Alessandra De Rossi and Piolo Pascual revealed how their real-life best friend relationships with TJ and Director Joyce Bernal inspired My Amanda.
In the interview, Alessandra revealed that TJ (Piolo’s character) has a real-life counterpart.
“Okay, this story is very personal to me because it’s about my friendships, literally. My guy best friend’s name is TJ, and he’s PJ. I just used the real name and even how we call each other, Fuffy and Fream, but of course, the story has nothing to do with real life.”
She then shared how their relationship reflects Amanda (Alessandra) and TJ (Piolo) dynamics as best friends.
“I just used the dynamics of the friendship because I wanted to share a different kind of love story. It’s a friendship that’s intimate and not superficial, rare and sincere. That’s what I wanted to talk about because all Pinoys are fans of romcoms.”
Alessandra also debunked common Pinoy misconceptions when it comes to friendships between the opposite sex.
“I have the closest friendships with men. I call them boys, not men, and they treat me like a guy. I treat them like my older brothers, and it’s something that I wanted to share with Filipinos also. A guy and a girl can be friends.”
Then, Alessandra shared that she also pulled inspiration from Piolo and Director Joyce Bernal’s friendship in writing the characters.
“This film was also inspired by me watching him, and Joyce Bernal treat each other like, ‘Come here, kiss me.’ I said, ‘This is so entertaining. My best friend and I are the same. I think I should make a movie.”
Piolo, who also produced the film, agreed, “Yes, we were a point of reference as well.”
He also revealed the behind-the-scenes dynamics between Alessandra (Director) and Joyce Bernal (Creative Director) during the filming of My Amanda.
“What’s nice about their relationship is they’re open. They learn from each other, especially you from director Joyce, but she was there the whole time, even during the shoot.”
As for their film, My Amanda lands on Netflix with a global release on July 15.
It follows two unusually close friends TJ (Piolo) and Amanda (Alessandra), who share every aspect of their lives together. As their lives evolve, their bond remains the only constant.
