Tommy Esguerra and Miho Nishida (a.k.a. ToMiho) admittedly felt self-conscious upon seeing a sneak peek of their first onscreen kiss via Ipaglaban Mo.
Miho, who kept covering her face, shyly exclaimed: “Nung nakita namin kanina, tapos paulit-ulit [plinay]. Ahhh!”
For his part, Tommy interjected, “She looks beautiful in the kissing scene. I don’t like how I look.”
The Fil-Am hunk noted that he wanted to look manly while kissing Miho.
Miho sweetly told him, “No. Cute ka baby!”
ON AND OFF SCREEN CHEMISTRY. Asked about how it feels to do a kissing scene, the Fil-Japanese beauty shared that it’s a good thing that she and Tommy are real-life sweethearts.
“Kapag ganyang mga love scene, kissing scene, super nakaka-positive kasi siyempre wala ka nang iisipin kasi sanay ka na, e.
“Pero siyempre, kunwari, ‘pag iisipin mo, ‘pag ibang tao ‘yan siguro iisipin ko na lang siya para magawa ko yun.”
Even though they are showbiz newbies, Tommy added that the two of them are ready to take on the challenges that will come their way.
“If you’re a weak couple, obviously you guys can't hold up to the possible stress and challenges that arise from working together, right?
“But I think were a strong couple, so it’s an advantage.”
To recall, Tommy and Miho first met during their stint as Pinoy Big Brother 737 housemates last year.
The said ABS-CBN reality show also served as the launching pad of their showbiz career.
Since then, their major acting stint was their portrayal of their true-to-life love story in an episode of Maalaala Mo Kaya.
IPAGLABAN MO'S "PANGAKO" EPISODE. For Ipaglaban Mo’s October 1 episode, Tommy and Miho will portray the story of two people who find love amid difficult circumstances.
Miho plays the role of Bessy, a waitress who falls in love with an American soldier named Jeremy (played by Clint Bondad). Jeremy eventually gets Bessy pregnant, and then leaves her to raise their child on her own.
Tommy is cast as Matthew, whose family owns the restaurant where Bessy works.
Unbeknownst to Bessy, Matthew has been secretly in love with her from the start.
Speaking about taping the said episode, Miho said her character was actually required to do a lot of crying scenes.
She revealed, “First time po naming magtaping sa Ipaglaban Mo.
“Nahirapan po ako sa role ko because siyempre hindi mo naman ito buhay, e. Siyempre iisipin mo kung paano mo ia-arte.
“So, siyempre marami akong natutunan. Pero nahirapan ako. Yun ang totoo.”
She pointed out that it helps that she happens to be a single mother in real life.
“Humuhugot ako sa nangyari sa akin sa totoong buhay. Yung nangyari sa akin sa nakaraan.
“Kapag hindi ko na alam yung huhugutin ko, nakikihingi ako sa mga acting coach. Kay Direk Lyan [Suiza]. Tinutulungan naman po nila ako na humugot sa kalungkutan.”
As for Tommy’s acting experience, he admitted that he still has trouble delivering lines in Filipino.
“To be honest, I’ve been fairly lazy about learning Tagalog. I’m not proud of it. I'm not happy about it. But, that’s something I’m trying to focus on more now.”
He further shared that his grasp of the Filipino language is only “20 percent.”
“I’ve got teachers and classes. But it’s hard to make it to class because of work.
“So, I feel like the best way is to have a tutor that can work around my schedule.”