‘A hundred poems for Stella’ turned to ‘another script by Bela.’
After Piolo Pascual and Toni Gonzaga’s box office film, “Starting Over Again” back in 2014, the love team will return for “Last Night,” a dark Romantic-Comedy film written by Bela Padilla.
Bela in an interview said that she did not have a specific inspiration, and everything was born from pure imagination. “But when I decided na ‘yung (that the) script will take place in Manila, I really went around. I wrote a few scenes while eating at Café Adriatico,” she shared.
However, she clarified that the movie’s theme is something that she has always been attracted to. “I still wanted to inject I guess something that inspires me para masulat ko siya nang maayos (for me to write it well),” she said.
In an interview by Jeff Fernando of Bandila, Toni’s story was that it was Piolo who first read the script and insisted her to read it. “In one-sitting, natapos ko siya. Tinext ko kaagad siya (Piolo). Sabi ko, halika na gawin na natin ‘to. Gustong-gustong ko ‘yung script (I finished reading. I texted Piolo immediately saying, ‘Come on let us do it. I really like the script)’.”
“Dito sa (With) ‘Last Night,’ it’s all about choices and syempre ‘di naman kami bata ni Tine para magpa-tweetums pa kami sa pelikula (Tin and I are not kids anymore to act cutesy in a film),” Piolo said referring to Toni with her off-screen nickname.
It was Director Joyce Bernal who gave the film a new name, “Last night sila nagkita, they want to last the night, ang problema it’s their last night (The characters met last night, they wanted the night to last, the problem is that that is their last night),” she said briefly.
This is not the first time for Bela’s career in writing as apart from playing Maya Limchauco, she was also a co-writer of the 2013 film ’10 000 hours.’ But the 26-year-old refused to take much credit as she said that she was only able help in the conceptualization, as she had other commitments then.
“Nahiya ako na-decline ko ‘yong pagsulat ng script (It is embarrassing that I declined the writing of the script). But I’m very happy kasi ‘yong sumulat ng script ay sobrang talino at nanalo rin siya ng Best Screenplay (that the scriptwriter is really intelligent and wont the Best Screenplay),” Bela told Philippine Entertainment Portal (PEP) in an interview on January 2014.
On 2016, Bela was the co-writer and co-producer of the film ‘Camp Sawi, and played the role of Bridgette. “Nakakatuwa. Syempre may konting kaba. Sana magtuloy-tuloy na at marami pa akong poster na mabasa na ‘story written by Bela Padilla’ ([It is] exciting and of course there is a bit of nervousness. I hope this is not the last time and I hope to see more posters printing ‘story written by Bela Padilla’),” this was her statement in a Philippine Showbiz Republic (PSR) article by Archie Liao.
This 2017, Bela was paired with Jericho Rosales for the first time, in the film ‘Luck at First Sight,’ which was also written by the actress.
“Nasa kotse ako, nakikinig ng conversation ng DJs sa radio. Tapos naisip ko ‘yung title, dun nabuo ang story. Tungkol siya sa dalawang tao na sinuswerte kapag may physical touch sila (I was in the car, listening to DJs conversing on the radio. Then I thought of the title, and the story just formed. It is about two people who get lucky when there they physically touch each other),” she said.
‘Last Night’ is targeted to show on September.