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[Offciial International Shippers]✿James Reid❤Nadine Lustre✿JaDine✿Real Life Couple✿


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Nadine Lustre: Stargirl

By Karla Bernardo. Photography by Joseph Pascual, styling by Vince Crisostomo and assisted by Paulo Deoferio, makeup by Nadine Lustre, hair by Sydney Helmsley. All shoes from Parisian

It was two days after Christmas, and the streets of Makati were relatively clear. The building where the studio was looked empty, and the elevator that took me to the top floor looked like it was still on vacation mode.

Everyone was still on holiday, except for a few people on the eighth floor who were busy preparing for this cover shoot—a shoot that had to be rushed in order for the issue to make it to the printers.

This was, after all, the new-year issue with one of the biggest (and busiest) stars of the last 12 months. This is a face you see on billboards, on television, on social media, on your favorite fast food joint’s posters, and even on coffee cups at the convenience store. Hers is a name that can only fail to ring any bells if you have been living under a rock. A multimedia triple-threat celebrity is what they call her, although for the rest of us that day at work, she is just Nadine.

I enter the room expecting frenzy, a team of stylists and makeup artists surrounding a big chair, fussing over a star. Instead, I see one brightly lit corner and a girl doing her own makeup. She is sitting on her chair, hair up in rollers, mouth slightly open as she lightly puts on her mascara. If you did not know any better, you would have thought she was just a regular girl.

Nadine actually plays the regular girl quite well. Her repertoire has thus far been composed of girls that represent the ordinary girl, the underdog. She has mastered the entire spectrum of regular girls—from nerdy, pimpled teen to struggling but quirky OFW, and even a hardworking young wife. In a showbiz landscape that downplays the good looks of the star as a major plot point of most narratives, it can be a little tiring.

And it’s not just on the screen; it’s in real life, too. These days, just like a regular girl is a look most celebrities tend to put on. “Look at me, I have no makeup on and I make my own coffee! I’m so normal!” they all say. But it takes a certain type of persona to lend some credibility to this normalcy, especially for very famous personalities. Actresses can act on cue, sure, but with social media making everything so transparent and accessible, they cannot always put a front that audiences will lap up. And so it is kind of disarming to actually see someone being—not acting like—a regular girl with no cameras rolling yet. This was no role, this whole putting her makeup on by herself, enjoying the playlist she created for her own amusement, chatting with people on the set while casually eating salad. This—this was real.

“I’ve always just wanted to be me,” Nadine muses about her career trajectory. “Because who else can I be?”

Nadine’s first outfit is a big shirt with Mariah Carey on it, the image on the album cover of the famous singer’s chart-topper “Rainbow.” On one hand, it made total sense: both are women who had humble beginnings in the industry; they had great talent, but did not have overnight success. Instead, it would take many failed attempts and weak starts before they hit their stride. But on the other, they could not be more complete opposites. Mariah embodied the word diva—she reveled in being one. Nadine is no such thing. She is polite, and does not care much about what she looks like. She casually cleans up the small mess she made of her salad dressing.

“Real” is a word thrown around often when it comes to Nadine. She is part of what is unarguably one of the most famous love teams in the country, JaDine. The other half of this tandem is James Reid, he of the famous abs and surprisingly good acting chops. They can sing, they can dance, they can command entire arenas; and coliseums all over the world. They can make both teenagers and lolas cry. But most importantly, they are #TeamReal: a couple in real life.

But now that they have shattered the glass ceiling as far as the love team narrative is concerned—they’re now officially an item, yay—one wonders what lies ahead. After all, not many celebrities get past the whole masquerade of are-they-or-are-they-not. And so many people, both fans and naysayers alike, have their eyes on the two, awaiting their every move. Some, of course, are quick to predict that their admission will mean the end, that their days as a kilig vehicle are now over since the “mystery” is gone.

“Hindi naman nawawala ‘yun eh (It’ll never go away), it’s part of it. But we just don’t mind them. This is us, this is what we want to do.”

And it is this utter lack of pretension that lets you convince yourself that she’s actually not a regular girl. An ordinary person will most likely feel offended, maybe post a status on Facebook, and make a big deal out of it. An ordinary artista will tweet about it cryptically and will let her fans take the cudgels, even when they have no idea what their idol is saying. But Nadine is neither. She looks at it from the point of view of someone who has gotten a glimpse of fame from the bottom of the ladder and now fully understands all the perils that come with exposure. She will acknowledge it, but let it slide. She knows how to draw the line, like a true class act.

Which is hard to find these days, especially when everyone feeds on big fights and drama. But for Nadine, she is happy to let the drama stay in her fictional life. In real life, she is free to make a narrative of her own, one she can choose to steer in the directions she pleases, now that she has earned her spot as a bankable actress, and perhaps more significantly, a real artist.

