Philippine show business has never been short of love teams. In its 100 years, most notable are the classic tandems of Tita Duran and Pancho Magalona and Susan Roces and Fernando Poe, Jr.; the ‘70s Nora Aunor and Tirso Cruz 3rd; the ‘80s Sharon Cuneta and Gabby Concepcion; the ‘90s Rico Yan-Claudine Barretto; the 2000s’ Marian Rivera-Dingdong Dantes; the 2010’s Maine Mendoza-Alden Richards; and the day’s ever enduring Kathryn Bernardo-Daniel Padilla.
Each pairing widely and wildly popular in their time, most of these celebrities will be first to admit just how heavy the public’s expectation can be for them to turn their tandem from reel to real. While some of them are now happily married or in a relationship, a pair or two had to suffer difficult breakups and a blow to their careers.
This is why The Sunday Times Magazine — via exclusive interview over The Manila Times CSI: Celebrity, Style, Inspiration online show — found the perfect Valentine’s Day feature to be popular screen partners and sought-after actors Iza Calzado and Ian Veneracion. Paired up repeatedly in hit teleseryes and full-length movies, they continuously defy the erstwhile formula to a love team’s success as effective and convincing lovebirds on screen even when they’ve never and will never be romantically involved.
Both happily married today — Veneracion, even when he was first paired with Calzado in a 2008 prime time drama — all the essential sparks fly and the kilig feelings go on overload all the same when these two meet on camera. Their undeniable chemistry was ever present even over Zoom as they talked about their history as co-actors-become-good friends and their excitingly new WeTV Original romantic-comedy series, “B&B: The Story of The Battle Between Brody & Brandy,” which begins streaming today.
How they were during the video interview premiere on Thursday — comfortable, playful and appreciative of each other — was exactly the same from the moment they switched on their cameras pre-taping, until exchanging goodbyes in the end.
“Look at that handsome man!” Calzado quipped as Veneracion’s video came on.
“Mama E!” her leading man beamed, so happy to see Calzado who, as he later revealed, was first to name him “Papa E” after the sound of the first letter of their first names.
Realizing some might find the etymology strange, Veneracion mooted, “We’re both very malabo [unclear],” then summed up exactly what they have when he added, “but we perfectly understand each other.”
To find out just how much they do, enjoy this entertaining and engaging exchange with the unconventional love team of Ian Veneracion and Iza Calzado, who, devoid of public pressure, truly make them the coziest couple on screen and the coolest friends behind it.
STM: Can you take us back to the start of this ‘love team?’ When and where did you first start working together?
Calzado: Ian and I first worked together in the first teleserye that I did, my first big break, ‘Te Amo’ (2003) but we didn’t have a lot of scenes together. Then we did the [fantasy series] ‘Encantadia’ (2005); [the movie] ‘Moments of Love’ (2006); and it was when we did ‘Joaquin Bordado’ when I got to know him better.
That’s when our friendship really started, right? That’s when we started to have rapport?
Veneracion: Yeah and we had so much time to really talk with each other.
Calzado: Correct and that was 2008. I don’t think we did anything after that. And then I moved to ABS-CBN and I remember seeing him doing soaps and suddenly he a matinee idol doing one project after the other! I was so happy for him. And then we did ‘A Love To Last’ and obviously, again, spent a lot of time together.
STM: Becoming good friends behind the camera, do you stay in touch when you’re not working together? And did you, most especially the time Iza had the entire nation worried when she was battling Covid-19?
Calzado: From ‘A Love to Last’ til today, I think we’ve kept in touch not only during tough times or happy times. But definitely during tough times. While I was in the hospital, he did message me, and his was one of the texts I really made sure to read.
Ian is one of those people that I really vibe and get along with. When I’m with him, I don’t have to be someone. I try to be as authentic as I am most of the time but especially with him, I know he will not judge me for some things and vice versa.
I feel that we have a very beautiful friendship and a lot of respect for each other not just as actors but as human beings.
STM: Ian, is there a scene for you in any of your projects with Iza you consider the most memorable?
Veneracion: The beginning scene in ‘A Love to Last’ is one of my favorite scenes of all time. Because our intention is to be authentic in our scene and to feel certain emotions, for me that scene it doesn’t get any more real than that. I was totally in the zone with her. That’s why it’s always special when I work with Mama E. Sometimes magic just happens, and you can’t control that, and it definitely happens over and over again on our new series “B&B.”
STM: Whose idea was it for you to work together again in this online series?
Calzado: I am part of Sangre Inc., the line producers for this project, and it’s for WeTV. Director Mark [Reyes] had this concept of two adults who kind of fight over in a bed and breakfast setting.
And then they pitched Ian-Iza, and of course I got excited, I wanted to work with Papa E.
This is my first time do something like this. Cause normally, I am given very heavy projects — romance drama, horror, psycho thriller, all these things and I love them.
But there is a part of me that always felt that my lightness has never been captured onscreen when this was presented, I was very excited. Because at 38, who gets to do that? Normally you start with rom-coms and you progress to heavy drama. In my case, it was the reverse.
Perhaps, Papa E you are also doing this in reverse — you started in comedy, yes, but then you were in action and a lot of drama — so you’re like new to rom-com genre.
Veneracion: Yeah, it’s nice to do a story like this that’s light not just for us but for our viewers as well. It’s very refreshing because I’ve done different genres from drama to love story-drama or action. This one, I truly enjoyed. The mechanical part is not there so much, it’s the organic part of your job that you have to bring out.
STM: What do you think makes your partnership very effective? How do you develop that ‘magic’ onscreen?
Veneracion: We have the spontaneity and organic chemistry. It’s just really good to work with people that you get along with and so you can give great chemistry.
Calzado: And trust, trust is very important, whatever genre. When you are doing scenes with your co-actor, with your scene partner, you’ll know when you they trust you and when they don’t. You’ll know when they are working just for themselves or they are working with you to make the scene work.
So Ian has always been one of those people who work with you and I’d like to think I work with people as well. That’s why there’s magic.
STM: How do you bring that kilig that younger actors usually bring on the screen?
Calzado: I was proposing that maybe we should do a workshop but because of the time, or the lack of it, at least, there was no opportunity. But you know what, we didn’t need it. Because of our chemistry and history.
Veneracion: Yes, because in workshops you’ll do exercises to build chemistry and trust, but with us, we already have that natural spark and magic. I mean, when we’re together she knows what I am thinking without me saying it and vice versa.
Calzado: But let’s be clear, this is work spark, magic as actors.
These are real emotions when you’re there, we’re not faking it. That’s the beauty of it, that in that moment, you felt it. You don’t have to bring it home. You bring home that feeling like wow I shared that moment with that person, that’s part of my job and that’s a gift but I also would like to honor our spouses because they gave us the opportunity to soar create and express. Not everybody will understand that.
Created and directed by Mark Reyes, with Sunshine Dizon in her first co-directorial stint, WeTV Original’s new romantic comedy series also stars Lovely Abella, Ketchup Eusebio, Ian Ignacio and Emmanuelle Vera. “B&B: The Story of The Battle of Brody and Brandy” premieres today, 7 p.m., exclusively on WeTV and iFlix and will drop two new episodes every Saturday.