NASUGBU, BATANGAS??We have the same taste in food, except for his penchant for exotic dishes. He likes fried worms and crawling ants,? said actress Marian Rivera in Tagalog, while sharing sliced green mangoes and bagoong (shrimp paste) with boyfriend Dingdong Dantes.

We were in the sprawling Canyon Cove Resort, where Inquirer Entertainment was visiting the real- and reel-life couple on the set of the GMA 7 drama series ?Endless Love.? Marian had taken a break and just finished a sandwich when the plate of mangoes was served. ?We always slice out the crust from loaf bread. We both like kamias with rock salt. Dapat ang tubig may yelo,? she said. Dingdong also had a small serving of cashew nuts.

Talking eyes

Marian said liking the same things helped her and Dong become effective actors. She explained: ?We are able to better help one another. We can talk with our eyes. One look, and I know what he wants.?

?Endless Love? is about Johnny (Dingdong) and Jenny (Marian), who grew up thinking they were siblings. Their lives are disrupted when they learn of a baby-switching case in the hospital where Jenny was born.

?It?s tough playing Jenny,? Marian admitted. ?Unlike her, I?m not the type to keep quiet when treated shabbily. Dong put it succinctly: ?Mahirap sa kanya maging mabait.?

For director Mac Alejandre, the challenge in creating this local adaptation of a Korean hit series is not in ?Filipinizing? the story. ?It?s how to keep the viewers on this emotional journey. It could be exhausting,? he said.

He was shooting ?Endless Love? the way he would a feature film, Alejandre said, especially in scenes that required ?capturing the nuances of an emotion.? He once made Marian work on a scene from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., just walking along a corridor, he said. ?I made her walk again and again, but while expressing different feelings.?

Janice de Belen confessed she was excited about portraying Suzette Cruz, Jenny?s embittered mom. In fact, she drove four hours from Manila to work on three minor scenes. ?All my life, I?ve played kind and weak characters. I?m having fun doing this,? said Janice, whose character maltreats Jenny. Janice was suited as Suzette?for this episode, in a printed gray shirt and a long skirt?when she came out to chat with us.

Fashionable character

Dennis Trillo, who plays Jenny?s ardent suitor Andrew Tantoco, said he was just getting used to portraying a wealthy and fashionable character. ?Ang mga roles ko, palaging mahirap na tao. Now I have a stylist, Odi Simpao. He dresses me up in trendy clothes,? said Dennis, who was in a pin-striped button-down shirt and a pair of khaki pants.

In fact, he was here at 7 a.m. prepared to do over 20 scenes. He had done half of that at the time of this interview. ?A teleserye takes so much of an actor?s time. It?s time away from loved ones?but I?m just happy to be working,? said the award-winning actor, who has a 3-year-old son, Calix.

Typhoon casualty

?Antsy? was how Nadine Samonte said she felt. Nadine plays Johnny?s sister Shirley Garcia. One of the things she was working on that day was a kissing scene with Dennis.

?I will see him in the swimming pool, join him and then seduce him,? the 22-year-old related. ?I?ve never done that, so it?s making me very nervous.?

?We?re a few days behind because of the recent typhoon,? said Alejandre. He had come from two other locations?at the Tagaytay Royale for scenes with Dingdong, and at the nearby town plaza to work with Gabby Eigenmann, who plays Jenny?s abusive brother Jojo.

Birthday off

?I won?t work on Aug. 2,? we heard Marian telling one of the production managers. ?It?s Dong?s birthday.? Dingdong turns 30 then; she will be 26 on Aug. 12.

?I hope to go somewhere with him to celebrate our birthdays,? she later told Inquirer. ?It?s a place for kids...I?ve been everywhere with him, but not this place.?

Disneyland? Marian smiled and said we got that right.

E-mail mcruz@inquirer.com.ph.