Nadine Lustre visited the Tonight With Boy Abunda studio to talk about her Gawad Urian speech, rumors about her relationship with James Reid and her replacement for a role in “Miracle in Cell No. 7.”
Nadine took home three Best Actress Awards for the film “Never Not Love You” from Gawad Urian, The Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards (FAMAS) and The Young Critics Circle. She expressed that the awards symbolize the challenges she has faced while filming “Never Not Love You.” She admitted that her late brother’s suicide spiraled her into depression and it came to a point that she’d rather stay at home than go to work.
“Itong mga awards na ‘to, parang reminder siya sa akin na no matter what happens and no matter what challenges na dumating sa buhay mo, magagawa at magagawa mo, malalampasan mo,” she said. The awards not only give her a sense of pride but it’s also a reminder of her strength and faith. In light of award shows, some actors admit that they practice their speeches beforehand. But Nadine denied that she practices her acceptance speeches especially since she was surprised when she won Best Actress in the FAMAS awards. She shared that she was already happy being nominated but the feeling of being called on stage was beyond what she could have imagined.
“Bakit ba hindi ako nagsulat ng speech?” she revealed that she regretted not preparing an acceptance speech beforehand. Unfortunately, Nadine was working on the night of the Gawad Urian Awards and so, she didn’t have the chance to deliver an acceptance speech.
Boy Abunda gave her a second chance to deliver a speech and thank her supporters as if she was on the Gawad Urian stage. Nadine then proudly delivered the acceptance remark, which is a message of encouragement: “No matter what happens, ituloy mo lang. As long as wala kang tinatapakang ibang tao, as long as you love what you’re doing, as long as you do everything nang may puso, magiging successful ka.”
The King of Talk then showed an old video of Nadine performing as a member of her former girl group Pop Girls. She shared that the director of the old music video is the same director of her new film “Indak.” “Indak” is a story about Jen, an island girl, who loves to dance but traumatic events from her past made her shy away from dancing in the public until someone took a video of her dancing and eventually became viral on the internet.
The movie’s trailer showed Nadine dancing on a boat alone in the middle of the ocean to symbolize Jen’s situation and relationship with dance. Nadine even taught Tito Boy some of Jen’s favorite dance moves. She explained that Jen’s dancing style is a mix of sexy hip-hop and a little dash of tribal dancing.
In relation to her new movie, they also discussed her backing out of the local film adaptation of the hit Korean film “Miracle in Cell No. 7,” an entry in the 2019 Metro Manila Film Festival. Nadine shared that she really wanted to do the film but opted to rest and recharge after releasing two full-length films this year.
“I don’t want to end up hating what I love doing just because I burned out,” she explained that she wants to take care of her health above else. And she has long accepted the fact that some projects are just not meant for her, but she believes that there will be other opportunities to come.
Nadine revealed that she was excited to hear about Bela Padilla replacing her for the role because she knows that Bela is a good actress and will give the story justice.
Several rumors have circulated that Nadine and her boyfriend, James Reid, have either split up or going through a rough patch. “Bakit ba nung hindi pa kami, gustong-gusto ninyong maging kami? Ngayong kami na gusto ninyo kaming paghiwalayin?” she fired back to the doubters of their relationship. She assured that they’re in good terms and that everything is all right. Although, Nadine admitted that she sometimes answers back to ridiculous questions and rumors spread by some fans online.
To end the show, Nadine played TWBA’s “Indak o Tadyak” wherein she is asked to choose her next leading man. She said that she’d want to work with Enrique Gil in the future since they’re good friends. Unfortunately, for Joshua Garcia, Nadine deemed him too young to be paired up with her. She evaded Tito Boy’s additional questions on why she wouldn’t want to work with Gerald Anderson on a project any time soon. Piolo Pascual or more commonly known as Papa P, the Ultimate Hunk of the Philippine showbiz industry, is someone Nadine would want to work with, if given the chance. She revealed that she’d love to work with Coco Martin since she knows that he’s a nice guy.
“Para nga walang gulo,” Nadine chose not to be paired up with Daniel Padilla to avoid problems between their respective fandoms—a choice similar to Kathryn Bernardo’s sentiments about switching their respective partners.
Catch more of TWBA’s interview with Nadine in this video.