Jasmine Curtis-Smith’s big bro now her lover on-screen

JASMINE Curtis-Smith INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

No, it was not “strange” at all.

TV5 actress Jasmine Curtis-Smith asserted that she didn’t feel ill at ease being paired with Richard Gutierrez in Carlo J. Caparas’ fantasy series, “Panday.”

To backtrack a bit: Richard was involved with Jasmine’s older sister Anne Curtis ages ago.

People merely jumped to conclusions, she explained. “They kept saying it was weird, so I ended up imbibing it and thinking the same thing,” Jasmine responded to the Inquirer’s question. “But there was really nothing to feel awkward about.”

Tapings are going smoothly, she related. “It’s fun. Richard is ma-chika (chatty). Between takes, we talk about the TV shows that we enjoy. I recently introduced him to ‘Orphan Black.’ That is how we build rapport on the set.”

They also joke about their common history. “I once teased him that I was only 4 years old when I met him,” she recalled. “He countered that he was 15 then.”

For the record, she clarified that she was 9 when Richard and Anne were a couple. Needless to say, Jasmine never imagined that her sister’s ex-beau would one day be her onscreen lover.

Quite adamantly, she insisted that she never found him attractive back then. Richard was definitely not her childhood crush.

“I was a baby then,” she exclaimed. “For me, it’s automatic… I will never look at my sister’s boyfriend that way. At the time, I treated Richard as a kuya (big brother).” To have the “feels” for Richard, she gasped, would be “incestuous.”

In any case, Jasmine volunteered that her current love life is “happy.”

She’d rather not “compare” this present relationship with previous involvements, specifically with actor-singer Sam Concepcion, which can only be described as stormy, to say the least. (There were reports that Anne didn’t approve of Sam.)

“Every step I took has brought me to where I am now,” she turned introspective. “I am still growing up. Whatever I learned from the past, I use it in the present.”

She told the Inquirer that she is currently dating a non-show biz guy who has show biz connections. The rumor mill has identified the “constant date” as Jeff Ortega and “he is related to Coleen Garcia,” Jasmine noted.

Another persistent question is whether Jeff has gained Anne’s stamp of approval. A photo of Anne dining with Jasmine and Jeff has cropped up in cyberspace.

“Just because we have a photo together doesn’t mean he’s already off the hook,” Jasmine quipped, quick on the draw. “He is still ‘under observation.’ My parents and sister will always look out for me.”

It seems that Jasmine can very well take care of herself, though.

In “Panday,” she was tasked to learn arnis, muay Thai, jujitsu, wing chun. “On my first day, I had to do a fight scene. It’s a new challenge for me. Good thing, I enjoy mixed martial arts,” recounted Jasmine, who now sports a chestnut tan that’s courtesy of “a Davao trip.”

Apart from “Panday,” Jasmine is also working on “Forever Sucks,” a web series from D5 Studio Originals (the online arm of TV5).

In “Forever Sucks,” which combines such youthful genres as horror and romantic comedy, she plays a vampire who works in a call center’s graveyard shift. “It’s awesome to be part of a pioneering show,” she said.