Lilybeth G. Rasonable, GMA senior vice president for Entertainment Group, during a media conference on Friday, March 11, assured the public that the Philippine adaptation of the hit 2020 Korean drama Start-Up will be a “good one.”
Rasonable is confident that the audience will like the new show following the success of the Pinoy remake of Descendants of the Sun.
She said, “Of course, palaging may risk na hindi mo masa-satisfy naman lahat ng fans ng show, e. But we’re just hoping that we will be able to do a good job doing the remake in the Filipino way na mas magugustuhan sana ng audience. Gusto naman natin iyon mangyari in the same way na noong Descendants of the Sun ay we did not disappoint.
“Of course, marami rin namang comments noon and even bashing noong lumabas yung Descendants of the Sun, hindi nila in-expect ganito ganyan. Pero when they finally saw it and watched it, tumigil na yung mga reklamo or bashing because they saw that we did our best, and I think we really did a good job. So I am confident, we have that experience backing us up that this [Start-Up] will be a good one, another remake that will be a good one for our Filipino audience.”
The upcoming show will be headlined by Bea Alonzo and Alden Richards.
Rasonable said the cast members of the Start-Up Pinoy remake were meticulously chosen.
“Actually, it was a long, tedious process of arguments between the production—iyong writers, director, kami, may kanya-kanya kasing idea kung sino ang babagay. Lahat, of course, nakapanood. Ako, personally, talagang I really loved the show so kapag nag-isip ka ng casting, gusto mo idikit talaga. So, at the end of the day, kailangan may consensus kami kung sinong pinakabagay, bagay din kay Alden at kay Bea. Sino iyong bagay na kapatid, sino pinakabagay na magpo-portray na grandmother, all of those things.
“In the next few days, mari-reveal na unti-unti the rest of the cast. I just can’t do it now because we have a grid with CJ ENM on the promotion of this show and we’re bound to that, but it will come in the next few days.”
Rasonable said the stars aligned with Richards to star in the first-ever Kapuso series with Alonzo.
She then revealed, “Iyong sa pagpili kay Bea and kay Alden, actually, noong papasok si Bea, talagang inisip namin si Alden ang magiging partner niya for her first project. We really looked for a material na babagay sa kanila. And Alden has always expressed also, including Bea, na gusto nila gumawa ng isang Korean adaptation. And we have been looking… kumbaga, sabay-sabay siya nangyari, it was not one thing that happened [after another]. Sabay sabay nangyari.
“We have been looking for a material that we can adapt after doing the successful Descendants of the Sun to the time we were already talking with Bea. Then, at the same time, we were already thinking of the next project of Alden. So, kumbaga, the stars aligned kaya nangyari iyong Start-Up, kaya nangyari iyong Bea-Alden casting para sa Start-Up.”
Start-Up aired on tvN from October 17 to December 6, 2020. It starred Bae Suzy, Nam Joo-hyuk, Kim Seon-ho, and Kang Han-na. The series revolves around a woman who has dreams of becoming an entrepreneur like Steve Jobs, and her love triangle between a man who is secretly her first love and another man who is pretending to be her first love.
