Alden Richards willing to take a bullet for Julia Montes, filmmaker Irene Villamor

(From left) Irene Villamor, Alden Richards, Julia Montes. Images: Instagram/@cornerstone

In a short span of time that Alden Richards spent with actress Julia Montes and director Irene Villamor during the filming of “Five Break-ups and a Romance,” the Kapuso actor has grown closer to his leading lady and their director that he is willing to take a bullet for them, so to speak.

Richards was emotional as he expressed how working on his upcoming film with Montes and Villamor “made [them] stronger” during the press conference for “Five Break-ups and Romance, as he admitted that they weren’t “good in a good place” when they started filming.

“Sasalo ako ng bala para sa dalawang ‘to eh (I’m willing to take a bullet for them),” he said, referring to Montes and Villamor as he wiped his tears. “We were not in a good place in our lives when we started filming. But Direk (Villamor), you have done something in our lives [with this story] that changed us and made us stronger.”

The actor admitted that he was going through something “personal” while working on the movie — wherein Montes and Villamor made him feel he’s not alone.

“This made an impact in my life… I don’t want to go into details but it’s very personal,” he said.

“But all I can share is how much good ‘yung nagawa ng paggawa ng ‘Five Break-ups And A Romance’ sa buhay ko during that time. Alam ni Direk yon, alam ni [Julia] ‘yun. Na-kuwento ko sa kanila ‘yun and sometimes you think you’re strong. Minsan, iisipin mo na okay lang ako mag-isa. Kaya kong mag-isa pero hindi pala,” he continued. (Direk and Julia know how much of an impact ‘Five Break-ups and a Romance’ made on me. I told them about it, and sometimes you think you are strong, but turns out you are not. Sometimes, you’d think that I’m good being alone, that I can handle things by myself, but that’s not the case at all.)

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For her part, Montes considered the Kapuso star as a “really generous and talented” leading man.

“He really proved to me na he’s really generous, talented, and I’ll take this opportunity to say na super proud ako of him. Big part siya nito eh. This film is really special to me and this group really made an impact sa akin,” she said, as she started to cry as well.

(He really proved to me that he’s really generous, talented, and I’ll take this opportunity to say that I’m super proud of him. He has a big part in this. This film is really special to me and this group really made an impact on me.)

The “Asintado” star admitted that there are “no words” to express how grateful she is to be part of the movie, saying Richards and Villamor’s friendship helped her in overcoming her “self-doubt.”

“There are no words to describe gaano ako ka-blessed and how much this made an impact sa’kin. In God’s time, bibigyan ka niya ng project na maha-happy ka sa soul mo at ito ‘yun [para sa’kin],” she said. “Siguro po kasi, meron akong mahiyain side and sobrang taas ng self doubt ko. [Pero] these two wonderful people made me realize that I can do it. Sila ang nag-tiwala sa’kin. If they wanna jump, I will jump with them.”

(There are no words to describe how blessed I am and how much this made an impact on me. In God’s time, he would give us projects that would make our souls happy, and this is the one for me. Maybe because I’m very shy and I have so much self-doubt. But these two wonderful people made me realize that I can do it. They believe in me. If they wanna jump, I will jump with them.)

The upcoming romance film tells the story of Lance (Alden Richards) and Justine (Julia Montes) who begin a relationship in Singapore, and are faced with the complications of love when they return to the Philippines. EDV