Vhong Navarro and Toni Gonzaga will be seen on the big
screen once again for their upcoming movie, My Only U, which will have
its premiere night today, October 28, at SM Megamall. This Star Cinema movie
directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina will open in theaters nationwide starting
tomorrow, October 29.
In the first press conference for the movie, the two lead stars discussed how they missed each other when they were still working on their first movie, D'Anothers, and the Studio 23 show Wazzup Wazzup.
"Namiss ko talaga si Toni kasi nung Wazzup, three years ko siyang everyday na kasama. Ngayon, nagkikita na lang kami ‘pag ASAP [every Sunday]. Halos first movie ni Toni yung D'Anothers at pangatlo niya ito with Direk Cathy. Ang laki ng pinagbago niya pagdating sa acting, nakakadala. Hindi si Toni ang nakikita mo, yung character talaga," narrates Vhong.
The female TV host-actress also says that she missed her former co-host. Namiss ko talaga ang company ni Vhong, since everyday kami magkasama dati, na-realize ko na nakaka-miss na nandun si Vhong anytime na pwede mong kalabitin at sabihan mo ng worries mo."
Both stars have a makeover in this movie since Vhong gets a flat hairdo while Toni sports short hair in My Only U. The dancer-actor reveals that Direk Cathy used the late matinee idol Rico Yan as the peg for Vhong's character. This was her way of paying tribute to Rico since she was the assistant director when Rico and Claudine Barretto starred in Got 2 Believe (2002).
"Dito po sa movie, kailangan po pa-gwapo yung itsura ko," describes Vhong. He also pointed out: "Ako po talaga, first time kong gumanap ng tao sa movie, hindi ako caricature, wala akong prosthetics. Dito po, totoong tao na pinapakita yung totoong emotions sa bawat eksena."
Why did it take so long for them to be paired again on the big screen? "After D'Anothers, natigil po ang love team namin ni Toni kasi nag-upgrade siya. Napunta na siya kay Sam Milby at Zanjoe Marudo [for the movie You Got Me]," Vhong says with a laugh. "Hindi lang po talaga nagtugma sa schedule namin kasi at that time, nag-Pinoy Big Brother si Toni, nag Crazy for You (2006), nag-Latikman po ako kaya after three years lang kami nabalik uli."
Since My Only U is also a romantic comedy, Toni
points out that she is pressured to differentiate her performance from her
other movies in the past.
"Yung role ko dito, very simple lang pero challenging pa rin...tulad rin siya sa mga films na nagawa ko noon na romantic comedy yung genre. So, ang challenge sa aming dalawa ni Direk Cathy ay kung paano namin maiiba yung nakasanayan na nilang character na ginagampanan ko sa pelikula."
In My Only U, Toni plays the character of Winona, a young girl who is fated to die at a young age. Vhong is cast as a landlord named Bong, her next-door neighbor who is always looking out for her safety since he is secretly in love with her. As next-door neighbors, they exchange written messages that allow them to develop a much-closer bond.
This movie also shows the comic skills of the two stars, especially when it comes to adlib jokes. In one scene, the characters of Toni and Vhong ask each other to identify what their hand signals mean. Direk Cathy reveals that Toni herself came up with the punchline of the joke, which later on became part of the trailer of the movie. She narrated: "Ang sinabi ko lang kay Toni, ito [one finger moving in front of the person] ‘superman' [then four fingers moving in the opposite direction] tapos ito ‘super friends.' Si Toni na ang nagdagdag ng ‘kamay' [for the five fingers moving together].Watch Toni Gonzaga and Vhong Navarro reunite in My Only U when it opens in cinemas nationwide starting tomorrow, October 29.
Trailer courtesy of Star Cinema