John Lloyd Cruz experiences a lot of firsts with MMFF entry

MANILA, Philippines – John Lloyd Cruz will experience a lot of first as his movie "Honor Thy Father" joins this year's Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF).

The movie was initially not part of the eight entries of the 2015 MMFF. But earlier this month, it was announced that "Honor Thy Father" will officially part of the annual film fest after Gil Portes' historical movie "Hermano Puli" backed out.

Although he has been in showbiz for over a decade, this is John Lloyd's first time to be part of the MMFF.

READ: ‘Honor Thy Father’ to be part of MMFF 2015

“I’m going to be busy promoting 'Honor Thy Father',” he replied when asked about his Christmas plans in an interview on Wednesday. “First time sasakay ako ng float. ‘Yon ang bago, first Christmas season ko na I’ll be working.”

Before getting busy with his MMFF entry, John Lloyd thanked his fans who supported “A Second Chance,” the sequel of the film “One More Chance” which also stars Bea Alonzo.

John Lloyd admitted that while working on the film, he was “skeptical” of how the audience will embrace "A Second Chance."

“Skeptical [ako] sa magiging reaction ng audience kasi hindi ito ‘yong glossy Star Cinema film na usually napapanood mo o puwede mo asahan,” he explained. “Tsaka kung alam n’yo lang ang process ng lahat sa paggawa nito, talagang kakabahan ka. It’s a very personal process para sa aming lahat.”

Despite all the worries, he is “very happy na nagustuhan ang end product kasi doon naman tayo nakatuon.”

Yet the viewers were not the only ones who learned from the film. John Lloyd admitted that he has learned a lot from his character Popoy when it comes to relationships.

READ: A second chance for Popoy & Basha

He is currently in a relationship with Kapamilya actress Angelica Panganiban.

“I won’t go to details, that’ll be too personal,” he said. “Honestly after this film talagang mas maganda ang understanding ko about relationships. Dito ‘yon siguro ang biggest take ko, I had some enlightenment sa ilang areas with regards to relationships, ganyan.”

“Totoo naman kasi sa akin ‘yon and every character is a journey for me, every film,” he added.