Chynna Ortaleza's '1, 2 Love'
By Walden S. SadiriPublished in Manila Bulletin (11/15/2003)
Actress Chynna Oratelza is not caught in a love triangle because she definitely has her "1,2 Love" in control!
Her number one love is showbiz and in it is actor Richard Gutierrez, her oncam partner. From their stint on the youth-oriented television show "Click," they have built a romance that has amassed quite a following from televiewers. Their next project together, the recently concluded "Maid to Love" episode of GMA 7's twinbill series "Love to Love," was also a success partly because of their love team's fan base. "Mahal ko si Richard," she said.
But of course she means it more as a colleague than a real-life sweetheart. She maintains that she is not one to get carried away because their partnership oncam is a success. She sees Richard as a very close friend but she said he never courted her which is fine with her. She knows that they are in a sensitive situation as romantic partners and won't simply assume that there's more to it than just a job.
Chynna is happy though that their love team keeps bringing them projects for television and the movies. For television, both of them will appear once again in the second season of "Love to Love" which airs today at 2:30 p.m. after the GMA 7 variety show "SOP."
In their episode entitled "My 1,2 Love," Chynna is Nikki, the cousin and personal assistant of Casey, played by Anne Curtis, a popular young star who is in love with actor JM (Richard Gutierrez). In the series, she too is in love with JM but decides to take a backseat because of her cousin. Then one day, JM figures in a car accident and is declared in a coma state. His movie with Casey that they are currently promoting falls into shambles as they don't know what to do. They don't want the public to know what happened to JM because it will ruin their movie and onscreen romance.
Lucky for them, Nikki stumbled on a person who closely resembles JM physically. He is Tomas, a farm boy. After convincing Tomas to pretend to be JM, the promotional tour of JM and Casey continues. Now comes a new dilemma for Nikki, she realizes she is falling for Tomas, but Tomas is also falling for Casey!
Directed by Mark Reyes from a screenplay by Andrew Paredes and Elmer Gatchalian, "My 1, 2 Love" also stars Sandy Andolong, Danica Sotto, German Moreno, Manny Castaneda, Dexter Doria, Bettina Carlos, Kiel Rodrigues, Caloy Alda, Peter Serrano and Miguel Aguila.
The other episode is "Yaya Lovely" which stars Sunshine Dizon, Tintin Arnaldo and Geoff Eigenmann. Directed by Dominic Zapata and written by Clarissa Estuar, Kit Villanueva-Langit and Des Garbes, it also stars Melanie Marquez, Lloyd Samartino, Dang Cruz, Harlene Bautista, Cris Villanueva, Eagle Riggs, Mel Kimura, Mark Wilson and Kristine Mangle.
With regards to their movie projects, Chynna Ortaleza and Richard Gutierrez will appear together in Regal Films' "Mano Po 2" and "Kuya." In "Mano Po 2," she plays a rebellious young Filipina in love with Richard, a son of a wealthy Chinese family.
"She is comfortable in her own way and she doesn't pretend to be somebody else. I have a strong personality here and I'm always vocal kaya ayaw sa akin ng mother (played by Lorna Tolentino) ni Richard Gutierrez. But in 'Kuya,' my role is like my real life character," quipped Chynna.
Now the number 2 love of Chynna is Railey Valeroso, a popular young actor who has consistently courted her. Unfortunately, making a decision to become Railey's girlfriend is not an easy one for her. She is now more cautious about getting into a relationship after her break-up with a non-showbiz boyfriend for three years. She is also at the stage in her life where she is open to meeting more people because of her work.
Chynna stressed though that Railey is special in her life. But because of some intrigues she opted to keep away.
"Because of what transpired I told him that we probably have to stop whatever we have at this point because it is ruining your image and my image and our work. Because of that lay low lang pero siyempre special friend. Sabi naman niya sa akin if I'm willing to prioritize my work, okay. Hindi daw siya bibitaw, he will court me pa rin and wait till I'm ready," explained Chynna.
Already in her 20s, Chynna Ortaleza is aware of the possibility that her love team with Richard Gutierrez can fizzle out in the future. But as an actress, she knows her career has to move on with or without a love team.
"I just want to be a versatile actress and try new things. I'm still young and I know I still have different roles to take on," she said. She also has no qualms about doing sexy roles, but she will only decide on that when there's already a project at hand. And everything will depend on the story and if the project will do her more good as an actress.
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