“Okay, I’ve got to admit this: I only saw Romeo X Juliet for the first time a few weeks ago,” she shares.

“The Leo and Claire Danes one?” I asked.

“Yeah, ‘di ba!” she said candidly, after we talked about her film and communication background. “Actually, growing up, I wasn’t really that appreciative of movies,” she admitted. “It was only when I was taking the course in college that I grew to have an interest in it.”

This discomfiture is refreshing especially coming from someone who seems to have gotten a good grasp of what show business is all about. She has been in four blockbuster films and two well-received teleseryes. Her schedule requires her to be in front of the camera almost every single day (soap shoots are M-W-F, commercial endorsements go in between). She can project on cue, and she can do it well. She can muster enough vulnerability when the script requires her to walk away from the love of her life at the airport. She can project a serious librarian/teacher ready to chastise naughty millennials when the photographer requires her to. One can say she’s pretty much got the whole actress thing down pat.

Nevertheless, she thinks she can still better appreciate the craft. “When I was in school, I realized that I want to be behind the camera din pala. I like editing, I like making videos.”

For her, making movies seemed to be just as exciting as being in it. This is actually not surprising. If their Always travel video is an indication of her aesthetic, surely she has a lot more to offer.

Aside from wanting to produce short films, she is also keen on creating new music. Her previous album, the eponymous Nadine Lustre, was a success (and is, undeniably, the most frequently replayed OPM album in my Spotify), but given its radio-friendly pop leanings—part and parcel with her branding then—she admits she now wants to explore music that really speaks to her. She names Up Dharma Down as her dream collaboration; and going by the steady stream of music blasting from her Bluetooth speakers during the shoot (Kygo, Banks, and Alina Baraz, to name a few) her taste nestles comfortably between dark R&B and smooth deep house, with a tinge of indie electronic. Quite the opposite direction from her previous endeavors, but very much in tune with her personal aesthetic—very Scorpio, if you ask me.

Although Nadine admits that between her and James, it is the latter who is a better songwriter. “I tried to write, pero I can’t write as well as he does! He can write an entire album!” she says. “But for my album, I want to be hands-on with everything else. Although I want to experiment more, because I like so many styles of music.”

And therein lies the humility that comes with admitting that there is still plenty of room to grow. To expand her horizons and pursue interests that can only deepen her understanding of their profession.

There is a change of tone in her voice when she gets to talk about projects she wishes to engage in independently. “Independently” meaning a lot of things: 1) on her own, 2) with James, but outside film or TV, or 3) outside the confines of what management would normally have them do. She actually finds no qualms in initially being packaged as a particular kind of celebrity.

But she has also reached that point in her life where she can now plot for herself the kind of creative pursuit that will give her a sense of fulfillment. She is fortunate, then, to be working with such talented, brilliant minds as directors—mentors—to guide her through.

“Just the other day, while in the kitchen, as in I was just cooking when suddenly I randomly had an idea for a short film. So I texted Direk Tonet [Jadaone], and told her, ‘Direk, I have an idea.’ She replied, ‘Game, tara!’ It’s just about finding the right time for it, I guess.”

It is easy to feel disillusioned in this industry, given the repeated formulas and run-of-the-mill plots. But Nadine has seen and done enough to understand that the audiences deserve more too. “I think it’s also what the audience wants, to be given something different. And I see nothing wrong with it,” she said when asked about the recent indie vs. mainstream discourse that has been going around. She has been both a spectator and a product, both viewer and actor. She understands the industry as an audience member and actor—and she realizes the value of giving them what works but also putting to the cultural forefront material that will engage the masses in a different way. It’s something she hopes to do one day, when the cosmos gives her the time and freedom to do so. She is, at the end of the day, an evolving creature. Both a piece of art and an artist.

But Nadine is careful about where her passions will lead her. Every choice she has made up to this point has been about achieving that perfect, ideal popstar package. Now, she’s slowly shedding the manufactured sheen, but still maintaining her identity in the process. She still wants to travel the world, even though she’s been to at least three continents in the last 10 months. She wants to make films, she wants to produce her own music, she wants to find more stories to tell. The point is, now, at the top of her game, Nadine can choose.

“I’ve been through it all, I’ve done girl groups, love teams. There’s really a progression, and it’s like that, eventually you’ll have to establish yourself as your own person.”

“Just the other day, while in the kitchen, as in I was just cooking when suddenly I randomly had an idea for a short film. So I texted Direk Tonet [Jadaone], and told her, ‘Direk, I have an idea.’ She replied, ‘Game, tara!’ It’s just about finding the right time for it, I guess.”

It was two days after Christmas, and the streets of Makati were relatively clear. Everyone was still on holiday, but not this girl with a smiling Mariah on her chest. In between the takes, someone on the set quips, “We should be playing Mimi!” but everyone else knew it was no longer necessary. Nadine is Nadine: not-so-elusive a chanteuse, but freer, more relaxed, happy. She belongs no more to the public than to herself.

