‘PBB’ housemates bent to give viewers a summer to remember
MANILA, Philippines — From doing various tasks in the “Pinoy Big Brother” (PBB) house, the first-ever collab edition celebrity housemates come together for “The Secrets of Hotel 88.” They are Mika Salamanca, Brent Manalo, AZ Martinez, Ralph De Leon, River Joseph, Klarisse De Guzman, Esnyr Ranollo, Xyriel Manabat, Josh Ford, Kira Balinger, Dustin Yu, Bianca De Vera and Will Ashley.
Described by its creators as “genre-bending,” the primetime series will see the housemates play characters thrust into a situation where “unresolved conflicts” will be faced head-on and “long-buried secrets” are about to surface, according to information given to this paper.
“Oo, lahat (yes, all of them) — whether it’s personal or whether it’s a big plot twist — may mga sekreto ang bawat character (each of them has a secret),” said director Henry King Quitain about the story device that will drive the plot and reveal the characters’ identity and true colors in a recent press conference.
With that, the housemates are bent on offering something familiar yet new in the series, where GMA Network and ABS-CBN collaborate. It is produced by Star Creatives.
“Sa akin, sila ang magpapaiba talaga sa primetime viewing habit ng mga viewers natin (for me, they’re the ones who will change the viewers’ primetime viewing habit),” shared he. “It’s a mixed genre. Hindi lang siya thriller, hindi lang siya mystery-suspense (it’s not just a thriller or a mystery-suspense). There’s romance, there’s family drama. There are intense confrontations. Sa akin, sila ang magbibigay ibang bihis sa primetime kasi ‘pag napanood nyo sila, ibang-iba sila dun sa napanood natin sa ‘PBB.’”
Star Creatives business head Des de Guzman added that “it’s (a) genre-bending of family drama, a lot more romance and suspense thriller and a bit of action.”
As for how it came to be, she said that coming up with the cast came first before the story. Des and fellow creatives were tasked and tapped “to do a series” for the “PBB” collab housemates. Even if these celebrities are familiar with the entertainment industry and the acting craft, they also had to do the usual preparation for the project.
“Before the show started, we all went through workshops with an acting coach. Ayun, we did it for a few weeks, right before going in (like) getting into the character and building chemistry,” recalled River. “Yung chemistry parang nandun na, eh. We already had the chemistry because of ‘PBB.’ So, going into the set, it was much easier.”
Bianca and Brent appreciated the creative and safety processes, such as in doing a stunt. They had to learn the right form and the proper execution of it.
The artists were well taken care of. It’s always safety first.
As shown in the trailer, Brent and Dustin had valley side-slope and speedboat scenes, respectively.
“Actually, ma-su-surprise ka (one will be surprised),” said direk Henry of the kind of work the housemates have shown in it. “They really worked hard for it. Nag-workshop talaga sila. Pinagaralan nila talaga yung characters (they really attended a workshop and studied the characters). So, magugulat ka na (you’ll be surprised that) they’re really serious about their craft… Sobra akong amazed sa binigay nilang talento dito (I’m amazed by the talent they’ve displayed here).”
Creative manager Jay Fernando, on the other hand, said that the primetime series was not inspired by true events, but it came from the idea of giving “the audience a summer to remember. So, in terms of, like, di ba? when you go to a movie, a summer movie, di ba?, it’s always like an adventure, may konting habulan, may konting takutan (there’s a bit of a chase and scare). It bonds us as a barkada. It bonds us as a family, and when we were thinking of ‘PBB,’ the cast, we want(ed) to give them a ride, a good ride, apart from, of course, a family drama or a love story.”
The people behind it were very careful in the crafting of the characters, shared he, “that would suit each and every member of the household. So, when you see them, it’s not like a barkada, it’s like a family, and we want to give all of them the right character.”
Please watch the premiere of “The Secrets of Hotel 88” on March 2 at 9:35 p.m. on GMA, while an early debut comes Feb. 23 on iWant.
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