The daughter of the King of Philippine Movies and newly-minted Kapamilya, Lovi Poe, talks about working with Piolo Pascual, putting a foot in the door of Hollywood, falling in love with L.A., and making a long distance relationship work. Read an excerpt below.
Related: Lovi Poe Is Starring In A 70s Hollywood Film With Alex Pettyfer
In her first acting pursuit for the Kapamilya network, Lovi plays the role of a wife and detective who follows a case that leads her to uncover the past of her husband, played by Piolo Pascual.
“The character is a very loving wife, but also very passionate when it comes to her work. So she actually has this conflict between taking care of her husband, who she will eventually find out is the guy that she’s looking for.”
“This character is new to me. I’ve never done anything close to playing a detective,” Lovi shares.
Being a part of such an epic production as her first for ABS-CBN opened her eyes to a dream coming true.
“I’ve always been a huge fan of Kapamilya shows, and also movies. And, of course, I’m not gonna lie, it’s like, I’ve always wanted to work with someone like Piolo (Pascual) and hopefully do another project with Jericho (Rosales).
“All these little dreams were just dreams, but now it’s finally here. It’s just something that really just magically happens. Yeah…I say this in the present tense because life at ABS CBN has been surprising me in a good way.”
LOVI POE
On her onscreen chemistry with Piolo, Lovi admits that she was also once caught off-guard by his infamous charm.
“When we were on set, oh my gosh, the magic of Piolo! I didn’t expect it…there was one scene we filmed where I was supposed to be scared of him. But then, he was wearing his apron without a shirt underneath. And then he suddenly did this move sakin tapos nasa wall ako ganun. Kitang kita naman sa eyes ko na tuwang tuwa naman ako. So meron kaming behind the scenes na tumatawa kami kasi nga hindi ako mukhangafraid, mukha akong happy,” Lovi giggles like a schoolgirl.
Shirt, ball skirt, clutch bag, black and white polka dot tweed twinset all by CH CAROLINA HERRERA
“And even if he colored his hair, (he colored his hair blonde for the show), I didn’t even notice that it was back to black. I was like “Oh it’s back to black already, he was like yeah, you noticed?” It’s funny yung mga ganung bagay, hindi ko na napapansin when I’m looking into his eyes,” she adds.
“I hope my natural kilig in real life translates on screen. Because there’s something about the Piolo magic. I see it and I feel that when I’m on set. It’s always nice to see someone as accomplished as Piolo and see him eager to learn still. Like the workshop with me, he listens, and he doesn’t have this ego. He is very down to earth. It makes me admire him even more. And makes me think that “Oh, it’s nice to see somebody like that, setting a good example, coming from someone like him.”
LA LA LAND
Another project of Lovi’s in the pipeline is the upcoming film “The Chelsea Cowboy” where she plays 70s British Blues singer, Dana Gillespie. She plays opposite Hollywood stars like Poppy Delevigne and Alex Pettyfer of “Magic Mike” fame. It was a role that she quite literally walked into.
“She (Dana Gillespie) has this whole sensual vibe and I got the role because they saw me as sensual. And I was like, honestly, I don’t see myself as sensual. I don’t understand…I don’t really see it!” Lovi refuses to believe.
“And then if someone say sexy, I get confused! May ganun ako. Like really? Haha! But because of those observations, I was given the opportunity to play this role. And I met her in person! Oh my gosh, she’s an amazing singer. I got to see her on stage,” Lovi talks about the real person behind the role she plays.
“I watched her perform on stage and she was practically singing like it was breathing. You know what I mean? It’s effortless, she is just so good. And I met her in person. To think that she’s British and I’m Filipino. She’s like, “you cast a Filipina to play me, which is kind of amazing.”
“It was super unexpected, something I didn’t even dream about. I was like, “Oh, that won’t happen.” But it did!”
LOVI POE
Yellow laced top with oversized bow, trousers, black and white polka dot tweed twinset all by CH CAROLINA HERRERA
Lovi likens working on a Hollywood set to any set she walks into.
“You know, what’s funny is when I entered the set, I was like, there’s no other way of filming. It’s all the same. Some differences (between a local and international production) are well, the filming locations. We shot Chelsea Cowboy in London in some places that make you feel you’re going back in time. Also, maybe the trailers for artists. But I think I got more excited about the craft table where there’s like chocolates and pastries and a whole table of like snacks. Haha! I’m a big snacker! But it’s the same how we do it, everyone’s just as hard working as we are,” Lovi says.
Read more about how Lovi Poe found love in Los Angeles and her first Hollywood role in MEGA Entertainment’s March 2022 issue available in Readly, Magzter, Press Reader and Zinio
Photography TIMOTHY FERNANDEZ
Styling ADRIANNE CONCEPCION
Makeup MYLAH MORALES
Hair MARIO CENDANA
Shot on location at CH CAROLINA HERRERA BOUTIQUE, RODEO DRIVE, LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA
In the Philippines, CH CAROLINA HERRERA is located at GREENBELT 5
Special thanks to OBEE HAM
