6 fun facts about Angel-Sam-Zanjoe movie ‘The Third Party’

Alexa Villano

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

6 fun facts about Angel-Sam-Zanjoe movie ‘The Third Party’

Rob Reyes

Angel Locsin, Sam Milby, and Zanjoe Marudo form a love triangle in the film directed by Jason Paul Laxamana

MANILA, Philippines – Angel Locsin is back on the big screen alongside Zanjoe Marudo and Sam Milby in the new movie The Third Party under Star Cinema.

The Third Party is directed by Jason Paul Laxamana, known for films such as Mercury is Mine, Magkakabaung, and Love Is Blind. In the movie, Angel plays Andi, who was in a relationship with Max (Sam) during their college years. They go their separate ways and meet up again years later, and Max introduces her to Christian (Zanjoe), his boyfriend. Andi soon finds herself in trouble and seeks Max’s help despite Christian being hesitant about it all. They soon find themselves under one roof, as their relationships are tested. 

Photo by Rob Reyes/Rappler

Here are some facts about the movie:

1. Each character has a story to tackle. In the movie, all 3 characters struggle with various issues. For Angel’s character Andi, she talks about coping with losing her first love.

Ang interesting dito sa kuwento na ito is hindi na tatackle yung first love mo, kung ano ba feeling na magkaroon ka ng first love, pag naghihiwalay kayo ng first love mo,” Angel told reporters during a production visit last September.

(What’s interesting about this story is first love isn’t really often tackled, what you feel when you have your first love, when you break up with your first love.)

Photo by Rob Reyes/Rappler

Tapos, ano yung feeling pag masaya na sa ibang kapiling nung first love mo. At yung kapiling niya ay medyo bro then, so medyo ang tapang ng Star Cinema dito sa story na ito kasi modern take sa isang love story,” he said.

(And then the feeling when you see your first love is happy with someone else. And that person he’s with is a bro, so Star Cinema was courageous with this story because it’s a modern take on a love story.)

Sam meanwhile told reporters at the press conference last September 28: “It’s a lot about family also. Sa character ko, it’s more about knowing what you want and who you really are, kasi confused yung character ko… and also making mistakes but also realizing those mistakes really become blessings also.”

Photo by Rob Reyes/Rappler  

As for Christian, Zanjoe said: “Lumaki kasi siyang masaya, sa masayang pamilya. And punong-puno ng pagmamahal simula bata siya hanggang tumanda siya. Hanggang nag-aral siya at nagtrabaho siya and nakilala niya yung character ni Sam, si Max. So feeling niya perfect na nung na meet niya si Max kasi parang iyon na lang yung kulang. So feeling niya perfect na yung buhay niya

(He grew up very happy, from a happy family. And he’s been given so much love since he was a child until he became an adult. Until he studied and worked, and met Sam’s character, Max. So he feels everything is perfect when he meets Max because that was all he needed. He felt his life was perfect.)

“So iyon na yung utak niya, na laging alam ko ano yung tama. Sa isang relationship dalawa na pala kayo doon at iyon ang hindi niya alam. So kailangan muna niya intidihin kung ano yung pinagdadaanan ng partner niya. So iyon ang magiging lesson para kay Christian – na akala mo perfect na pero hindi pwedeng ganun, lalo na kung dalawa kayo sa isang mundo.”

(So in his mind, he thinks he knows what right. But in a relationship, there are two of you, and that’s what he doesn’t know. So he needs to understand what his partner is going through. I think that it will be the one lesson Christian will learn, that you think everything’s perfect, but not really, especially when there are two of you in that world you are in.)

Photo by Rob Reyes/Rappler

2. All 3 actors have worked together in past projects. This is not the first time that the 3 lead stars have worked together. Angel previously worked with Sam in an episode of Maalaala Mo Kaya and the teleserye Only You, while she and Zanjoe were part of the movie One More Try. Sam and Zanjoe also worked together in the film You Got Me.

