Remember that scene in Marriage Story, when Adam Driver, as Charlie Barber, burst into a song after he heard a few bars coming from the piano? Driver stood up and sang the most popular anthem from Stephen Sondheim’s The Company complete with all the feelings of a man who experienced the ecstasies and agonies of being in and out of love. And boy, when you watch and hear him interpret the song, something inside you would want to scream.
This pushing and pulling of feelings is the current preoccupation of those who watch the latest boy’s love offering, Inn Love, written by MJ Diaz and directed by Rodel Mercado.
The first two episodes, as of this writing, received cumulative views of 80 thousand in just two weeks of being on their channel. The third installment, it is safe to say, is set to garner a substantial amount of love and support as well.
With its successful debut, it made me ask what does Inn Love the series possess that arouses curiosity of the most cynical and jaded audiences who are alien to the givens of the BL genre. With the engagement and views that it achieved and clocked so far, BL aficionados are obviously smitten and wanting more.
“Inn Love the Series is the finest sampling of an authentic concept of love which resonates to all,” answers director Mercado when asked to comment about the curiosity of many to the BL.
“It is fun to watch two people who are slowly but surely discovering romantic feelings for each other and I believe that we are able to show the importance of a community in providing emotional support, acceptance, and respect of ’ freedom of choice, especially in the matter of love and romance.”
Mercado is glad for the positive reception the BL series gets.
“To those who do not like it, I still am grateful for their taking time to watch it. I know my BL is far from being perfect but the fact that our views are growing steadily, we are receiving enthusiastic comments from the majority, ang sarap sa pakiramdam. I think we must be doing something good.”
Giving life, love and lust to Gino is actor VJ Mendoza. He has appeared in more than 70 commercials in the last five years, and is the main man you see in an advertisement for a bank and cracker.
In the movies, his credits include “Lovely Sundays” an international film shot entirely in Taiwan and in the highly-acclaimed sequel of “Die Beautiful”, “Born Beautiful”, he was the scene-stealing fairy named Princess.
“For the longest time, in my roles on TV dramas or in films, I always play the best friend, tropa, so to portray Gino, and bida pa, is an all new experience for me,” says Mendoza. “I like giving life to him because he is such an honest person. Always truthful to his feelings. He has his own set of insecurities which is normal. And the fact that his imagination goes ballistic from time to time pero nakatuntong siyang lagi sa lupa, I think that is the major reason why many can relate to him.”
His thoughts on his leading man, Migo de Vera,“What can I say to him who is tall, dark and handsome and has no qualms with all his thirst traps scenes? Kilig!” exclaims VJ. “It is easy to work with him because he is a giving actor. Off camera, he is a totally different person, makulit, mabiro but once the shoot starts to roll, grabe ang transformation niya. I am happy na first time kong magka-leading man, eh it is Mgo.”
Migo De Vera who is Alex in this sugar and spice and all that is nice BL is a licensed electrical engineer. This model and actor is also a content creator in different social media platforms since 2018. As a matter of fact his IG stories that focus on travel, fitness, fashion, and lifestyle have a solid following.
“What makes my character endearing is his capacity to love,” replies De Vera to the query on what he likes most about his character. “He is a romantic. He is in the process of moving forward because in the beginning of the BL, he is broken hearted. I like the fact that despite what happened to him, hindi siya bitter. He still believes in happily ever after. His heart knows that he must not never give up on love.”
“I believe the reason why we are getting a considerable amount of viewership for the show is because it has no pretensions, it as an honest depiction of people who goes to the motion of being in love and nagkataon lang, they are of the same gender assignment.”Migo;s explanation on the BL’s viewership. “And nakakakiig kasi ang mga interaction namin ni Gino, kuma-KathNiel level.”
Adding more sizzle and scorch to the BL are Niel Lariosa as Derrick, a model who is accidentally attracted to Gino and Rey Correjado as Louise, the manager of the inn who secretly admires Alex. Larioso is also the composer and the singer of the BL’s main theme song, “Inn Love Na Ako Sa ‘Yo.”
Director Mendoza ends, “Inn Love promises to give you cheers, good vibes and all the icings and trimmings of a different and special kind of love. Please continue to support and view us and thank you, for believing and enjoying the love story of Gino and Alex.”
Inn Love the Series, airs every Saturday, 8:00 p.m., on the FLP Channel on YouTube.