After the shoot, I found myself with her in the same elevator. She held the door for me and we had a small chat about a book I gave her.

“Aww, thank you! I think I really need this,” she said, before giving me a quick beso. It was a short book about love and hate, something she probably knows a little too well, given the cutthroat industry she is in.

Eight months before, she was a girl I was watching on stage at their concert in Araneta. A few hours ago, she was a person on my Instagram feed whose candid photos I heart. After alighting the elevator, she is still that. But therein lay the difference between the diva on the shirt and the young lady wearing it: Nadine needed no myth or illusions surrounding her, required no glitz or glamour to affirm her worth. She can share her love story like a friend, she can admit her shortcomings openly, she can become the stand-in for the every-woman seeking for happiness in all her shows and still have us root for her. She is still very much a regular girl.

Except that at the same time, she isn’t. And aren’t we all luckier for  it?

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Supreme Cover James Reid 2.0

When you see artistas at a shoot, they’re normally surrounded by their pit crew — handlers, makeup artists, and personal assistants, all working at a frantic pace so that the stars can face the cameras, pack up, and move on to their next photoshoot, taping, or guesting. This glam team is the foundation of respectable industry of show business, but they do tend to put artistas on pedestals, intimidating us common folk by creating a physical barrier between us and them. 

So you’d understand why it was surreal for this author to come to this particular Supreme shoot. It was early in the afternoon at a classic-looking yellow house in Quezon City, and James Reid came in, knocking nonchalantly on the front door. He had driven himself here in a dusty sedan, and he was accompanied only by his friends and collaborators, Paulo Tiongson (@poor.taste on Instagram), and international fashion editor Danyl Geneciran. That’s it — no glam squad, no team, no handlers. Zero frills, 100% chill.

James came to Supreme under a new kind of circumstance. He didn’t ask us to promote a new movie or teleserye. He and his friends came to discuss something that you wouldn’t expect from one of showbiz’ biggest stars: a rebranding. In the publishing industry, the word “rebranding” is an ominous thing (see: Poise magazine in 13 Going on 30). But given that James is currently at the top of his game and seemingly enjoying the benefits of his fame, our question was: Why?

The emancipation of james

James’ answer was Palm Dreams, a forthcoming self-produced album, in which James sings about getting away from it all. James wrore the lyrics for the songs and did the vocals. He and Paulo, a rapper and music producer, worked on the songs on an old beaten-up laptop, in their homes in Australia and the Philippines. Danyl, meanwhile, is an New York-based fashion editor who has worked with EXO’s Sehun, Naomi Campbell, Coco Rocha, and more, and he’s came on board to help James build his image and style (hopefully, Danyl says, to the K-Pop star G-Dragon-like levels).

Hearing James and his collaborators talk about their new project is like a shot of adrenaline. They sound ambitious, yes, with big dreams of taking the local culture scene to the global stage. But then again, it’s James Reid we were talking about, and his massive following — combined with his talent — could actually make those dreams a reality. (We’ve heard the tracks, and they are legit.)

Here is our conversation with James, Paulo, and Danyl. We talk about their new work, their long journey towards starting a revolution in the local music industry, and the transformation of James Reid, Filipino heartthrob, into James Reid, global star.

On ‘palm dreams’

SUPREME: What are the songs generally about?

JAMES REID: I’ve decided to call [the album] Palm Dreams. It’s about really escaping the city life and getting away from problems, getting away from stress and just being my paradise. And also trying to get out of something that’s so controlled. Something that’s more liberating, I guess. And that’s the whole idea with the album. I wanted to make something that’s different from my last album. Something that Filipinos can be proud of. And I want to bring it to the international level—the sounds, the image, the style, and the fashion (everything I’m wearing). You know, bring it to the next level. Because people deserve it.

When did the idea to make the album come to you?

JAMES: It really just started when I met Paulo. I’ve always wanted to make music and I met Paulo in 2014 and I heard he makes music and I like to sing. I thought, let’s make an album together, and let’s make some music. I heard his sound, which is an R&B, hip-hop vibe. It’s the sound that I like. So it started a really long time ago, we made a couple of tracks that really were not to be released, they were really for fun. And I thought as I kept writing more songs, I thought, “it’s really possible.” Then we started on some tracks. Early this year, I got to record all of them.

What was the process of recording this album like?

JAMES: It was funny. Paulo and I recorded on his computer. He has a really old interface because he’s not the richest guy. So we’re just in his apartment with a sock over the microphone so it wouldn’t pop and the software was really old so you’d have to drop it to stop the cracking noise.

