JulNigo: A loveteam is born
“Uni-naming” has become a popular gimmick in marketing showbiz tandems, whether in Hollywood or hereabouts, started by the supporters of Bennifer (Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez). It clicked and everybody jumped onto the “uniname”-wagon, to wit: Tomkat (Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, divorced), Dongyan (Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera who will be parents for the first time come November), Kristek (Kris Aquino and Quezon City Mayor Herbert “Bistek” Bautista of the “work that didn’t progress”), Kimerald (Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson whose onscreen romance fizzled out when reality dawned), JaBea (can you guess who the pair is?), Melason (real-life married couple Melai Cantiveros and Jason Francisco), KathNiel (Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla, approved!) and JaDine (James Reid and Nadine Lustre, check out separate story, whose connection snaps as soon as the director shouts “Cut!”).
And now comes Julia Barretto and Iñigo Pascual, a.k.a. JulNigo, who are launched as a movie love team in Para sa Hopeless Romantic (PSHR), a joint Star Cinema/Viva Films venture that also stars JaDine, the pair successfully launched in Diary ng Panget which kicked off the trend of filming
kilig novels serialized on Wattpad.
Now, did you know that the JulNigo was just a wild dream 10 years ago?
In one of the projects that Iñigo’s dad Piolo Pascual and Julia’s aunt Claudine Barretto did, the young Iñigo met Claudine who told him, “Sana one day, maging love team kayo ng pamangkin
kong si Julia.” The paths of Iñigo and Julia crossed only when they joined showbiz and signed up with the Kapamilya Network ABS-CBN. Iñigo was with his Papa Piolo when Piolo signed a contract renewal at the same time that Julia did.
“At that time,” recalled Iñigo, “I could see already
na sobrang mabait si Julia. We exchanged numbers.” Soon after, they started texting each other (Iñigo had then gone back to the States where he was based). “Sana my dad would let me try showbiz when I go back,” said Iñigo in one of his text messages to Julia.
Their test team-up came early this year in an episode for Wansapanataym.
“I’ve always believed in Iñigo,” said Julia, “and I’m glad that I finally got to work with him.”
In PSHR, opening nationwide on Wednesday (May 13) and directed by Andoy Ranay, Julia and Iñigo play Maria and Ryan, fictional characters in a story written by Becca (played by Nadine) when she got brokenhearted with Nikko (played by James). Maria is a type of girl afraid to fall in love lest she only gets hurt while Ryan is a nerd-type who can’t muster enough guts to tell Maria about his feelings for her.
To find out if Julia and Iñigo match, let’s make them play the Alphabet Game like what Andi Eigenmann and Brent Jackson did two weeks ago:
IÑIGO
A– Amazing, one of my favorite words.
B– Burgers. I love cheeseburgers.
C– Christmas, my favorite holiday. D– Doughnuts…love ‘em! E– Electric. Sounds like a cool word.
F– Fantastic. I immediately thought of Fantastic 4. G– God. He is my King.
H– Hallelujah. A fun word to say…one of my favorite songs.
I– Indescribable, one of my favorite Christian songs.
J– Jump. I love to move around.
K– Ketchup. I have never eaten it, don’t like it.
L– Love…Love is love. It’s amazing!
M– Marvelous, also one of my favorite words. N– Noodles. I love ramen. O– Octopus, an awesome animal.
P– Peter. Spiderman is Peter Parker.
Q– Quick. I love to be quick.
R– Random. I am a random person.
S– Sushi, my favorite
food.
T– Tornado. I find it fascinating.
U– Unity. I love the idea of bringing groups together and forming one.
V– Vulture, an interesting
bird.
W– Wander. I wander a
lot.
X– Xylophone. I like the sound of it.
Y– YOLO (You Only Live Once). I like to live life to the fullest.
Z– Zebra, a unique animal.
JULIA
A – Apple. I like apples. B – Beautiful. All creation of God is beautiful.
C – Clouds. There’s something about clouds that is very comforting.
D– Dog. I’m afraid of
dogs.
E– Elephants. I find them cute.
F– Father. I love my father (Dennis Padilla).
G– God. He is my No. 1 in life.
H– Home. I love being home with my family.
I– Ice. I like cold places and cold things.
J– Julia. My name starts with it. Obvious ba?
Hehehe!
K– Kites. They are fascinating.
L– Lord. He is my savior.
M– Mother. I love my mommy (Marjorie Barretto). N– Notebook. The
Notebook is one of my favorite films.
O– Order. I love ordering food. P– Pasta. I love pasta. Q– Qatar. First thing that popped in my head. R– Rats. Don’t like them. S– Superhero. I love superheroes.
T– T-shirt. I love basics like T-shirts.
U– Umbrella, the song by Rihanna.
V– Van. My first purchase with my own money was a van.
W– Window. First thing that popped in my head.
X- X-Men, cool movie. Y– Yoyo, my childhood toy.
Z– Zoo. It’s fun to visit the zoo.
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