Ivana Alawi On Working With Four Leading Men In "A Family Affair"

Her rise to social media fame was just the beginning for 25-year-old Filipina-Morrocan star, Ivana Alawi. The vlogger and digital star, who just reached 8 million followers on Instagram and has more than 15 million subscribers on YouTube, is now a leading lady in the upcoming ABS-CBN series A Family Affair. 

Ivana previously appeared in Kapamilya shows Precious Hearts Romances: Araw Gabi, Ang Probinsyano, and Sino ang Maysala?: Mea Culpa.

A Family Affair marks her first-ever lead role in a series. Joining her in the cast are Gerald Anderson, Sam Milby, Jake Ejercito, and Jameson Blake. The four will play the Estrella Brothers, with Sam being the eldest, Dave; Gerald and Jake as Paco and Seb, respectively; and Jameson as the youngest, Drew. The show is directed by Jerome Pobocan (Nasaan ka, Elisa?, Born to Love You) and Raymund Ocampo (Wildflower).

Ivana portrays Cherryred, the common love interest of the Estrella brothers. In a virtual media conference for A Family Affair,  Ivana described the series as “a story of how love and secrets can poison a family.”

She added, “I was so excited nung pinitch siya sa akin. Sabi ko nga, story pa lang okay na ako. Ang ganda-ganda ng storya. It’s something different kasi it’s not just drama. There’s a lot more. It’s very seductive, steamy, sexy, thrilling, mysterious. It’s a very exciting show.”

Direk Raymund described Ivana as being “perfect for the role,” and that he thinks the role was meant for her. Direk Jerome, on the other hand, pointed out her “being a revelation” in this project.

When asked why she decided to star in A Family Affair, Ivana said, “I think the story palang, kasi sobrang nakaka-relate ako kay Cherryred, so nung nabasa ko siya sabi ko it’s perfect, especially for my first lead role na very, ano din, loving sa family.”

She continued, “Bakit ito ’yung perfect time? Kasi ito ’yung binigay ni Lord sa atin na makapag-taping and makapag-prepare.”

Not only is this a first for Ivana, it’s also noteworthy how she’s marking this milestone with four leading men by her side. Ivana said that she goes along so well with her four co-actors, and that it can be a challenge to focus on the set because of how they’re kidding around a lot when they’re all together.

“Lahat kami, ’yung nagpapatawa kami, tapos ’yung, ‘Huy bawal, mag-focus ka nga,’” she shared, laughing. “But aside from that, I’m really enjoying because everyone is very, very nice.”

“Si Gerald, very professional lalo kapag nasa taping tapos nag-i-internalize siya and pumapasok sa character, ang galing talaga. Si Sam naman… ang tagal na sa industriya and sobrang galing. So natatakot akong maka-eksena siya, pero nung first time kaming magkita, puro biro siya. Gusto daw niya comfortable kaming lahat.”

“Si Jameson, very baby boy. ’Yun nga ang tawag ko sa kanya. Parang baby talaga siya. He’s very young and very innocent. Si Jake naman, ’yun ’yung ano, best friend, best friend ko. He’s more of funny. Parang puro kalokohan lang nangyayari. Puro biruan. Ganyan.”

A Family Affair will be aired soon on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, A2Z, TV5, and iWantTFC. The exact date of the series’ release is yet to be announced. 

Lead photo from @ivanaalawi