Maja Salvador on Rayver Cruz: ‘Never talaga kasi naming nalagyan ng malisya ‘yung friendship namin’

After starring together on the long-running teleserye May Bukas Pa, Maja Salvador and Rayver Cruz are set to pair up once again, this time on the big screen, for the new Star Cinema offering Cinco. In an interview with ABS-CBN.com following the story conference for the movie, Maja shared that she and Rayver have always felt comfortable working with each other. “Kami raw talaga ‘yung gusto ng Star Cinema for this project. Nagkausap nga kami, sabi ko, ‘Ang galing! Sa isang taon hindi pwedeng hindi tayo magkatrabaho.’” Maja and Rayver’s previous projects include the teleserye Spirits, a Your Song installment, an episode of Maalaala Mo Kaya, and the mini-movie musical Kelly Kelly.

But in the course of spending so much time together, was there ever a time that Maja and Rayver’s relationship blossomed into romance? They young actress revealed that they never went beyond friendship. “Tanong talaga namin sa isa’t isa, sabi niya sa akin, ‘Bakit ba hindi mo ako magustuhan?!’ Sabi ko naman, ‘Ikaw kaya hindi mo ako magustuhan!’ Ha ha ha! Never talaga kasi naming nalagyan ng malisya ‘yung friendship namin. Madalas kaming mag-text dati pero hanggang dun lang.”

The only thing that has evolved between Maja and Rayver are the roles they get to play on screen. The two are now being groomed by ABS-CBN for more mature roles, and as Maja shared, the horror flick Cinco will show a different side of them as actors. “Kung pa-tweetums kami ni Rayver sa May Bukas Pa, dito sa Cinco ibang ibang side namin ang makikita niyo. Kung gaano kasama si Rayver sa Magkano ang Iyong Dangal?, mas sobrang bad boy pa siya dito.”

The 21-year-old actress is also feeling extra pressure in doing another horror project like Cinco. Maja had starred in other horror features like the films Sukob and Villa Estrella and the TV series Spirits. “Gusto ko ibang atake ang makita sa akin ng mga tao dito. Ilang horror na rin ang nagawa ko. Ayoko namang sabihin ng mga tao, ‘Naku, iisa lang naman ang hitsura ni Maja kapag natatakot!’ Gusto ko pag-aralan nang maiigi itong character ko dito sa Cinco.” They will be starring in one of the five episodes in Cinco, and she related, “Ang title ng episode namin is Mata. ‘Yung episode namin kahit nakakatakot, ipapakita pa rin kung hanggang saan mo kayang pagtakpan at tanggapin ‘yung mahal mo kahit may ginawa siyang kasalanan.”

Cinco will also star Pokwang, Mariel Rodriguez, Sam Concepcion, AJ Perez, and Robi Domingo and will hit movie theaters in July.