MANILA, Philippines – Coleen Garcia said that everything has been ironed out privately between her and the service crew member fired from a Japanese restaurant a few weeks ago.

In an interview with reporters at the blog conference for the movie Ex With Benefits, Tuesday, August 18, Coleen said that she had been trying to fix it even before the issue became public. 

“It has been cleared privately. You know I was trying to do it from the start before this waiter ever wrote on my feed. I was already trying to fix it.

“So I don’t see the point in doing those things publicly. But he came out in public so I had to respond to the statement publicly, but it has been fixed,” she said.

Last July, Coleen posted a long statement on her Instagram account after a social media user with the handle @jejeromemalvar wrote that he was never rude to Coleen’s grandmother when they dined at the restaurant. (READ: Coleen Garcia speaks up on restaurant staffer’s firing following her complaint)

He said that he was fired after Coleen’s grandmother complained that she was treated rudely.

Coleen wrote that she did not mean for anyone to be fired due solely to her complaint and that the staff member deserved fair treatment from the management. 

‘Ex With Benefits’ role

As for her for role in the movie Ex With Benefits, Coleen said she is happy and nervous at the same time, since this will be her first mainstream movie leading role. She previously did the movie #Y with Gino Santos who is also the director of this movie. (WATCH: Derek Ramsay, Coleen Garcia in ‘Ex With Benefits’ trailer)

Coleen said that she is happy to be working with Derek Ramsay, who has guided her in the film. 

“It’s great. I’m glad that my first mainstream movie na ako yung (where I am the) lead is with him because I learned so much from him. And naalalayan ako nang bongga (he guided me so much). Talagang (Really) I never had any problems working with him…I felt he like made me grow also in a way,” she said.

Coleen also considers the role of Arkisha as a challenge, because of all the emotions she had to express and go through as the character.

“[It was] going out of the box definitely. Like I said this is the most daring thing I’ve ever done, also one of the most emotional… As I have stated earlier, Arkisha, she has so much many stages in her life… it’s really a rollercoaster of emotions.”

Coleen also said that boyfriend Billy Crawford has been very supportive and that he understands what the role requires.

“It really helps that I’m with someone who’s older than me because he’s been through a lot also in his life, he’s been in showbiz for 29 years already, I’ve been here only a few years and so he understands that I also need space to grow. 

“Honestly kung iisipin ko, kung siya gagawa nang ganun role magseselos talaga ako but siya talaga, he put that all aside. (Honestly, if I think about it, if he does this type of role, I would get jealous, but him, he really put that all aside.) And I’m not saying he never felt anything, that he never felt jealous or felt hesitant, but he put all of it aside just so I’ll be able to do this… I also have my own challenges myself and he tries his best not to add to it,” she said. – Rappler.com