It’s been a year since his highly publicized breakup with Mega daughter KC Concepcion, but it seems Piolo Pascual continues to be haunted by ghosts of unconfirmed rumors as he chose to keep mum about the controversial split.

Regardless of all the social media bashing and threats about exposing his alleged secrets, nobody can deny the fact that Piolo remains to be one of the most talented and good looking actors in the industry. It’s even quite unfortunate that his most recent film and TV series has underutilized his talent and wasn’t the most memorable of his works.

Still, you won’t hear any complaints from the Kapamilya actor, and even though he could easily top bill the upcoming movie 24/7 In Love with any of the leading ladies of Star Magic, Piolo opted for a more unique and challenging role, which he said “was just too good to pass up.”

Piolo shares the limelight in one of the episodes with child wonders Zaijan Jaranilla and Xyriel Manabat, whom he has worked with in the teleserye Noah. He plays the role of Pipoy, a 35-year-old mentally challenged man who lives in an orphanage and is happy spending his days with his best friend, Jomar. However, their friendship is shaken when new girl Ayie, played by Xyriel, enters the picture.

As the movie tackles various kinds of love, The Manila Times asked Piolo what kind of love their story represented and why he decided to accept the role and.

“Our episode is about valuing friendship, and when it was pitched to me sinabi sa akin na ang ka-love triangle ko is yung dalawang bata. So sabi ko how do you that especially with all the love stories at hand. Pero when I read the script, nagustuhan ko yung character and yung nobility ng puso niya. So I guess it was a challenge for me to accept the role na masasabi ko na once in a lifetime. It was hard but it was a chance na di ko siya pwede palampasin,” the hunky actor replied.

Is he happy with the role given to him?

“For me, I consider it as one of the more challenging roles I’ve had. Akalain mo ba naman na at my age gaganap ako na seven years old at ka love team ko si Xyriel and ka love triangle si Zaijan? So I tried to level with them and it became easier. Naging masaya kasi kulitan lang walang worries, mga bata kasi so walang problema. Working with these talented kids made me realize na ang sarap pala maging bata kasi wala kang inisip na problema trabaho ka lang, acting ka lang.”
 
Valentines in November
Christmas may be just a few weeks away, but it will feel like Valentine’s Day all over again this Star Cinema movie that celebrates the 20th anniversary of talent arm Star Magic.

“It’s all about love, being 24/7 in love and every minute, every day there’s love in the air, as each story takes on a different aspect of love,” noted Piolo.

The movie features an ensemble cast including Angelica Panganiban and John Lloyd Cruz; Bea Alonzo and Zanjoe Marudo; Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson; Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla; Maja Salvador and Diether Ocampo; and Sam Milby and Pokwang.

More ‘Cinco’ than ‘New Year’s Eve’
As the movie features several stories within a story, comparisons are easily immediately made to the Hollywood flick New Year’s Eve, but the directors revealed that 24/7 will be more similar to the horror flick Cinco in terms of story-telling.

“It’s like those romantic comedies with ensemble casts, but in terms of the flow of the narrative, it will be more like Cinco where there is one main story arc that connects all the other episodes,” explained director Frasco Mortiz. He is one of the movie’s four directors, namely Mae Cruz, Dado Lumibao, and John-D Lazatin.

Will it be a grand buffet of talent or would more like the adage, “Too many cooks spoil the broth?”

The directors conveyed that the story had already been completed when it was presented to them so continuity was never much of an issue. “We all worked together to discuss the story, and closely collabo-rated with each other. We may have different styles in directing but when we watched the rushes, feeling ko we succeeded in making it seamless. ‘Di mo maramdaman na iba iba director, but malalaman mo pa din yung style ng director, so ‘di siya chopseuy, Direk Frasco concluded.

24/7 in Love will be shown on November 21 in theaters nationwide.