Liza Soberano, Enrique Gil almost starred in ‘Hello, Love, Goodbye,’ Olivia Lamasan reveals
Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil, Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards in the trailer for “Hello, Love, Goodbye.” Image: Instagram/@lizasoberano, screengrab from YouTube/ABS-CBN Star Cinema
Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil, known as the love team LizQuen, were supposed to lead the cast of the hit film “Hello, Love, Goodbye” instead of Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards, Olivia Lamasan revealed.
The filmmaker, who was among the producers of “Hello, Love, Goodbye,” recalled how the actors almost starred in the 2019 movie, in an interview with Toni Gonzaga for the TV host’s YouTube vlog today, Oct. 17.
“Originally LizQuen ‘yan eh (Originally it was supposed to star LizQuen). LizQuen, then it became Kathryn-DJ, and then Kathryn-Alden,” she said. DJ refers to Bernardo’s on- and off-screen partner Daniel Padilla.
According to Lamasan, Soberano was unable to join “Hello, Love, Goodbye” because she was working on the ABS-CBN adaptation of the superhero comic book series Darna. The actress eventually left the Darna project in 2019 due to a finger injury.
Lamasan narrated the meeting she had with fellow creatives when she thought of bringing a new overseas Filipino worker (OFW) story to Star Cinema.
“Liza was doing Darna at the time so I gathered the creatives, ‘Sige isip-isip tayo (Okay, let’s think),'” Lamasan recalled telling the team. “Patayo na ako and biglang: What’s our next ‘Milan’? What’s our next ‘Anak’? What’s our next OFW story?” (I was about to stand up and suddenly [I thought]: What’s our next “Milan”? What’s our next “Anak”? What’s our next OFW story?)
“Hello, Love, Goodbye” is the first collaboration of Bernardo and Richards, who belong to rival networks ABS-CBN and GMA.
The film follows the story of domestic helper Joy (Bernardo) and bartender Ethan (Richards), both working in Hong Kong. The two fall in love with each other despite having different plans for their future.
“Hello, Love, Goodbye” was directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina. It earned a worldwide gross of over P880 million, making it the highest-grossing Filipino film of all time in 2019. JB
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