. After all, the scene was only 44 seconds long. If they would say that I shorten it, what’s the use of retaining the scene? When they came back to me, they said they would put the rating on hold and have a second review,” Direk Adolf told Star Circuit at the UP Film Center before the film was screened.

“What I know of the rules of the MTRCB is if your film gets an X-rating on the first review, you are entitled to second review but you would have to pay again? But why are they doing a second review if they give Muli an X-rating? That’s my question and I believe that’s a valid inquiry because they did not give my film an X,” said the director of Muli which is written by Jerry Gracio. The script won as best screenplay in the Palanca Awards.

“Pero susunod kami sa proseso kasi gusto kong maipalabas ang pelikula namin in its integral form kasi sa tingin ko naman po, kung papanoorin naman nila, kailangan naman talaga ang eksena. Hindi naman nandoon iyon, para lang nandoon,” he said.

In fact, Adolf is willing to listen to the suggestion of the MTRCB that the said scene between Sid and Arnold be shortened. He also would like to emphasize that he’s not picking up a fight with the MTRCB. He just wants to be clarified on their “on hold” rating of “Muli.”

“Besides, yun lang naman eksena na iyon ang pinuna ng MTRCB sa movie in its entirety. This was just a short scene compared to the three love scenes which Cogie and Sid did which are more intense,” said Adolf. “After the second review, I am hopeful that they would give my film a favorable rating so we could show Muli in its integral form.”

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The people from TV5 and the “Face to Face” team are happy because the “Face to Face” episode last August 12 (Thursday) got a high rating. It got 30.7% audience share among individuals and it also got the highest rating among the shows that day. “Showtime” got a rating of 26.5% while “Danz Showdown” got 25.1%.

In the household ratings, “Face to Face” was also a winner with 12.2% against “Showtime’s” 11.3% and “Danz Showdown’s” 10.4%. This was based on the ratings of AGB-NMR Mega Manila overnight data. The said episode featured a male and female couple complaining that the girl’s gay friend not only made a pass at her boyfriend but also did something not nice, ultimately making the girl mad.