On January 13, actress Bela Padilla and film director Jalz Zarate discuss the three-year process of making ‘Spellbound.’
At the media conference for the upcoming Viva Films adaptation ‘Spellbound’, which LionhearTV covered, Zarate detailed the challenges and scheduling changes they had while filming because of the pandemic.
Padilla shared, “Actually, the film took almost three years to complete. So, lots of zoom, lots of meetings, and then–well ‘yun nga, they’re [very/ easy] to work with number one, very professional, the set was [very/ easy] lang, it was a happy set, and I wish I can work with them again–given [a] chance.”
She added that they began filming for the film in January 2020, smack in the middle of the Taal volcano’s eruption. The actress said she enjoyed working despite it being challenging. This is because they shot the movie when the Taal volcano erupted and it was also at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Padilla narrated that everyone was wearing a face mask on the first day of filming; to her, that was starting the movie with a “bang”.
She then explained how the pandemic affected their production. Padilla explained, “Hindi biro ‘yung pinagdaanan ni Direk Jalz dito kasi nag-start kami mag shooting dito, 2020 po. Tapos naalala ko lang, may shooting kami sa GSIS, kasi magician si Marco, ‘yun ‘yung theater, pagpasok namin, hindi na kami pinapapasok ng guard kasi lockdown na, start na ng lockdown sa Manila and one through, parang biglaan. Alam mo ‘yun, hindi na kami nagkita-kita, hindi na kami pinababa, hindi na kami nagkita ni Direk Jalz at ni Marco for the next two years, ang sunod na kita namin was last year na po noong tinapos namin ‘yung movie.”
She then praised Zarate for his commitment to finishing the film despite the challenges.
The actress added that they got in touch online. She continued, “Nakakamustahan kami sa Instagram, like kailan kaya matutuloy ‘yung shooting natin kasi di natin alam kung gaano kahaba ‘yung pandemic. So for them to continue the momentum of the movie, ‘yung excitement namin pagbalik sa set, that’s not an easy feat, so props to Direk Jalz, ang hirap ng ginawa niya.”
The director then revealed behind-the-scenes trivia regarding the time frame of some of their scenes in the upcoming movie. The location was one of the challenges since it no longer was available when they continued filming.
As for their film, Padilla stars in the Philippine adaptation of the 2011 Korean film, ‘Spellbound’, with Viva actor Marco Gumabao.
The cast also features Rhen Escaño, Cindy Miranda, Benj Manalo, Ronnie Liang, and Moi Bien.
Under the direction of Jalz Zarate, ‘Spellbound’ premieres in cinemas nationwide on February 1.
