Is Teddie really Mama’s favorite? What caused Bobbie and Alex’s close relationship as sisters to fall apart? How did Gabbie’s maternal instincts kick in? These are just some of the many questions we had after watching the widely loved 2013 film “Four Sisters and a Wedding.” Who knew that seven years later, a follow-up movie would be coming to show a different side of the story through the eyes of the Salazar family ten years younger?
“Four Sisters Before the Wedding,” the highly-anticipated prequel to the iconic family film, is currently the talk of the Internet after it dropped its official trailer more than a week ago. Featuring Alexa Ilacad, Charlie Dizon, Gillian Vicencio, and Belle Mariano as the young Salazar Siblings Bobbie, Teddie, Alex, and Gabbie, the movie seems to already be meeting the admittedly high expectations of the Filipino public.
However, the pressure was something they had to endure for months.
“There are days when you doubt yourself,” Alexa, who plays Bobbie, shared with When In Manila in an exclusive interview. “The pressure will never leave. I think it was for all of us, kahit nakalabas na kami, kahit we’re done shooting.”
“Syempre ang bigat ng pressure pero habang tumatagal, habang ginagawa na namin ‘yung movie, napapalitan naman siya ng excitement and happiness,” Gillian, who plays Alex, added. “Mas finofocus na lang namin siguro yung utak namin sa saya, kung paano namin siya ginawa, paano namin siya shinoot kasi nandoon na rin naman ‘yung ibang cast members and si direk to guide us talaga and make the set sobrang happy.”
The initial reveal of the cast members definitely earned mixed reactions and not a lot of people were convinced that a movie so iconic as “Four Sisters and a Wedding” should get a sequel. But with the premiere of the trailer, netizens now can’t keep quiet about how “perfect” the casting is!
“Syempre masaya!” Gillian gushed when asked how she felt about such comments. “Kasi nga noong unang nilabas na kami ‘yung four sisters, [andaming nagsabing] ‘Bakit sila? Bakit ganito? Bakit ganyan?’ Pero ngayon noong lumabas ‘yung trailer, sobrang happy kasi naapreciate na nila ‘yung ginagawa namin. Nakikita na nila ‘yung characters talaga sa amin.”
“At the beginning, medyo nacha-challenge ako sa role ni Bobbie kasi she’s very complex eh, her character is very complex. You think she’s just cold, pero hindi kasi may deeper meaning lahat ‘yun,” Alexa shared about portraying her character. “And I studied the 2013 film too much na tinatry kong gayahin when dapat hindi kasi this is in 2003, we are different people pa. Kumbaga dito pa lang nabubuo ‘yung mga bugbog, all the hurt, the pain, the memories, the love shared.”
The way their sisterhood formed was effortless too. Gillian eagerly told the story of how their dynamic never changed even when they weren’t shooting anymore. Charlie still acted as their “Ate Teddie” giving advice when they needed it, Alexa took care of Gillian just like her “Ate Bobbie” would, and their youngest, Belle, would always volunteer to clean their hotel room and follow her onscreen sisters’ requests just like “Gabbie” would.
“Parang magic talaga na andoon na agad ‘yung chemistry. Nandoon na agad ‘yung dynamics naming apat as sisters. And not just us eh, pati si Mama and Papa, pati ‘yung ibang cast, ang galing lang as in. Parang magic talaga siya. Kasi nagkakaintindihan siguro kaming lahat, nasa isang page nga kami. Kaya madali lang siya at masaya,” Gillian said.
Of course, much of the credit with regard to that goes to Director Mae Cruz-Alviar who is known for directing LizQuen series “Dolce Amore” and KathNiel film “Crazy Beautiful You.”
“Every time I’m being interviewed and being asked about Direk, I have nothing but good words. ‘Yung respeto namin kay Direk, through the roof. She was amazing the way she handled us. I worked with a lot of directors but it was my first time to experience a director who truly took the time to get to know us individually,” Alexa said.
“Invested talaga siya eh tsaka passionate siya sa ginagawa niya. Kaya nakakahatak po ‘yun. Ang sayang makawork ‘yung mga taong passionate, [na] gusto talaga nila at mahal nila ‘yung ginagawa nila,” Gillian continued.
The film couldn’t have come at a better time too. As the holiday season draws near, “Four Sisters Before the Wedding” will remind us about the importance of forgiveness, selfless love, and family.
“It taught me that love is a conscious decision you make every day. You choose to commit to love a person. It doesn’t have to be romantic, it can be for your family,” mused Alexa. “So sometimes, I know people get stuck on the thought that love is just a feeling. But for me, no. With this movie, it made me realize how you choose to love a person through the good days and bad days and all the days when sometimes you don’t wanna love that person anymore. But you choose to because you know that it’s worth it.”
“Kapag nagmahal ka, ‘yung totoong nagmahal, dapat marunong kang magpatawad,” continued Gillian. “Tsaka kung tunay mong mahal yung mga tao dapat kaya mong at some point magsacrifice din. ‘Yung pamilya mo nandiyan always for you. No matter what happens, kung ano mang challenges or obstacles ‘yung harapin niyo, ‘yung pamilya nandyan lang. Kahit anong gawin mong kalokohan, magkamali ka man, andyan sila to comfort you [and] to be there for you.”
(ALSO READ: LOOK: Alexa Ilacad Gets Sentimental as ‘Four Sisters Before the Wedding’ Shooting Ends)
At the end of the day, the cast and crew of “Four Sisters Before the Wedding” don’t aim to be as “iconic” as its predecessor. All they want is for people to enjoy the movie and to give justice to the Salazar family.
“We know naman na this movie can stand alone and we gave our best talaga, each and every one of us. We poured our hearts into filming this so I hope that the people will see that, will recognize that, and will enjoy the movie,” Alexa shared. “‘Yun lang naman talaga yung goal [at] gusto naming outcome ng movie, na ma-enjoy ng mga tao.”
“Four Sisters Before the Wedding” will be available on KTX.ph (ktx.ph), iWant TFC (tfc.tv), IPTV, Cignal PPV (my.cignal.tv), and Sky Cable PPV (mysky.com.ph) starting December 11, 2020.
Are you excited about this? Share with us your thoughts in the comments!
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