MANILA, Philippines — After almost 13 years of doing projects with mostly GMA Network, film legend Nova Villa has returned to ABS-CBN.
Nova’s first Kapamilya series after 13 years is “Can’t Buy Me Love,” top-billed by so-called “New Gen” love team Donny Pangilinan and Belle Mariano and directed by Mae Cruz Alviar. The series is set to premiere on Netflix on October 13, 72 hours ahead of free TV and 24 hours before it’s shown on pay TV.
At the press conference early this week for “Can’t Buy Me Love,” Nova walked the red carpet along with her fellow co-stars.
She thanked ABS-CBN for welcoming her back.
“Talaga hong iba ang feeling kasi 36 years ako sa ABS-CBN when I transferred to other station and then, nandito po akong muli…” began Nova, who first rose to fame via the ABS-CBN sitcom “Chicks to Chicks” from 1971 to 1991, followed by “Home Along Da Riles” opposite the “King of Comedy” Dolphy from 1992 to 2003.
Her last project with ABS-CBN was the comedy drama series “Kokey at Ako” in 2010, before she briefly moved to TV5 and stayed with GMA from 2011 to 2023, where among her most notable programs is with the Michael V-starrer “Pepito Manaloto.” Her last project with GMA so far was the TV drama series “AraBella.”
Nova is so pleased with her first comeback role with ABS-CBN, as the grandmother of the leading man Donny.
“Napakaganda ng role na ibinigay nila sa akin and I’m trying my best talaga na magampanan ko nang mahusay at napakaganda po ng role na ‘yon sapagkat mga bida po ang mga kasama ko at ako ang kanilang lola – typical Filipino lola na nagmamahal sa kanyang mga apo.”
According to her, she loves how ABS-CBN takes care of her – from the crew to her co-stars, everyone, she said, have always been warm, caring and attentive to the 77-year-old actress’ needs.
Apart from several Best Actress awards, Nova was honored with a Star Awards’ Ading Fernando Lifetime Achievement Award. — Video by Deni Bernardo