How JM Ibarra and Fyang Smith navigate expectations on- and offscreen
As JM Ibarra and Fyang Smith looked forward to their transition from reality TV celebrities to full-fledged romantic leads on the big screen, one word kept coming up: expectation. If anything, Ibarra first felt it when he found out that his breakthrough performance in the Cinemalaya 2025 entry “Child No. 82” ultimately led to the “JMFyang” love team’s debut film, “Almost Us.”
Impressed by Ibarra’s acting and sensing his potential, director Dan Villegas looked up the actor online and ended up going down a rabbit hole of kilig videos featuring him and Smith.
Villegas, who hasn’t done a romantic comedy since 2018, felt the same kilig—so much so that, a few days later, he sent a message to Regal Entertainment’s Keith Monteverde, telling him that he was finally ready to do another one.
“I got nervous because I knew their feedback came with expectations,” Ibarra tells Lifestyle Inquirer. And when he visited Villegas’ Instagram page, what greeted him was a photo of the filmmaker holding a Gawad Urian trophy. This is the man behind “English Only, Please,” “#WalangForever,” and “The Breakup Playlist”—titles that helped define modern Filipino rom-coms.
Dramatic chops
That Villegas felt compelled to revisit the genre because of JMFyang wasn’t lost on Ibarra. “I was like ‘Okay, ‘di pwedeng chill lang—kailangan paghusayan talaga namin,” he says.
While observers found Ibarra’s dramatic chops in “Child No. 82” a revelation, many were also surprised to learn that Smith is uncannily at ease in front of the cameras, with undeniable sass and comedic timing—something she has already shown in their iWant series “Ghosting.”
Regal’s Roselle Monteverde likened Smith’s personality and onscreen nuances to those of Maricel Soriano. This is no passing praise. If there are a few people who know the “Diamond Star,” she would be one of them, because they practically grew up together within the film company.
Smith is grateful, but she must admit that being complimented for her acting will still take a bit of getting used to. “Happy ako na na-a-appreciate nila ‘yong trabaho ko, ‘yong mga pinaghirapan ko. But at the same time, nahihiya ako,” Smith tells Lifestyle Inquirer. “‘Di ko alam kung ano isasagot kasi alam kong ‘di sapat ang thank you lang.”
Effortless chemistry
Together, Ibarra and Smith—perhaps owing to the bond they have formed inside “Pinoy Big Brother: Gen 11”—register onscreen in a way that looks natural and belies the fact that they have only been acting since 2024.
That trailer for “Almost Us” already makes that evident. Whether in lighthearted banter or heavy confrontation, the two appear evenly matched and complementary. Yes, the chemistry comes off as effortless, but there’s also a great deal of discipline and preparation behind it. Ibarra and Smith always came on set with their lines memorized, Villegas says, and they were more than willing to share their own takes on the screen.
Showing this May 6, “Almost Us” follows the well-worn but still beloved trope of best friends falling in love—only this time, the competing love interest exists only in the imagination. Kind of fitting for a love team whose fans call themselves “Besties.”
Janine (Smith), a fan fiction writer, lives in a fantasy world of her own making, where her idol, Kenzo (Dustin Yu), is her dashing leading man. Meanwhile, RR (Ibarra), the childhood best friend secretly in love with Janine, is so far gone that he prioritizes her over his own well-being. However, he can only stay by her side, casting longing glances as Janine goes about her fangirling ways.
“Bulag ako sa realidad. Puro ako fantasy… Ako ‘yong nagsusulat, and every time I write stories, they play out in my head,” Smith says. “Ako’y isang manhid na babae kaya ‘di ko napapansin ang best friend ko kahit nasa harapan ko na siya.”
Social media makes yearners
If you have seen Jolina Magdangal and Marvin Agustin in “Labs Kita… Okey Ka Lang?” or Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson in “Paano Na Kaya,” then you more or less know where Janine and RR are headed.
Or do we? In any case, this kind of plot continues to resonate for the simple reason that it keeps happening regardless of generation.
“Maraming nakakaranas. Maraming best friends ang nagkakainlaban. I guess that’s something you can’t help sometimes, if lagi kayong magkasama, if siya lagi ang sandalan mo, if siya ang takbuhan mo kapag gusto mo ng kausap,” Smith says.
And almost always, this kind of dynamic ultimately boils down to one question: Should you confess and risk ruining the friendship? “You have that option. What if gusto ka rin niya?” she adds. “But that’s a risk you have to take.”
The yearning best friend—or yearning, for that matter—is nothing new in rom-coms or in real life. But this phenomenon feels especially magnified these days, Ibarra says, because there’s that word again: “expectation”—set by social media.
“Nabubuo ang standards nila from what they see on social media. So I feel like ang daming taong nahihiya mag-confess kasi natatakot sila na baka ‘di ma-meet ‘yong expectation or standard ng tao na gusto nila,” he says. “Dito nag-me-make sense ‘yong sinasabi ng mama natin na, ‘Kaka-cellphone mo ‘yan!’”
And if you find yourself competing with an idealized vision of what a partner should look or be like, you start to question whether you will ever be enough. “Whether it’s your appearance or anything else, ma-e-expose ‘yong insecurities mo,” Ibarra says. “Maybe if we didn’t have social media, mas maraming confident sa sarili nila.”
Prefect is what we make of it
While the movie centers on romance and friendship, “Almost Us” also serves as a love letter to the fans. Smith is used to being chased and admired, but as Janine, she finally gets to be on the other side of the fangirling equation.
“Matagal ko nang na-a-appreciate ang mga fans at tropa namin. Sobrang grabe pala talaga sila, kung paano sila mag-effort. Kahit gaano kalayo, dadayo talaga sila para makita ang idols nila,” she says. “Because of this movie, lalo ko na-appreciate ang mga taong sumusuporta sa ‘kin.”
But while it looks at the love and dedication fans give their idols with fondness, the film is also a reminder that the people we put on a pedestal are only as “perfect” as the expectations we make of them. “Hindi kami perpekto,” Ibarra says.
“Kahit kami na-e-experience namin ‘yan,” he adds. “Sobrang grateful kami sa mga fans namin, sa mga shippers, but there are also expectations na dapat ganito, dapat ganyan. So ang sarap lang din na this film speaks for us artists that, at the end of the day, pare-parehas lang tayong tao.”
Still, Ibarra and Smith understand that a career in showbiz is inherently built on expectations—how you manage, meet, or exceed them is the question. “The compliments or comments we receive, papuri man ‘yan o bashing, constructive man o hindi, lahat ‘yan fuel para hasain namin ang craft namin,” Ibarra says. “Lahat ‘yan tinatanggap namin.”
