Kylie Verzosa and Marco Gumabao enter the world of ‘sugar dating’
Make no mistake to easily pair together beauty queen, model-turnedactress Kylie Verzosa and actor Marco Gumabao, even if they have worked together in halfa-dozen projects to date.
They appeared together on TV, on the big screen and on the streaming platform, Vivamax. The two stars immediately quash the idea of them being a romantic pair, although both of them are unattached.
Kylie just ended her four-year relationship with actor Jake Cuenca early this year. Marco, meanwhile, remains carefree and fancy-free. He is not seeing anyone.
“In more than half of the projects that we did together, we played exes,” Marco informed.
“Even if we have not started a relationship, we were already exes,” he laughed.
“Since Kylie won Miss International in 2016, we’ve been friends already. We formed a friendship and a bond. Kylie and I are really close. Hot si Kylie ngayon, but I’m sure she focuses more on her career now.”
The two stars first worked together in the ABS-CBN afternoon series, Los Bastardos (2018), followed by Don Cuaresma’s comedy film, Abay Babes.
They both appeared in Darryl Yap’s Revirginized, with Megastar Sharon Cuneta, although they didn’t have scenes together.
They were seen in the Vivamax series, Parang Kayo, Pero Hindi, as well as in director Mac Alejandre’s My Husband, My Lover.
They are working together anew in Viva Films’ sexy romanticcomedy, Baby Boy, Baby Girl, with director Jason Paul Laxamana at the helm. The film has started shooting in Subic (Zambales) and Clark (Pampanga).
Baby Boy, Baby Girl is a love story between two “sugar babies,” written and directed by Jason Paul Laxamana. Kylie plays Josie, a very independent yet failed businesswoman, who tries all sorts of jobs to earn money.
One time, she works as an usherette in an event where she sees her former flame, Seb (Marco), an erstwhile janitor who becomes successful after only three years.
“Most of my work, nauuna ang story and script,” the director insisted. “Then, we start casting. The same goes for Baby Boy, Baby Girl. Aside from being good actors, the stars should be eye candy onscreen. This story is about the world of beautiful people who are getting into this industry.”
This is not the first time for direk JP to do a film about unusual relationships. In 2013, he megged Babagwa, about love for sale that was shown in the Cinemalaya Festival.
”I get attracted to stories na iba ang set-up ng love,” the director admitted. “I encountered documentaries and interviews on YouTube. I researched about it and I found it very interesting. Sa Pilipinas, may stigma pa ang mga gano’n. But in the US, there is really a social media for sugar dating.”
Direk JP worked with Marco the first time in Just A Stranger with Anne Curtis (2019), where the actor even did a sexy, butt exposure. This is the first time for the director to work with Kylie.
“I’ve been observing Kylie’s recent works lately,” the director offered. “I watched her film with Zanjoe Marudo, Ikaw Lang ang Mamahalin. I was very surprised. I didn’t think she was that good.
“She came from a beauty pageant, so I was thinking baka maganda lang kaya nasa showbiz. But napakadetailed ng acting niya. I cannot wait to see how she will give life to the role of Josie in Baby Boy, Baby Girl.”
Marco remembered the first time he got hold of the script of Baby Boy, Baby Girl, he was still in Singapore where he was shooting a series. “I was surprised when I read the script and the theme of the film,” he said.
“As we all know, in today’s world, sugar dating really happens. It’s a real situation. So, while I was reading the script, I found it really interesting that we can put ourselves into the shoes of those people, the sugar babies, how their world revolves. I was very shocked but overall, I was very excited.”
Meanwhile, for Kylie herself, seeing the title of the script alone, Baby Boy, Baby Girl, immediately made her interested in the project.
“I think I first saw the title in the Viva Summer Conference last April,” she recalled. “When the project was pitched to me, I got excited because I’ve been a fan of direk JP’s work. I accepted the project right away. Without a doubt, yes, 100 percent.”
Marco opted not to pass judgement on the lives of sugar babies and how they lead their lives. “Kanya kanyang buhay ‘yan,” the actor maintained. “We were not born in this world to judge the lives of others.
“If that’s their way to work, earn money or put food on the table, we should respect what they do. We should not judge them. As long as wala silang tinatapakang tao, for me, that’s not a problem.”
Others in the cast of Baby Boy, Baby Girl are Rey “PJ” Abellana, Giselle Sanchez, Marissa Sanchez, Gino Roque and Phoebe Walker.