Bea Alonzo’s manager fumes over flawed costume, ‘1521’ production designer’s ‘incompetence’

Bea Alonzo. Image: Screengrab from YouTube/1521 Movie Official

It was a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen, Shirley Kuan, manager of Kapuso actress Bea Alonzo said of the costume prepared by the production team behind the period movie “1521: The Quest for Love and Freedom,” for which she was accused of having “unreasonable demands.”

In an interview by the Philippine Entertainment Portal and uploaded on its YouTube channel last Saturday, Oct. 7, a fuming Kuan came to Alonzo’s defense, at the same time turning the tables on the film’s production team for supposedly turning the actress’ costume into an “X-deal” with its chosen designer.

The veteran talent manager said Alonzo was in no way unreasonable and was even willing to cover the extra production costs entailed by her desire to have a “safe” costume in time for filming, and not just for her own comfort. In fact, she said, there was not even a pre-production meeting where the parties could have discussed basic matters pertaining to the film, including Alonzo’s supposedly ill-fitting costume.

She said production designer Francisco “Nono” Nebres only sent photos of the flawed costume design just days before Alonzo was supposed to fly to Palawan for the shooting on August 1. This prompted her team to request that the costume be flown to Manila for fitting.

“Kung hindi pa kami nag-request, hindi sila magpapadala. July 26, ‘yung designer na taga-Bicol na pangalan ay Wency, [the costume] was delivered to Bea’s house… The moment she got home, she fitted it. Hindi kasya. Maraming diperensya,” said Kuan.

(If we didn’t request it, they wouldn’t send the photos. July 26, the designer from Bicol who goes by the name Wency sent the costume to Bea’s house… The moment she got home, she fitted it. It doesn’t fit. It had a lot of flaws.)

“July 28, we requested a Zoom meeting. We need to fix everything because there was no pre-prod. Paalis na kami (to go to the shooting in Palawan)… It was our initiative. Pinakita namin sa Zoom. Ire-repair yung costume dun nalang daw sa Palawan. E kelan pa irerepair yon, e shooting na pagdating nya (We showed them the ill-fitting costume on Zoom. They said it will just be repaired in Palawan. But when will it be repaired? She will start shooting when she arrives)?” she added.

Kuan pointed out that given the time constraints, Alonzo’s team decided to have the bra-type warrior costume flown in to Manila so she could have it repaired and for duplicates to be made since the actress would be using it all day long for the duration of the lock-in taping — which was another bone to pick with Nebres, as far as she is concerned

“Standard, especially this is a costume, diba dapat may duplicate na two or three? Walang duplicate. What are we supposed to do? Si Bea, siya ang gumastos lahat. Pinatawag ang stylist from Bicol, siya gumawa ng original but did not fit Bea. It was a bra-type, so we need to make sure she’s covered and there’s no wardrobe malfunction,” she said.

“Is that unreasonable? And we did not demand! We told them, what are we supposed to do? Kami na ang gagawa ng paraan to protect Bea. Hindi namin trabaho yan, pero ginawa namin. Sige nalang, let’s be a team player. And topmost reason is to protect Bea. I don’t want her to have a wardrobe malfunction in front of everybody during the shoot. Is that unreasonable?” she further said.

The manager said the production agreed to have it custom-fitted on the condition that this would be at no cost to them even though it was their supposed lack of foresight that caused the hitch.

“Pumayag sila, kase di namin sila sisingilin. We will just take care of it, kasalanan nila e (They agreed because it won’t cost them. We will just take care of it, it’s their fault),” she further said.

Bea Alonzo with Hector Davod Jr. and other co-stars in “1521”. Image from Instagram / @hecdavidjr

Kuan said she had pictures of Alonzo when she tried on the original design, which she claimed was so unfitting it shouldn’t even be shown publicly in order to protect the actress’ privacy. However, describing the costume, she said it showed the backside, while it sagged at the sides.

“Nakikita ‘yung likod ni Bea, nakikita ‘yun side niya. Hindi mataas ‘yung zipper (Bea’s back can be seen. Her sides can be seen. The zipper can’t be raised),” she said.

Kuan also pointed out that in the first place, production costumes shouldn’t have been made into an “X-deal,” as it might compromise the integrity of the design.

“Naturingang X-deal [ang wardrobe]? Jusko, maski production naman dito, hindi mage-X deal ng wardrobe at ng costume. Period [movie] ‘yan eh (The wardrobe was turned into an x-deal? Production teams don’t treat an artist’s wardrobe and costume as an x-deal. It’s a period movie). Is that our responsibility?” she continued.

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Reimbursements

The talent manager also pointed out that Alonzo’s team was informed by Wency that the costumes were supposed to be an “X-deal” with the producers on the promise that it would “give him a break.” As a result, the actress opted to reimburse the designer out of genuine concern.

“We were told, ‘Hindi ko po magawa [‘yung repairs] kasi X-deal po ‘yan,’ that is gonna give him a break. Bea is going to wear his creations, right? Wala naman akong issue diyan,” she said. However, this meant that the poor designer had to fork out money for the fabric, that set him back a total of P8,500.

(We were told, “I couldn’t do the repairs,” because it’s an x-deal, this is going to give him a break. Bea is going to wear his creations, right? I had no issue with that.)

“Sabi ni Bea, ‘paki-reimburse mo na.’ Out of her own pocket. Naawa si Bea. ‘Please reimburse the kid.’ Kasi ginawang X-deal ang costume. Hindi kayang gawin ni Bea ‘yun. Siningil ba namin ‘yung producer? Hindi. Ni hindi nga namin sinabi na gan’un ang ginawa namin,” she continued.

(Bea told her staff to reimburse him, out of her own pocket. Bea felt pity for the designer. “Please reimburse the kid,” she said, because the costume was turned into an X-deal. Bea couldn’t do that. Did we demand money from the producer? We didn’t even inform them we did that.)

Bea Alonzo. Image: screengrab from Facebook/1521 The Movie

Kuan asserted that the claims made by “1521’s” production team were meant to paint Alonzo in a “negative light,” while noting that they have “all proof” of their past meetings, costume sketches, and timelines involving the film.

“[This is] for her safety and security. Pinapalabas niyang maarte si Bea! Bakit? Kasi incompetent siya (Nebres), hindi niya ginawa trabaho niya! Harapin niya ko (They made Bea out to be a prima donna. Why? Because they’re incompetent, they’re not doing their job. Face me instead),” she said. EDV