From real to reel

MANILA, Philippines - If some showbiz couples are reluctant (if not intentionally avoid) to work together in a movie or TV project, it’s not the case for young sweethearts Jasmine Curtis-Smith and Sam Concepcion who are bringing their real-life romance to the TV screens via TV5’s adaptation of the teen-oriented Wattpad story, My Tag Boyfriend, premiering tomorrow, Sept. 22.

Jasmine told reporters at a presscon last Thursday, “I’ll be Sitti Sandoval, a Facebook addict. I am the slightly conservative one out of the characters. I accidentally tagged him (character of Sam) and from there the story begins.”

“First of all, I play the role of Kaiser Buenavista. He’s a popular and rich guy in school. People expect him to be with the ‘cooler’ kids but because of what she did, when she accidentally tagged me in a post, saying that I’m her boyfriend, I chose to play along with it. For some reason, he seems to develop a soft spot for this regular girl and so that’s where the story starts,” Sam said.

The two belong to competing networks, but the Kapatid station managed to make their first-ever project together possible. Sam said he simply asked for permission from Star Magic (who co-manages him with Stages) and from ABS-CBN to be able to work for TV5. 

“We had to ask for consent from Star Magic, from my mother network, and they allowed me. Well, it’s with Jasmine, that is, of course, okay with them. I’m really thankful that they gave me this opportunity to work with her because this never happened, ito yung first time namin. They allowed me, and I said yes to (TV5), so sobrang happy ko... I really enjoyed it (doing the show). It’s really exciting,” Sam said.

The actor admitted that he initially thought it would feel weird and awkward finally working with Jasmine. “At first, we were nervous because we have never worked together and because of course, iba yung personal, iba yung onscreen. So, hopefully, it will work.”

“Surprisingly… it came out very natural,” he added. “There were scenes that we did wherein we just kept laughing, (it) was very natural (for us).”

The cute banter and kilig scenes, for one, didn’t require play-acting or hard work, with Sam saying, “Oo, tinitingnan lang niya ako, kinikilig na ako.”

As for Jasmine, the experience “was very good and we’re very professional on the set. We have our own worlds when we’re working. He has his own world, I have mine so (our relationship) did not interfere in the progress of our taping day.”

Apart from having the chance to bond (“You don’t have to worry if the other one is OK because you get to see each other”), Jasmine is also thankful because they got to witness each other’s work attitude and ethics up close.

The two hope that My Tag Boyfriend will lead to more opportunities to team up in acting assignments.

Jasmine said, “If (our team-up) becomes a hit or if our loveteam is effective and people like it, I’m ecstatic. It means we have good (onscreen) chemistry.”

Directed by Monti Parungao, My Tag Boyfriend airs nightly for a week to be followed by two more Wattpad love stories, namely, Mr. Popular Meets Ms Nobody starting on Sept. 29 and Almost A Cinderella Story on Oct. 13.