‘FINDING Canseco’ was the original title of the first romantic team-up of Aga Muhlach and Julia Barretto. The film was officially announced last July 2023 and Aga and Julia were introduced to the media before they even started filming in Baguio.

However, seven months after they first announced the film project, the title was changed to a romantic line, ‘Ikaw Pa Rin ang Pipiliin Ko.’

Director Denise O’Hara politely explained that although the film underwent some discussions before they started working.

“We decided that the film must reach out to the newer generation who doesn’t know Canseco, so we changed the title,” Direk Denise said. “This is also our love letter and tribute to George Canseco.

“Canseco was a part of the lives of many Filipinos. In most of the teleseryes, Canseco’s songs became the theme. In events, occasions, there was always a Canseco song in it.

“Why don’t we use his music because his songs are beautiful? So, we honored that. We want the film to appeal to the younger generation, not just those who knew Canseco. We want to bring Canseco to today’s generation.”

The milieu of the film will be the chorale singing the immortal songs of George Canseco. ‘Ikaw,’ in particular, was re-imagined by today’s band, Cup of Jose, with Julia.

Working with Aga admittedly intimidated Direk Denise. “And also Julia,” she said. “But both of them are very humble and down to earth. We didn’t have any problem even once while filming.

After we talked about what we would all do, our filming was a breeze.”

“Aga and Julia are very spontaneous with their characters. Mas organic ‘yung dating. If they want to do something with their character, they were very open to discuss it with me. We talk about every scene they would do.

“I asked them what their characters would do and what approach they wanted to do. They were very particular about their characters.”

Aga disclosed before they even started filming, they had to change a lot of scenes in the script. “We were careful about the thin line of this age gap between me and Julia,” he admitted.

“When it was offered to me, I felt a bit awkward. Whaattt? Hindi naman ako pwedeng maging 30 years old dito. Parang kalokohan na ‘yun

“But I was just blessed as an actor to be able play a role and act with Julia at this point in time who’s in her generation now. it is a blessing to be able to work and experience an actress like Julia at this point and time in my life.

“We analyzed what was off in the script and we removed the lines right away. We had to fix and fix and fix. And then the film came out na napaka linis at magandang panoorin.

“We tried our best. It’s really the choice of the public if they would watch the film or not. Ang buhay namin, as actors, we just do our work, we do it well. We present the film to the public and it’s really their choice if they would watch it or not.”

Aga acknowledged that he’s playing his age as a music professor and conductor (Michael Capistrano) in ‘Ikaw Pa Rin ang Pipiliin Ko,’ which is about a May-December affair. Julia is choir member Jasmine Rodriguez

“The first May-December romance I did was a very serious one,” Aga shared. “I did Sinungaling Mong Puso with Vilma Santos (1992). I was the young guy and Vilma was married. But it was a super serious and controversial film. Ikaw Pa Rin ang Pipiliin Ko with Julia is not like that.”

Aga was only 23 when he did Sinungaling Mong Puso, megged by the award-winning late director, Maryo J. de los Reyes.

Earlier on, when Aga was only 15, he was even paired with Baby Delgado, who played his neighbor in Direk Maryo’s ‘Bagets’ (1984).

Aga finally gave his nod to play his role in ‘Ikaw Pa Rin ang Pipiliin Ko’ because to him, it’s a job. “The role is something assigned to me,” Aga said. “It took a day of discussion with Boss Vic and Boss Vincent (Del Rosario). The first they told me was ‘You’re playing your age.’

“That answered all my apprehensions. As long as I play my age, then I’m okay. Now, we understand. Mahirap naman i-kwento ang pelikula. But when you watch the movie and people see it, we are excited to show this film.

“We had fun doing the movie. It was okay. It was nice. We had fun editing, scoring, doing the trailer. I hope people will watch it.”

Aga wrapped up ‘Ikaw Pa Rin ang Pipiliin Ko’ with Julia, Direk Denise and the production crew for only 11 days.

“We did our best shooting in Baguio,” he said. “I was initially suggesting a lock-in so even if we finished at 10 p.m., we can start early the following day. We can make the call time as early as 7 a.m. and work the whole day. So even if we finish at 8 or 9 p.m., we were not tired.

“We don’t have to consider the traffic going home for 1 hour or two hours. We were just 10 minutes away from where we were staying. It was just a breeze filming in Baguio, one of my favorite places.”

Happily, what broke the ice when they started filming was Julia’s performance. “When we started doing our scenes, I was surprised. Sinakyan ko talaga siya. Ang ganda ng timpla niya. Ang ganda ng ginagawa niya.

“I was even the one who felt ill-at-ease. Julia did something different here. I followed the flow of her character and that made it easier for me. I felt lucky that at my age, I still get to be paired with the younger generation.”

As an actor, Aga is even open to work with a younger actor in BL (boy’s love) type of films. “To work with an actor in his 20’s or in his 30’s, I’ll be happy to do that film,” Aga said. “Something that’s bound to happen soon.

“Call that in God’s perfect time. I can do a serious gay role and act with an older or younger man. These are the things that you can do. You can still experience those kinds of roles through acting.

“We are all blessed in our career lives. At 54, I still get to do films. It may or it may not work, but it’s a chance that’s given to me. I’m grateful for that.”