Bela Padilla on ‘relearning life’ abroad, finding love like in her movie
MANILA, Philippines — Bela Padilla recently shared her movie-like love story.
In a media interview, the 32-year-old actress and filmmaker recalled to The STAR her meet-cute moment with her Swiss-Italian boyfriend Norman Bay, which seemed like a scene lifted from her 2018 film with Carlo Aquino, Meet Me in St. Gallen.
“Actually, I met Norman while shooting Meet Me in St. Gallen. I met him in St. Gallen. Life imitates art for me,” Bela shared.
“He saw me shooting. Iisa lang kasi ang kainan sa St. Gallen ng gabi. It was our last shooting day, we wanted to drink and eat after, so the whole time, it was like a goodbye party, kasi may uuwi na ng Manila, ako papunta Italy, kanya-kanyang pasyal na kami.
“Sila naman (Norman’s group), kakatapos lang… he was taking up his Masters in St. Gallen at that time. He and his friends wanted to eat after also, so we all ended up in the same restaurant.”
“Very random,” she looked back on their meeting. “Nagkatotoo nga yung Meet Me in St. Gallen.”
Bela doesn’t usually talk much about her relationship. She shares bits and pieces on social media about him online since publicly introducing via an Instagram post in 2020.
“I feel like I’m not public about it. Sometimes, I get guilty because I feel like I’m not posting about him enough. Because he’s a very private person, he’s not an actor, he doesn’t do the same thing as I do. I think I’m just more conscious of what I post,” she explained.
But Norman is very much involved in her life and in what she’s doing nowadays, including her startup AndRoll that enables fans to be involved in the production of films and TV series. “We’re actually ready to launch anytime soon. My boyfriend is one of my partners in that (platform). He helped in the tech side. I’m just waiting for the right project, the right film to align with it.”
She added that he “definitely” supports her acting career. “When I went to Cannes last (May), he even accompanied me for the first few days. Because he’s very interested. He’s also a film buff like me, he enjoys watching movies.”
When Bela was shooting 366 and Yung Libro sa Napanood Ko, all the rushes he was the first to watch. He got the first dibs even though “hindi pa edited (or) wala pang story.”
“He’s actually a good critic because (again) he’s a film buff. He has references that actually matter or that I want to hear,” she said.
Contrary to speculation, Bela didn’t move to London to be closer to her boyfriend. She honestly said she made the decision to leave the country when ABS-CBN was closed down. She was so affected over her former home network being denied its broadcast franchise in 2020.
She lives alone in London while her boyfriend is based in Switzerland. Her choice to live in the UK is for the simple reason that she has British citizenship (through her father).
On having an LDR (long-distance relationship), she said, “It’s OK. Maybe because we have been on LDR for the longest time. It’s easier now… to go to him, it’s like I’m traveling to Cebu. I can even take the train to Switzerland.”
But she’s not thinking of settling down yet. “Probably not anytime soon because this is all new to me. I feel like I’m young again and I feel like I’m 17 again, so I got another chance at life, basically, that’s how I see what I’m doing right now. I feel young and I want to savor every moment first.”
Bela has been savoring the moment by documenting her life in London. “Actually, more than keeping people updated, I’m trying to record my journey. I feel like this is something I would look back on. Obviously, I’m still trying to figure out what I’m going to do next. Even if I’m finishing my films here, I don’t know yet as a person what I want next. So, I wanna look back at these days and think, you know, I got through it.”
She continued, “Life is made up of highs and lows. So right now, I’m in the middle, stagnant state — in my personal opinion — in the UK. I wanna look back at it and say, ‘OK, I got through it.’”
Bela doesn’t work in the UK. “I write my scripts in the UK, so when I finish something, I bring it back here. I’m always asked to come home if there’s a movie that I need to film. When I’m there, I really just chill and relax.
“I’m making friends there, I’m relearning everything because, of course, I grew up in the Philippines, so I feel safe here… In the UK, it’s all very different. I’m kinda relearning life again. I feel like a kid again when I’m there.
“As a creative, you have to experience the world. You need experiences to incorporate into your stories, and as a storyteller, by exposing myself to the world, I feel like nagkaroon ako ng courage konti.”
Bela cannot say with finality that her future home is in the UK. “I always say, ‘I’m here for now.’ So, wherever I am, I am here for now. Like right now, I’m in Manila, I’m living in the moment because that’s something I learned during the pandemic, it’s such a cliche but tomorrow really is not promised,” she reflected.
“We all went through something during the pandemic, whether it’s a loss or rejection. Loss in so many forms — jobs, family members, experiences, time — so I don’t want to fixate right now on where I’ll be tomorrow or next week or next month. If I’m in Manila right now, I’m fully in Manila right now.”
One of the reasons she came home to Manila was for an endorsement deal with Dear Face, a skincare company recently awarded with a Super Brand status. The actress is specifically endorsing the brand’s Tiktok-trending Beauty Milk, a powdered collagen drink that comes in five flavors: Premium Japanese Mango, Premium Japanese Strawberry, Premium Japanese Lychee, Premium Japanese Banana, and Premium Japanese Melon.
“I’m super happy because everyone in the team was so nice and I met their CEO, Ms. Jonah (Sison-Ramos) and she’s the nicest lady. I love what they’re doing. I guess, all these beauty brands and skincare lines, booming online, on TikTok, I love what they’re doing because they control their narrative, they define how successful they’re gonna be,” Bea said of Jonah, who was recently awarded Top 2 content creator at the TikTok Shop’s Creator Awards Night last month.
“And I feel like, this 2023, we should do that. That’s been what I’ve been advocating for so long. If you wanna write a script, write a script. If you wanna direct a film, direct a film. I feel like our values are so aligned and so parallel so I’m happy that they tapped me.”
Things related to health, wellness and beauty are stuff she’s genuinely interested in, especially with her current conditions like PCOS and hypothyroidism.
For her, the products she’s endorsing don’t get in her way in dealing with these health issues, saying, “All of them can help. In fact, Dear Face has one specific flavor, the banana one, which is really good for your digestive system and all our problems start with the gut so healing your digestive system heals the rest of your body. So I’m happy that they have that variant.”
Asked more for her beauty tips, she said, “Be conscious of everything you do. This is a personal prerogative. Some people live a carefree life and it may really seem that I’m also living a carefree life because I travel a lot and to an extent, I enjoy my life. But I’m very mindful of what I do — what I intake, what I speak out, what I do as a person.”
Besides endorsements, Bela is home finishing another film with favorite leading man and frequent collaborator JC Santos. She’s also developing a story with Adolf Alix Jr. for possible submission to international film festivals.
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