 

 

3. The Third Party, a fun romance project for Angel. Angel is known for her body of work as a dramatic actress, but in this film, fans will get to see her step back in the romante/comedy genre.

During the press conference, Zanjoe and Sam, who worked in various romantic/comedy films talked about how Angel was able to adjust to the film’s demands. 

Nung napanood ko yung trailer, nung dinub ko siya, ang unang pumasok sa utak ko ang cute. Kasi bawa’t scene, nacute-an ako. Ang cute ni Sam nung gumaganun siya. Tapos sabi ko pag may eksena kami ni Sam, ang cute nung reaction ni Angel. Kaya iyon yung naging hashtag ko. Pero doon ko siya talaga na appreciate nung napapanood ko na siya,” Zanjoe said.

(When I first watched the trailer, when I dubbed it, what first came to mind was that it was cute. I found each scene so cute. Sam is so cute when he does this action. And then when Sam and I have a scene together, Angel’s reaction is so cute. That’s why it became my hashtag. But it was only after I saw it that I was able to appreciate it.)

Sam meanwhile said Angel has a natural flair for comedy.

“She has a natural comedy side to her kasi. Parang iyon din yung nagawa ng rom-com, kahit hindi, she’s more for drama. But dito, light set, and it helps that it’s light on the set and actually, I think when we were pitching the movie, ang first plan namin was for a light, light romance pero parang naging comedy. So masaya.”

(She has a natural comedic side to her. Because I guess that’s what a rom-com can do, even though she’s more for drama. But here, it was a light set, and it helps that it’s light, and actually, I think when we were pitching the movie, the first plan was for a light, light romance, but it became a comedy.)

Photo by Rob Reyes/Rappler  

4. Differentiation. Director Jason Paul Laxamana said that he made sure to differentiate the film from other movies tackling similar topics.

“A lot of gay-themed movies kasi is either they’re screaming f–ggots or laging (always) miserable diba? So dito, we want to make it light without being shallow. So ganun namin siya iniba, medyo realistic lang,” he said.

(So that’s how we differentiate it, a bit realistic)

Photo by Rob Reyes/Rappler

 

He said that to make sure they will not offend the LGBT community, they were sensitive to the script they made, taking care not to call attention to the fact that the character of Christian is gay.

5. The Third Party is Jason Paul Laxamana’s second mainstream film. He previously did the movie Love is Blind, starring Derek Ramsay and Solenn Heussaff. 

According to Jason, he made some adjustments from doing independent films to mainstream.

“There are a lot of adjustments. Number one, you don’t have as much as creative freedom as in sa mga indie ko, kasi mainly because pera ito ng  (this is the money of the) company. I respect na I should respect whatever they want.

“It’s just a matter of me aligning my artistic vision to the goal of the company and ako, since nasa second mainstream film pa lang and first film ko pa lang sa Star Cinema, nasa wait and see mode lang ako. I pretty consider myself much as a student. Parang nag-OJT ako sa (It’s just like I’m doing my OJT here in) mainstream,” he said. 

6. The movie is about different kinds of love. Jason said that the film is all about enjoying love in various forms.

“It’s not your usual boy-girl [story]. So it’s just to show people na meron din ganitong klaseng (there these types of) situation na love and these people, kahit na medyo (even if) off-beat yung situation nila, they experience the same phases as we do. So ayun, i-enjoy lang natin yung diversity of love,” he said.

 

(So that’s all. Enjoy the diversity of love.)

With the recent recognition of various indepedent films such as Ma’Rosa and Ang Babaeng Humayo, Jason said he would like to see a bigger Filipino audience watching indenpendent films.

“What I want to see for independent films is for them to gain audiences locally. Parang we’ve achieved so much internationally, it’s time to win the viewership of our Filipinos [here],” he said.   

Photo by Rob Reyes/Rappler

The Third Party opens on October 12. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!
Sleeve, Clothing, Apparel

author

Alexa Villano

Alexa is one of Rappler's Lifestyle and Entertainment reporters, covering local entertainment news to a wide range of topics from beauty pageants to reality shows.