Doing a shoot while on Zoom, working again with director Dado Lumibao and reuniting with ex-boyfriend Joshua Garcia were reasons why Julia Barretto was convinced to do the short film “Love Unlock: E-Numan”.

When we asked her why she accepted the project during a mediacon via Zoom today, August 11, Barretto replied, “Everything.”

Julia Barretto — Image: Instagram/@juliabarretto

“Unang-una (firstly) po this is different. Iba siyang challenge so kakaiba siyang platform. (This is a different challenge and it is a different platform),” she explained.

“Everything is very unique. I just want to get out of my comfort zone and give it a try,” she said.

Her second reason was to be “reunited with direk Dado (Lumibao)”. Her last project with him was an episode in “Maalaala Mo Kaya” where she starred opposite former love team partner and ex-boyfriend Joshua Garcia.

And most of all, it was because of Joshua himself. “Of course I took this project to be reunited with Josh,” she admitted.

“The last project we did together was ‘Block Z’. That was a year ago so na-excite ako na makatrabaho siya ulit (I got excited to work with him again),” she said.

When pressed on what it was like to be working with her ex-boyfriend, Barretto was quite giddy.

“It was fun,” she mused. “It was nice to be working with him again.”

“I feel like iba ang pagkakaintindihan namin ni Joshua Garcia kapag umaarte na kaming dalawa,” she said. “Iba ‘yong connect namin kapag umaarte na kami kaya kahit through Zoom lang siya it was so easy to do the scene.”

(I feel like Joshua Garcia and I have a different understanding when we are acting together. We have a different connection when we act that even if it was only through Zoom it was easy to do the scene.)

“Parang bawat take, bawat break ay naintindihan na namin kung ano ang magiging atake namin,” she explained. (It’s like every take, every break, we already understand what our attack would be.)

“Everything came so naturally. It was fun,” she added.

Shooting the short movie via Zoom came as a surprise for Barretto.

“I never thought na sa tagal natin sa industriya ay makakagawa pa tayo ng isang maikling pelikula digitally via Zoom, via an app,” she said.

(I never thought that with how long we’ve been in the industry that we will be able to do a short film via Zoom, via an app.)

She called it “a challenge that we all embrace and welcome.”

“Ang saya ng experience because… Actually sa mga Hollywood films ay nakakapanood tayo ng movies na nagkakausap ang mga characters virtually. Hindi ko inakalang makakagawa din ako ng ganoon,” she said.

(It was a happy experience because… Actually, in Hollywood films we watch films where the characters talk to each other virtually. I never thought that I would do something like that.)

That said, Barretto has come to appreciate the “production crew kasi (because) it is a one-man team.”

“Talagang ‘yung admiration ko sa lahat ay sobra-sobra.” (My admiration for them is great.)

“E-Numan” is set to premiere on Aug. 15 at the free online channel Kapamilya Online Live, which is available on ABS-CBN Entertainment’s YouTube channel and Facebook page. NVG

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