Showbiz Chika

During the story conference for their upcoming movie with Star Cinema, Julia Montes admitted that she’s thrilled to work with Star Magic cutie AJ Perez together with her Mara Clara co-stars Kathryn Bernardo and Albie Casiño. “Si AJ po kasi from Star Magic so nagkaka-work din po sila ni Albie sa ASAP. So okay naman po na naging part siya ng movie kasi siyempre ito din yung chance para makilala din namin siya kasi ASAP lang kami nagkikita. Kami naman nila Kathryn sobrang nagpapasalamat kasi nagbunga po yung hard work ng buong team ng Mara Clara. Although mas malaki yung expectations ng tao kasi movie na yun, may pressure pero mas nangingibabaw yung gratitude and excitement namin,” said the Fil-German actress in an interview with ABS-CBN reporters last March 9.

When asked if she misses her on screen partner John Manalo who won’t be in the movie, Julia explained that it’s the management’s decision to pair her up with other young actors at this point in her career. “Paano ba? Siguro kasi siyempre hindi naman po natin masasabi na lagi kaming magkasama. Kung ano man yung plans ng management, sinusunod lang naman namin dahil siyempre sila ang mas nakakaalam what’s best for us.” Julia also quipped that at least she’d be able to wear high heels this time around. “Hindi, kasi ‘pag nakita mo naman talaga si AJ, matangkad naman po talaga. Wala naman po ako anything against kay John. And sa Mara Clara flats lang po [talaga ang suot ko] kasi young pa rin ang role.”

Julia further shared that she’s really happy with the success of her current teleserye even though she gets a lot of negative feedback from fans because of her kontrabida role. “I don’t take it in a negative way. Kasi kapag ganon sila, hindi naman sila nananakit. Sinasabi lang nila, ‘Grabe super affected ako sa pagiging kontrabida mo. Naiinis ako sa’ yo. As in gusto ko suntukin yung TV.’ Pero one time, nasa UP kaming magkakaibigan, bumibili kami ng isaw dun, tapos may bata, maliit lang siya, hinila lang niya ng konti yung damit ko, tapos sabi niya, ‘Bakit mo naman inaaway si Mara?’ Tapos parang ako, hala! Bata pa siya ganon na siya mag-react. So sabi ko sa bata, ‘Ay, mabait ako sa totoo! Si ate Julia na ako, hindi na ako si Clara, sa TV lang yun,’” she said in between laughs.

Since she’s also active on Twitter, Julia added that some of Kathryn’s fans would post hate tweets against her, but most of the comments are related to the show and not to her as a person. In fact, Julia has more followers than Kathryn to date, and a lot of them either want to send her gifts or to personally meet her. “Yung ibang supporters ni Mara na nagagalit kay Clara [minsan nang-aaway sa Twitter]. Pero ang advantage naman nun pwede kami mag-thank you sa patuloy nilang pagsuporta sa show. Yun ang way namin na makausap sila kasi hindi naman lahat mae-encounter namin.”

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