In a recent conversation with Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards, stars of Hello, Love, Again, we explored themes deeply resonant for many in our community—the life of overseas Filipino workers and the universal bonds of family. Kathryn and Alden brought personal insight into the sacrifices and emotional depth required by their roles, reflecting on how these themes cross cultural boundaries and touch us all. Dive into our discussion to see how they connect their own life experiences with the characters they portray, offering a unique perspective on pursuing dreams far from home.
Hi Kathryn. Hi Alden. My name is Neil. I’m with Dorkaholics.
Kathryn Bernardo: Hi Neil!
So, when I was watching the first film, I couldn’t help but relate to your character’s experiences being overseas workers and sending remittances to your family back home. Because my father, being Vietnamese, was sending money back to his mother, his aunts, his cousins. And I just wanted to say like, that was such a relatable experience and you guys did such a great job of portraying those complex emotions.
Alden Richards: Basically, we’re quite surprised that the culture that we have back home applies to some of the Vietnamese culture as well. And I think that most of us Asians, we have this certain core value that family comes first all the time. We work hard for our families. We want to give them a better life. That’s why we work hard every day. And that’s basically, like, one of the major messaging that we have on the film. That’s the message that we want to send to the people that are going to be able to watch it – how much we love our families, the things that we’re doing, willing to sacrifice to give them a better life, is one of the key components that we have. And I think most of the people, even non Filipinos, will relate to [it] as they watch Hello, Love, Again.
Kathryn Bernardo: And I think what made it so special is that we showed all the hardships as well in terms of the Filipinos or the Vietnamese working all over the world. If you’re the one in the Philippines, you’ll expect these people to have a better life just because they’re living abroad, having the time of their lives. But no, it’s not like that. Through this film, I think we were able to show all the hardships, all the sacrifices, and all the things that we don’t get to see every day, especially for the international or OFW workers. So, I think it just made it so real because, you know, every time we go to another country and try our luck out there. It’s not that easy. We have to rebuild everything. We have to start from square one and there’s no assurance to that. So, the sacrifice that we have to make and the courage that we have to possess is really something that I admire. And hopefully the characters were able to show that through the movie.
I certainly think it showed through your characters. Thank you. Do you guys relate to that in a way? Being Filipino actors and actresses, and now expanding the global market with global releases.
Alden Richards: Yeah, I think one way or another, Kathryn and I both relate to our characters very, very much. But in reality, it’s the opposite. I relate more to Joy as Alden, and Kathryn relates to Ethan. So it’s basically two people navigating their life with the circumstances that’s happening and just finding their home and fulfilling their dreams.
I was gonna ask how each of you related to your characters, but it’s interesting that you said you guys relate to each other’s characters.
Kathryn Bernardo: Yes, yes, it’s true. I can relate to Ethan’s character more than Joy. Yes, it’s the other way around.
What about Ethan’s character do you relate to?
Kathryn Bernardo: I think especially if you’ve seen the first part, Hello, Love, Goodbye, I fell in love with Ethan’s character because of his spontaneity, because he’s very spontaneous. He is so fun to be with. He gives this happiness to the people around him. And I think he’s just like a ray of sunshine. It’s something that I really admire especially, but during Hello, Love, Again, it’s a different or a darker Ethan that we get to see. Right. So I think just the way we handle things, I would handle things very similar with how Ethan handles things.
And, Alden, and how did you relate more to Joy?
Alden Richards: Basically Joy is this goal driven, I’ll do everything I can to achieve my dream’-type of character. And maybe that’s how I relate to her so much because the way Joy handles her life is basically she’ll do everything to achieve everything that you want, [or] ever wanted. And right now I’m also on the same page, but, because I’m not getting any younger and there’s been a lot of experiences that I’ve learned from in this lifetime that I have. I think now is the time that I should consider going slow a bit, not to give time for myself as well, but with the way Joy takes on life on an everyday basis is something that I really admire. And the hard work that she gives to give her family a better life and to achieve her dreams is exceptional. She’ll basically go for it, whatever it takes, she’ll give it a shot.
