After portraying a rom-com sweetheart and a zombie slayer, Julia Barretto now plays a lady with a doppelganger in the new iWant original series I Am U.
This is Julia’s first iWant series, and her first project following her separation from former love team partner and ex-boyfriend Joshua Garcia.
As the other half of JoshLia love team, the 22-year-old Kapamilya actress has starred in five movies opposite Joshua: Vince and Kath and James (2016), Love You to The Stars and Back (2017), Unexpectedly Yours (2017), I Love You Hater (2018), and Block Z (2020).
Julia also appeared with Joshua in the primetime teleserye Ngayon at Kailanman (2018).
In real life, the two stars had a romantic relationship that lasted more than two years.
After being paired with Joshua the past three years, Julia now has Tony Labrusca as her leading man in the mystery psycho thriller I Am U.
JULIA’S IMPRESSION OF TONY: “OH, DAMING LAPLAPAN?”
Yes, the Tony Labrusca from the very first iWant original film Glorious (2018).
And yes, Julia’s first impression of Tony had to do with his torrid kissing scenes with Angel Aquino in the popular digital movie.
In the film, Tony, 24, and Angel, 47, portrayed a couple struggling to keep their May-December love affair.
“Nung pinitch pa lang sa akin na Tony Labrusca, [sabi ko] ‘Oh, daming laplapan?’” Julia admitted during the mediacon for I Am U, last February 19. “Di ba nanggaling siya ng Glorious?”
The actress went on, “I heard of Tony kasi first dun sa Glorious. Bago ko pa siya na-meet, parang ganun na yung [first impression] ko kay Tony. Sexy, hot, and steamy.”
For his part, Tony revealed that this “sexy, hot, steamy” tag really puts pressure on him whenever he does intimate scenes in his projects.
“May ganun nga na pressure na, ‘Ah si Tony marami niyang kissing scenes,’” Tony said with a chuckle. “Parang ang taas na ng expectation. Nape-pressure din ako.
“But because each project has been with a different leading lady, I’m always nervous like how I’m gonna approach it.
“Like I don’t wanna break any of their boundaries. I don’t want them to feel like I’m just gonna go in.
“The first time is always medyo kinakabahan talaga ako.”
Tony’s previous leading ladies include Angel, Eugene Domingo (Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 3: The Real Untold Story of Josephine Bracken), and Bela Padilla (Sino Ang May Sala? Mea Culpa).
JULIA DOES INTIMATE SCENES WITH TONY
For Julia, working with Tony turned out to be a wonderful experience.
He made her feel comfortable in their intimate scene—which was a first for the young actress.
Julia said of her new leading man: “It was so nice to work with Tony, it was so easy to converse with him. To me, it’s important to converse with your leading man so that you find a certain type of comfortability with him and that you trust him—[like] yun, yung mga kissing scenes, yung mga scenes na intimate kami sa isa’t isa.”
An entertainment reporter asked if Julia felt nervous doing intimate scenes onscreen for the first time.
“Hindi naman kinabahan kasi very well guided kami," she said, "and ipinaalam talaga sa amin kung ano ang gagawin namin.
“Like what was needed of me during that intimate scene. What was needed of him. Kaya alam na namin yung gagawin.
"And I know what he’s gonna do, alam niya yung gagawin ko, kasi lahat kami nagdi-discuss, e. So, para wala nang gulatan,” Julia narrated, referring to their director, Dwein Baltazar.
I Am U tells the story of Elise (Julia) who meets her doppelganger Rose (Julia)—a girl who looks exactly like her—after the latter saves her from almost being hit by a car.
Elise then allows Rose into her life, introducing her newfound friend to her parents and friends, even saying they “can pass off as twins.”
Their story takes a dark turn when Elise sees Rose as a threat and eventually decides to do something about it, with the help of boyfriend Kyle (Tony) and their friends.
The tragedy that kills Rose, however, leads to a series of mysterious deaths among the members of Elise’s group.
PLAYING A DUAL ROLE IS CHALLENGING FOR JULIA
In the same presscon, Julia admitted that playing a dual role was very challenging for her, and she had to be constantly reminded by Direk Dwein of her character in every take.
“Na-realize ko na yung dalawang projects ko, pinagsama sa isa. Kasi nakagawa na ako ng someone na Elise, which is And I Love You So, si Trixie.
"Tapos si Rose nagawa ko as Eva in Ngayon at Kailanman. So tawang-tawa ako, kasi parang lahat ng nagawa ko before, inilagay sa isang project,” Julia said.
The young actress was referring to her 2015 afternoon series And I Love You So, which Julia top-billed with Miles Ocampo.
Ngayon at Kailanman (2018), on the other hand, was Julia’s first TV series with then love team partner Joshua.
Julia narrated, “But it was an exciting process, especially nung mga times na paano ko nailalaro yung dalawang characters in one body.
“Yun na yung pinaka-challenging. Kailangan talaga i-remind sa akin ni Direk…siyempre yung Tagalog ni Rose iba.”
Julia described her characters as having opposite personalities: Elise is an outgoing lady from a well-off family; Rose is a simple and shy girl.
I Am U will be available starting today, February 26, via the ABS-CBN streaming app iWant.
It is produced by Dreamscape Entertainment, in partnership with The Idea First Company.