MANILA, Philippines – The LizQuen tandem – Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil – returns to the big screen once again in the movie My Ex and Whys, directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina.

In the movie, the two play Cali and Gio, who were in a relationship but have since broken up. The two are then forced to work together on a project, and travel to South Korea when their friend (Ryan Bang) gets married. As they become close to each other again, will the feelings of the past be given another chance?

Before you head out to theaters to see this new LizQuen film, here are 5 things to know about the movie:

1. The film, which opened on Wednesday, February 15, is something different for both Liza and Enrique, as it takes on a more mature storyline.

“Ito sa lahat ang pinakatoo,” Enrique said during the press conference last February 10. “All of the scenes or yung mga ginamit namin sa pelikula actually came from real events sa buhay ng mga kaibigan, yung mga kinausap nila direk. So base ito lahat through true experiences… it’s really real.”

(This, of all the films we’ve done, is the most real. All of the scenes, or the ones we used in the movie, actually came from real events from lives of friends, people who our director talked to. So it’s really based on true experiences… it’s really real.)

Liza agreed: “Exactly what Enrique said. Lahat ng ginawa po namin dito sa movie na ito (All the things we did in the movie), it really came from real life experiences and yung nga po, [it’s] not like a fairytale, like when boy meets girl, suddenly there’s magic. Hindi naman po siya ganun. (It’s not like that) Nilalabas po namin lahat ng layer ng (We brought out all the layers of a) relationship and why it gets to where it goes.”

2. The movie was really shot in Korea.

Like many of Star Cinema’s big films, My Ex and Whys was shot in a foreign location.

“Actually hindi po sinasadya. When Ryan Bang was cast in the film, hindi pa Korea yung pupuntahan. Parang nagkataon na naging Korea. Actually, I must admit, yung Korea po, pangarap nilang dalawa [Liza and Enrique] pumunta,” Cathy said.

(Actually it wasn’t on purpose. When Ryan Bang was cast in the film, we weren’t going to Korea yet. It was just coincidental that it became Korea. Actually, I must admit, it was their [Liza and Enrique’s] dream to go there.)

It was the first time for many of the cast members to visit Korea, and Liza even said that she wanted to go to Korea after watching Train to Busan.

3. Gio’s brothers are named after cars.

In the movie, Joross Gamboa and Dominic Roque play Mustang and Jaguar, Gio’s playboy brothers.

Asked to describe their characters, Dominic said: “Kami po kasi yung pamilya na mahihilig sa sasakyan. Bukod sa sasakyan, mahilig din kami sa babae. So iyon po, parang womanizer.” (We’re a family who is into cars. Aside from cars, we also like women. So yeah, you can say it’s like they’re womanizers.)

Joross shared that their characters’ names were created in collaboration with Cathy. 

“Ako yung panganay sa mga magkakapatid. Kapatid ko sila Enrique, sila Dom dito, ” Joross said of his character Mustang. “Ang character ko dito ay naka-base sa dating Joross,” he joked, referring to his bachelor days. (I’m the eldest among the siblings. I’m the brother of Enrique and Dom here. My character is based on the past Joross.)

4. My Ex and Whys is the first movie project that LizQuen worked on with Cathy Garcia-Molina.

Liza, Enrique, and Cathy previously worked together on the primetime show Forevermore back in 2014. 

On how their working relationship has changed since the show, Cathy said: “Of course as much as it was our first time noon (before), it was a teleserye, hindi siya ganun ka iba working (it’s not that different working) with them again, as far as getting to know them again. 

“But working with them in a film, na realize ko na malaki pala yung kaibahan (I realized there is a big difference), especially the characters they’re playing. Sobra po talagang hirap (It’s really very difficult) because it’s very far from who they really are. And I would like to tell everybody that they really worked hard for it and I’m very happy kung ano po yung na ibigay nila (with what they gave),” the director said.

5. It took 8 hours to get her viral “Pangit ba ako?” scene right.

Before the release of the movie, one of the scenes featuring Liza’s character asking, “Pangit ba ako?” (Am I ugly) became a trending topic among social media users.

On the scene, Cathy said it took Liza 8 hours to get the scene right, because she had never experienced what Cali was going through before. Liza also said she was surprised that line got so much attention.

“I was surprised. Hindi ko po naisip na iyon yung magiging viral na line actually. Pero nakakatuwa. When people watch that scene, I’m sure lahat sila makakarelate. Because if you’re gonna get hurt that certain way, mapapatanong ka talaga na, ‘Pangit ba ako? Kapalit-palit ba ako?” she said.

(I was surprised. I didn’t think that line would go viral actually. But it makes me happy. When people watch that scene, I’m sure they will all be able to relate. Because if you’re gonna get hurt that certain way, you’ll really ask, ‘Am I ugly? Am I a replacement?’)

Will you be checking out My Ex and Whys in theaters? What’s your favorite LizQuen movie or show? Sound off in the comments! – Rappler.com