Sharon and KC: Plot thickens between mother and daughter

There are no reports, as of press time, that actor KC Concepcion has been offered a guest performance slot in the reunion concert of her long-separated parents Sharon Cuneta and Gabby Concepcion on 27 October at MOA Arena.

KC has been here since the last week of August to promote a US-produced film she topbills, Asian Persuasion, directed by award-winning Fil-American Broadway and off-Broadway producer Jhett Tolentino. She has been based in the US since last year, purportedly to study gemology there. She became a gemologist here in the country years after she came back from Paris where she pursued a degree in International Communication.

The daughter has made known in practically all the interviews she has given, including at the press conference for Asian Persuasion held recently in Manila House at BGC, that she feels she has to perform with her parents in their reunion concert because — "guys, remember na ako ang nag-iisang anak nila, wala nang iba."

Some suspect it must be KC who convinced her Asian Persuasion producer-director to do a promo visit in the Philippines in middle or late August because she already knew that her parents would have a reunion project around the same time.

There's a report that her parents first teased their upcoming reunion on 29 July with a clip showing silhouettes of a man and a woman beside each other while an instrumental track of Cuneta's "Dear Heart" plays in the background. Dear Heart is the title of the very first Sharon-Gabby movie.

KC has said in interviews that it would be the first time that she would see her parents together in happy and warm moments, and that those moments could lead to a friendship between the two of them. Cuneta has admitted many times that she and Gabby aren't even friends, and they don't call each other.

A few days ago, the Megastar let out a cryptic post addressed to "one of her children."  This was just after KC vaguely explained why she unfollowed on Instagram her stepfather, former senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan, and stepsister Frankie.

KC implied that there are many issues and complications involved in her relationships with her stepfather and stepsister. "I just want my life to be peaceful," she said.

On Instagram on Wednesday, 30 August, Cuneta posted a screenshot of a famous line from the book Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson, which she captioned "From Peter Pan… For one of my four children."

The quote read: "Every kind of love, it seems, is the only one. It doesn't happen twice. And I never expected that you could have a broken heart and love with it, too, so much that it doesn't seem broken at all."

She wasn't done yet. In a separate post, Cuneta shared another quote, this time from Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie, which she captioned: "Never, ever let go of that child in you… I have never."

The quote: "'Why can't you fly now, mother?' 'Because I am grown up, dearest. When people grow up they forget the way.' 'Why do they forget the way?' 'Because they are no longer gay and innocent and heartless. It is only the gay and innocent and heartless who can fly.'"

Is the plot thickening between mother and daughter? Will KC come up soon with her own set of quotes from her readings?

World premiere

Meanwhile, according to producer-director Tolentino, Asian Persuasion will make its world premiere at the SOHO International Film Festival in New York City on 16 September and will open in Philippine theaters on 29 November. It was the Megastar that Tolentino first called up to offer KC the lead role in the film, after actor-host Toni Gonzaga suddenly told him she couldn't do the film anymore due to schedule conflict. This withdrawal came after Tolentino said he had paid for Gonzaga's working visa in the US.

The film, shot in April and May last year, is fully in English. It's a romantic comedy, which is why KC said she accepted it. She wants to be happy at this point; KC is now 38, with a known boyfriend, Steve Michael Wuethrich, a Swiss-Filipino banker based in Zurich, Switzerland.

The cast is composed entirely of Fil-Am and Asian-American actors. KC's two love interests in the story are Dante Basco and Paolo Montalban.

Written by first-time screenwriter Mike Ang, Asian Persuasion tackles the subject of divorce, nonlinear romantic relationships and the cultures of the Asian-American diaspora in a relatable and heartfelt way. The film's setting is New York City.

The production said its over 400 crew, cast, staff, vendors, collaborators and investors are 90-percent women, Asian-American, POC (People of Color) and/or LGBTQIA+. In total, over 15 Asian nations are represented in this production, including the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, Korea, Vietnam, China, Indonesia, India, Hong Kong, Japan, Mongolia, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Writer Mike Ang and KC's co-stars Montalban and Kevin Kreider attended the BGC presscon via Zoom.

The film also features Black Eyed Peas' Apl.de.Ap, Yam Concepcion, Rachel Alejandro, Rex Navarrete and Tony Labrusca.