PAULO: Funny thing about this project is that you’d think it was a really big budget, like an extravagant, crazy thing. But I think 80% of the project was just done by James and I shirtless with broken aircons in a one-bedroom apartment on a really dirty, broken laptop where the screen wasn’t even functioning. We’d have to plug the HDMI cable into the TV. I didn’t even have a mouse back then. You can have that type of ear and that type of sound, but if you’ve got the talent, you can make it happen.

Pretty much the whole album was made on really cheap Windows laptops with occasional guitar parts for me. And sometimes I’d take James’s voice and put it into programs so it would sound like instruments.

A lot of the electronic music scene is really DIY. There’s no big studios.

PAULO: There’s no division between us and them. We’re the same guys doing the same thing. And what James and I wanna do is build some bridges and create infrastructure for the indie scene to make it to the world market. Because James has the spotlight. He has the capacity to make everyone drink Milo everyday. Why not use that capacity to make the Philippines prosper artistically? I mean you got good hands, put music in good hands, and let that spread, mga bes.

Seeds Of Disruption

How did you approach your label [Viva] with the idea?

JAMES: I just talked to boss Vic [del Rosario, Jr.] and said I wanted to make my own album with my own producer, and he said go for it. He was completely okay with it. He let me do my own thing with this album. He just has a lot of faith in me.

Did anything trigger your decision to do something different?

JAMES: Everyone feels the same. They feel like it’s so hard for someone to make it big in the music scene and release music that’s artistic, that’s real, that’s not “manufactured” for the masa. I wanted this [album] to be something that people could relate to because it’s cool. Ever since I started making music, it’s a known fact by everyone that the industry constantly needs change.

PAULO: We’re not even just trying to educate the Filipino masa. We’re trying to let them have what they want.

JAMES: What they deserve.

PAULO: Because when you sit down in a jeepney or something, they’re playing really nice English-speaking pop music. They’re listening to Drake, they’re listening to The Weeknd—all the stuff that apparently the market’s not ready for. But they’re absorbing it. So why not let a Filipino face carry that flag and just go, I can do what they’re doing and make it just as good, if not better and say I’m still a Filipino, I belong to you guys. So we’re just letting them have what they always needed.

Danyl, what’s this we hear about a new image for James?

DANYL GENECIRAN: I think 2017 is the year for change. James has a really good image and branding right now, and he has a loyal following. So, in terms of the branding and the styling, I think the way I would style him would be dressing with creativity and freedom with a hint of adventure. Dressing with individuality. He’s doing really good music right now, and I wanna help him go beyond that. My plan is to bring this guy to Europe, to fashion week, give him a character in the fashion scene.

Like a K-Pop star. Like G-Dragon.

DANYL: G-Dragon is a good reference. Like A$AP Rocky, Pharell Williams.

James Reid: There’s been several times where, especially for magazine shoots where my styling has been very adventurous, like the last shoot I did with BJ [Pascual]. It was quite androgynous. I think I pulled it off. It grabbed peoples’ attention, it hasn’t been done yet in the Philippines where they have an artist with my kind of following be that adventurous, but I like the idea of going beyond walls. Danyl wants to bring me on an international level. Like designer brands, high fashion, but also street. 

What will the fans think?

How do you think the JaDine fans will react to it?

JAMES: I like acting, I do. A lot of it I do for the Jadine fans because they’ve done so much for me. Everything that I do is all for them. Even this music. I know they’re gonna love the music as well. I want to be true to my self. Especially with the songs and the music videos, it’s my story. With the videos, I expect people to have positive and negative feedback. But I’m really telling the story of my life that happened in the last two, three years. The start of my year, to when I got in  the love team, to when me and Nadine got together.

How did Nadine react to the album?

JAMES: She loves it. It’s called I Love to Love You. A lot of the songs are actually directed at Nadine, but a lot of them were also written before then.

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Hi @Mei99 I'm really grateful you made this thread but if you can and have an extra time i have a request about the first post, more than shipper forum i want the first post will give all information about their filmography, television drama, awards and nominations, variety shows, reality shows, music, ambassadorship, endorsements, and etc like in actor&actress forum, sorry for bothering you and thank you for your attention. ah if you want and need help then I would be ready to help you :)

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3 minutes ago, ailanthus said:

Hi @Mei99 I'm really grateful you made this thread but if you can and have an extra time i have a request about the first post, more than shipper forum i want the first post will give all information about their filmography, television drama, awards and nominations, variety shows, reality shows, music, ambassadorship, endorsements, and etc like in actor&actress forum, sorry for bothering you and thank you for your attention. ah if you want and need help then I would be ready to help you :)

sure i need help 

 

since otwol airing other countries i dedicated this to international fans of them

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3 hours ago, Mei99 said:

sure i need help 

 

since otwol airing other countries i dedicated this to international fans of them

Thank you so much because ya this forum will be helpful to their international fans so maybe I'll start gathering the required information and then I submit to you or how?

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