Anne Curtis, Joshua Garcia, Carlo Aquino lead ‘It’s Okay To Not Be Okay’ Philippine adaptation

The project has been officially announced.

On Friday, May 17, ABS-CBN Studios and its unit Star Creatives held a “project announcement” conference for its upcoming local adaptation of the 2020 hit Korean drama series ‘It’s Okay To Not Be Okay.’

Starring in the Philippine remake will be Anne Curtis, Joshua Garcia, and Carlo Aquino.

Curtis will portray the Filipino version of Ko Moon Young, which was originally portrayed by Seo Yea Ji. Her character will be given the localized name Emilia ‘Mia’ Hernandez.

Anne shared that in 2021, she watched the series and expressed her interest to breathe life to the series’ female lead should it get a local adaptation.

‘It’s Okay’ will also be Anne’s first full-length TV series since ‘Dyesebel’ in 2014.

Meanwhile, Garcia will play the part of Moon Gang Tae, which was the role of Kim Soo Hyun in the South Korean TV series. He will be known as Patrick ‘Patpat’ Gonzales in the adaptation.

Joshua admitted that he feels pressured to be playing the role, but instead of dwelling on that, he said he is going to study the character and try to give it justice.

Aquino will do the local version of Gang Tae’s older brother Moon Sang Tae, the role Oh Jung Se had in the K-drama. His character will go by the name Matthew ‘Matmat’ Gonzales in the Philippine remake.

Carlo said that he did not let go of the project, despite having been tapped to be part of it way back as part of its original casting. 

He said that he believes that the role will be “challenging,” and is something that he says he wants as an actor.

Headwriter and creative manager Henry King Quitain gave a sneak peek about the storyline of the Philippine adaptation and disclosed that there will be changes that have been approved by the Korean studio.

The series might also be possibly set in either the cities of Iloilo or Bacolod in the Visayas.

Mae Cruz-Alviar, who recently helmed popular Kapamilya primetime dramas ‘2 Good 2 Be True’ and ‘Can’t Buy Me Love,’ is on board as the director of ‘It’s Okay To Not Be Okay.’

The director described the casting as a “unique combination” and “a challenge” for her, as she needs to bring out the chemistry between the actors.

Yu Sang Won, Chief Creative Officer of Studio Dragon — the production company behind the original series — also sent in a message for the Philippine team.

He said that he “was very happy to hear that the first country to remake it [It’s Okay To Not Be Okay] is the Philippines and I’m even more excited after hearing that the best actors were cast.”

In the same event, the Philippine adaptation was also confirmed to be streaming on Netflix.

‘It’s Okay To Not Be Okay’ is slated to begin airing later this year.

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