Real thing next time

MANILA, Philippines – Toni Gonzaga and Paul Soriano have been together for seven years now. From the looks of it and going by their sound bites from various interviews, it’s safe to deduce that it’s just a matter of time and timing for their love story to finally end up at the altar. In the meantime, the good-looking couple is having “practice,” as they are game enough to star in their first commercial together that seems to hitch on the celebrity engagement bandwagon.

In the new TV commercial for Acer that premiered last night on ABS-CBN, the TV host/actress is seen expressing surprise then happiness as the director drops to his knees, offering not a ring (at least not yet!) but an Acer laptop and smartphone. (The TVC is for the electronics brand’s #MerryMe holiday promo that offers a free Acer Liquid Z200 smartphone for every purchase of any eligible Windows 8-based, Intel Core-powered Acer laptop.) It’s a cute concept that is sure to fan the hopes of their followers and multiply the “When are you getting married?” question that has hounded the two since they became an item.

The STAR had an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Acer commercial and they were obviously having fun just being themselves — no acting required.

“It’s a different experience,” Toni told The STAR, “when I see him on sets like this, he’s usually behind the cameras.”

Direk Paul added, “When I come to a set, it’s to visit her, bring her some food or say hello. So, this is fun! It’s a little bit different obviously but I feel like I’m at home because the production designer, the set director, I’ve also worked with them. I’m enjoying myself right now, and I know Toni is enjoying herself also. It’s always fun to do things together.”

Paul did a cameo in Toni’s hit romantic comedy, Starting Over Again, and with his movie-star looks, can do more. And while there had been offers in the past for them to appear together in commercials, the Acer TVC is the first to materialize and the sweethearts share equal screen time (if not more for Paul) in it. “I did take up acting in college,” admitted Paul, grandson of the acting legend Nestor de Villa. “Once in a while, it reminds you how hard it is to be an actor. Sometimes, as a director, you lose that because you just expect so much. But to feel that, even if it’s just one percent of what real actors go through, at least you know what it feels to be in front of the camera.” 

Paul also didn’t need much convincing from Toni, a long-time endorser of Acer, to do the TVC. According to Toni, “(Paul is) not hard to convince. Every time I would ask something from him, he would ask back, ‘Do you want me to do that?’ He’s always like that. I’d say, ‘Paul, they’re asking if you can do this with me,’ and he’d say, ‘Do you want me to do it?’ ‘Sana.’ ‘OK, we’ll do it.’ But if I say, no don’t do it, he’ll say, OK, let’s not.”

“Toni is also my manager,” Paul added with a laugh, “at the end of the day, if she’s happy, I’m happy.”

Still, Toni had to clear the concept with Paul. “I asked him in the beginning, that the concept is something like this, which might give a different impression on the audience. Then he said, it’s just a commercial...”

“I think it’s good practice (for an actual proposal)!” Paul mused. “At least, I know what to do, I have a little bit of a workshop.”

When told that this writer initially entertained the thought that the TVC shoot could be a ruse for a real-life wedding proposal (anything can happen anywhere for showbiz folks these days — on national TV, at a mall complex, at an airport), the two laughed, with Toni explaining, “No, you know why, I think because he already said, if ever he’s gonna propose, it’s gonna be private not public. Me, also, given the chance, I would want it to be private. Something intimate, with the family, and if ever I’ll share it, tapos na siya.”

You can expect Paul to treat it with the same keen eye and meticulous preparation he gives to his productions, one of which was last year’s multi-awarded Transit of which he was producer. 

The filmmaker said, “In anything that you do that’s big and grand, you wanna prepare well for it. So, the proposal is definitely a turning point in my life and in her life, it’s definitely the next stop, and I wanna give it some thought and preparation and hopefully, it’s a surprise,” teasingly adding, “because it’s hard to surprise this girl here. Every little thing, she’s thinking, ‘Are you proposing? Are you proposing?’ Hahaha!”

With the comfortable and candid way they talk about the subject, and knowing that their respective families are supportive of the relationship, the proposal could just be a formality.

“Yes, but it’s definitely what I want to do also,” Paul stressed. “It’s something important and I know we will be getting there. And there’s never been any pressure at all.”

Toni isn’t feeling any pressure as well. “I was probably pressured during our first year together. Everyone was asking — when are you getting married, is he going to propose, are you engaged — sabi ko nga, bakit kaya ganun, kaka-yes ko lang kay Paul, marriage agad. Now, after seven years, parang wala na.”

Their relationship is deemed wholesome and ideal, embraced by fans, untainted so far by intrigue and rumors, but Toni said that “it’s a work in progress.” 

“I guess I learn something from my parents that during their time, they grew up in an era when something’s broken, you don’t throw it away but you try to fix it. And when I asked (my mom) that I wanted to get into a relationship when I was 24 years old, because Paul is my first boyfriend (and) parang siya na talaga yung gusto ko i-welcome sa family ko, she said that if you want to get into this relationship make sure you will really commit to it. It’s not something like trial and error, you have to really think about it, pray and ask for God’s discernment and wisdom. So ayun tumagal naman ng seven years. (And I believe that) whatever it is that you would program your mind to, whatever it is that you believe in, it happens in your life.”

Paul, for his part, said that seven years is no joke and that to make their relationship work requires faith. “It’s just easily God centered, (I believe if) we both have great relationships with God, therefore we can have a good one together. My parents told me that when you do find that partner make sure she’s in love with God first, and I did find that in her. It’s great! It just totally worked out. And we communicate a lot; the technology helps it out. Seven years — it’s tough, it’s work. We find ways to make it work.”

Meanwhile, Toni just had a successful concert celebrating 15 years in showbiz and will soon renew her contract with ABS-CBN. New projects are in the offing like a movie and possibly, a teleserye. As for Paul, he’s doing post-production on his next film release Kid Kulafu, a biopic on Manny Pacquiao that tells, in particular, of Pacman’s tough childhood before he became the boxing hero that he is. “It’s a story of Manny Pacquiao’s childhood so it’s like the first 15 years of his life before the boxing. We’ve shot it already and we’re doing post-production in the US... It’s gonna premiere at an international festival. Buboy Villar plays Manny Pacquiao and he’s very good. Manny was very supportive in the research and development. He’s part of the project in terms of giving us permission to use his life.”

Paul has also jumpstarted a passion project. “A passion project of mine is about the ‘Open Door’ policy during pre-World War II when Pres. Quezon saved 1,300 Jews from the Holocaust. It’s a fantastic story. I do have a first draft. It’s something I’m also doing in the US, and my writer is from L.A. I’m really leaning towards making films nowadays. Of course, I still do advertising. I just like being behind the cameras.”

Will viewers see Paul directing Toni in a film soon? 

Toni said that she hopes to do an indie for a change with Paul and essay a character that departs from her signature rom-com roles.

“Every time, I see his films or watch films with him or watch films he’d recommend, I get inspired to work on something different, out of the box... I always tell him my future dreams in acting. I want to do something inspirational with a redeeming factor, because some indie films are really dark...If ever Paul can find me a script that’s really inspiring and can touch a lot of viewers’ lives, I’d be very open to that.”

Paul said that he has some ideas. “Actually, a lot of people don’t know that my first film A Journey Home was with her (a Christian film in 2009)... I don’t want to say no to that (directing Toni in the future). Why not? I mean, we have the rest of our lives to do that.”