- Alden Richards likened to Jericho Rosales.
- The Gift director praised Jericho’s humility despite his success.
The Gift director LA Madridejos sees Jericho Rosales in Alden Richards.
Prior to The Gift, Madridejos and Richards had already worked together on the 2013 GMA epic serye Indio where Alden played the young Bong Revilla Jr.
In an interview during The Gift‘s press con, Madridejos said he didn’t expect that Alden would remain the same despite the huge success of his latest film Hello, Love, Goodbye.
“Ngayon po nagugulat ako, ini-expect ko na. Alam niyo naman yung mga artista, coming from a big hit [Hello, Love, Goodbye], P800 million [ang box-office gross], may some air na…Pero itong si Alden, wala,” said Madridejos.
The director also added how Alden loves people. He sometimes wanted to scold the actor because of the latter’s closeness to the audience during their shoot, a characteristic he once saw with Jericho Rosales.
“Nagugulat pa nga ako kasi gusto ko siyang pagalitan minsan. Pinagbibigyan ni Alden yung audience. Halimbawa, sa taping namin sa Divisoria, may nakita siyang bata, may nakita siyang matanda, gusto niyang lapitan. Siyempre, kapag nilapitan niya yung isa, magre-react lahat, pero hindi maalis kay Alden.The same thing na nakita ko dati kay Jericho Rosales,” Madridjos explained.
“Si Echo kasi noon, galing siya sa baba, so yung affinity niya sa mga tao, talagang hindi nawawala. Ganyan din si Alden, hindi niya maitago,” he added.
Alden and Jericho share the same connection with Eat Bulaga.
Jericho started his career with Eat Bulaga when he won Mr. Pogi in 1996. Alden, on the other hand, became a phenomenon with Eat Bulaga‘s Kalyeserye brought him and onscreen partner Maine Mendoza together to form AlDub.
Alden currently stars in GMA network’s latest teledrama The Gift.
According to direk LA, The Gift‘s storyline is a big challenge for them because it is focused on Alden’s character’s clairvoyant abilities.
“May part kami na ipapakita na hindi namin alam kung paano tatanggapin ng mga tao, yung gift ni Alden, yung clairvoyance niya. Challenging talaga siya, kung paano tatanggapin ng lahat,” said Madridejos.
The Gift is Alden’s follow up teledrama after Victor Magtanggol.