On Wednesday, June 15, the management behind Ivana Alawi’s A Family Affair stressed that the series was very different than its predecessor, if not better.
It can be recalled that before Alawi, it was supposed to be Bea Alonzo, who would be the show’s star. Unfortunately, she had to switch networks, putting the series into a hiatus.
In the media launch of A Family Affair, Direk Jerome Pobocan admitted that it was indeed made for Alonzo. But the version of the YouTube star was very different.
“Siyempre unang-una, if this project was tailor-made for Ivana, iba na ito. Malayo na ang itinakbo ng istorya tsaka iba ang casting nun eh. So ngayon, naiba na siya ng husto. It’s basically, an Ivana project,” he explained. “So kung ano man siya in the past, it was in the past. Ito ngayon ay ibang proyekto.”
He even stressed, “Most definitely makikita natin dito sa A Family Affair ‘yung sexuality ni Ivana.”
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Its Creative Manager Jay Fernando also stated that Alawi was their “first choice” to lead the show because of her beauty and personality.
“When you look at the stars now, Ivana is at the top—like a woman desired by a lot. More than that, she is actually also a role model to a lot of women. That is also a character of Cherry rin eh; na she represents the modern woman as well. So she has to be looked up to by women, by girls, and not just desired by men.”
The show was “too good to be shelved,” says Fernando. They changed the whole story to fit into their new star.
“So we racked our brains, we revamped, we edited, we changed the core of the concept, and to make it ten times twenty times better than what was left behind.”
Furthermore, the entirety of the show now revolves around Alawi’s capabilities as an actress.
“When we changed the entire show, all of it—even the core of the conflict. Kasi may magagawa si Ivana na other actresses cannot do and you can see that in the program.”
He added, “May mga magagawa siya that is modern, new, and exciting. That is what we kept and that is what we expanded to make this show completely different, and completely Ivana.”
In her first lead role, the young Kapamilya star will have four leading men in Gerald Anderson, Sam Milby, Jake Ejercito, and Jameson Blake. The series will soon air on June 27 across several international platforms, including The Filipino Channel on cable and iWantTFC online.
