Villegas weighs in on JaDine’s alleged unprofessionalism

Nadine Lustre (left) and James Reid

It’s all about getting her groove back.

This was according to writer-director Dan Villegas, whom movie scribes recently interviewed in relation to his girlfriend and collaborator Antoinette Jadaone’s controversial blog post.

On her blog, Jadaone vented out her frustrations over the delay in the production of an unnamed movie. However, it had been announced recently that Jadaone would be at the helm of the romantic film “Never Not Love You,” starring James Reid and Nadine Lustre.

“I understand her because I’m also a director. Delays make you lose your momentum,” explained Villegas during the media gathering for his latest project, the film adaptation of the musical “Changing Partners,” which hits cinemas nationwide on Jan. 31.

“It always feels like we’re groping in the dark during the first few shooting days, in terms of how to work well with the staff, crew and the actors. Then, you start to get the hang of it,” Villegas explained.

He added: “That’s when the brilliance of the production team comes out … If you suddenly stop production, that magic will disappear.”

Dan Villegas

Villegas said there had already been four or five instances when the movie’s shoot was packed up. He even wrote down those instances in his log book.

“Tonette is a very emotional person. That was what she felt at that moment, so that was what she posted. Some people are overthinking things,” defended Villegas. “If that happened to my movie, I’d be irritated, too.”

Lustre’s failing health was among the reasons for the delay, Villegas reported.

Shortly after Jadaone uploaded her blog entry, Lustre posted on her Instagram account a spinal X-ray image captioned: “Diarrhea, fever, severe back pain since Friday. That’s all you need to know.”
Instead of issuing a statement, Viva Entertainment, her talent management, opted to repost Lustre’s photo with the caption: “Loud and clear. Get well soon, Nadine.”

“There were other reasons,” Villegas added. “One was the scheduling conflicts; another problem was about the location.”

What about the rumor that Reid got so drunk the night before the shoot that he failed to make it the following day?
“I refuse to judge anyone, not just the actors, but also the members of the production staff. I don’t care about your life outside work. I don’t mind if you partied the night before. What’s important to me is that you show up the next day and you deliver,” declared Villegas.

The director was then asked to comment on JaDine’s alleged lack of professionalism. “I want to be fair to all the people involved. I’ve worked with them (JaDine) before, whenever I’d pinch-hit for Tonette on the set of ‘On the Wings of Love,’” he pointed out. “I know them to be kind and responsible. It’s normal for actors to get negative publicity at some point in their careers, so it depends on one’s experience with them.”

“Changing Partners,” based on a stage musical, features actors Agot Isidro, Anna Luna, Sandino Martin and Jojit Lorenzo.