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'Very, very grateful': Aya Fernandez, Pat Tingjuy in awe of support for 'Rookie'

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Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="" stars="" Pat="" Tingjuy="" and="" Aya="" Fernandez="" pose="" with="" gifts="" they="" received="" from="" their="" fans="" after="" a="" screening="" of="" the="" Cinemalaya="" film.="" ABS-CBN="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/08/16/pat-aya.jpg"/><figcaption>&quot;Rookie&quot; stars Pat Tingjuy and Aya Fernandez pose with gifts they received from their fans after a screening of the Cinemalaya film.<em> ABS-CBN News.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA -- Most of the people who watched &quot;Rookie&quot; in Glorietta 4 on Tuesday night were not aware that they were in the presence of the movie&#x27;s stars and one of its writers as well.</p><p>The lead stars of &quot;Rookie,&quot; Pat Tingjuy and Aya Fernandez, along with co-writer Natts Jadaone, arrived nearly an hour into the film, and saw immediately that the cinema was sold out. Even as they watched, they could hear the audience&#x27;s reaction to the movie -- particularly to the scenes between Tingjuy and Fernandez which generated shrieks and squeals from the crowd. </p><p>When the lights came on and as the credits rolled, Tingjuy and Fernandez stood up to a huge round of applause, as the audience showed their appreciation to the leads of the Cinemalaya movie. It was not the first time that they watched &quot;Rookie&quot; in public, but it was clear that the experience remained as precious as ever for the two actresses.</p><p>Afterward, Tingjuy and Fernandez spent nearly two hours accommodating fans outside of the cinema, taking photos and signing autographs. Again, this was not a new experience for either actress: Fernandez entertained a similarly big crowd in Trinoma last August 10, while Tingjuy held court in Glorietta on August 11. Their gala night at the Philippine International Convention Center on August 5 had been sold out as well.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/08/12/23/cinemalaya-review-sapphic-romcom-rookie-brings-the-kilig">Cinemalaya review: Sapphic romcom &#x27;Rookie&#x27; brings the kilig</a></li></ul><p>&quot;It feels so surreal,&quot; Fernandez told ABS-CBN News, of the response to &quot;Rookie.&quot; &quot;Parang &#x27;di pa rin nagsi-sink in. I don&#x27;t know if nag-sink in na, or we&#x27;re still processing it.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Rookie,&quot; co-written and directed by Samantha Lee, tells the story of Ace (Tingjuy), a high school athlete who reluctantly joins the volleyball team of her new school because it does not have a basketball program. She is encouraged by Coach Jules (Agot Isidro) to learn the sport, and eventually falls for their intense team captain Jana (Fernandez). </p><p>The film was well-received by critics, most of whom praised the chemistry of the leads. On Sunday night, &quot;Rookie&quot; won the Audience Choice award in the Cinemalaya 2023, while Ilsa Malsi won for Best Editing and Tingjuy took home Best Actress honors.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/08/13/23/iti-mapukpukaw-tops-cinemalaya-2023-with-3-wins">&#x27;Iti Mapukpukaw&#x27; tops Cinemalaya 2023 with 3 wins including Best Film</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/08/14/23/why-audience-award-matters-most-for-samantha-lee">&#x27;This win is ours&#x27;: Why audience award &#x27;matters most&#x27; for &#x27;Rookie&#x27; director Samantha Lee</a></li></ul><div><strong>&#x27;Just an instrument&#x27;</strong></div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Tingjuy and Fernandez with Pat Lasaten and Agnes Reoma of Ben and Ben after Tuesday" s="" screening="" of="" Camille="" B.="" ABS-CBN="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/08/16/081623_pat-and-aya-x-patnes.jpg"/><figcaption>Tingjuy and Fernandez with Pat Lasaten and Agnes Reoma of Ben and Ben after Tuesday&#x27;s screening of &quot;Rookie.&quot; <em>Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Yet even with those accolades already in the bag, both actresses were still amazed at how the audience responded to &quot;Rookie.&quot; Even Fernandez, who already has one queer role under her belt before &quot;Rookie,&quot; said she was &quot;still super shocked&quot; at how the local sapphic community turned up to support their film.</p><p>&quot;In fact, parang merong part of me na nasha-shy ako, kasi parang it&#x27;s really the makers of the film who deserve the credit. Kasi, kami lang naman &#x27;yung parang front soldiers eh,&quot; she said. </p><p>&quot;&#x27;Yung talagang gumawa ng chess board, &#x27;yung nag-hulma ng chess pieces were sila Direk Sam, sila Natts. So kami, ano lang kami, pawn lang. So I think yes, gulat,&quot; she added. &quot;Hindi ako &#x27;yung mastermind, so I was just an instrument.&quot;</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/06/26/23/aya-fernandez-hopes-for-more-sapphic-stories-in-mainstream-media">&#x27;So worth telling&#x27;: After Stand-in Love, Aya Fernandez hopes for more sapphic stories in mainstream media</a></li></ul><p>For Fernandez and Tingjuy, the overwhelming feeling is one of gratitude -- not just for the support that they have received, but also for how the film has seemingly gathered a community together. </p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m just very, very grateful. Siguro reading the comments, the people sharing their reflections, sentiments … people saying that they feel seen, na sana this is the film that they wish they have seen when they were younger,&quot; said Fernandez. </p><p>&quot;Parang, wow, I&#x27;m so honored to be part of this project, and &#x27;yung contribution ko nga, not that I&#x27;m downplaying anything, but I really feel like all credit goes to the makers of the film,&quot; she added.</p><p>&quot;Getting all the compliments from everyone, people messaging me and they&#x27;re thanking me for representing the community, I&#x27;m so grateful for that. As in, grabe &#x27;yung pag-share nila ng stories nila sa akin. Binabasa ko lahat &#x27;yun,&quot; said Tingjuy, for her part.</p><div><strong>Story, chemistry</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2765186" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>For many of the fans who watched &quot;Rookie&quot; in cinemas -- some of them multiple times -- they were drawn by the story of the movie, which brings to life memories of their high school years, as well as the undeniable chemistry of the two leads. </p><p>That chemistry was evident to Fernandez and Tingjuy right from the start.</p><p>&quot;Pagkapunta ko kasi doon, may mga na-meet na ako na nag-audition for the Jana role, for the Ace role. Nakaka-intimidate, tapos kinakausap ko sila. Pero out of everyone na nakausap ko, si Aya, sobrang bait,&quot; Tingjuy says. &quot;Tapos talagang nagre-relate kami.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Ako with Aya, it just felt so natural. Usually kung ganoon, kinakabahan ako. But it felt comfortable with Aya. Parang pinair din ako with other actresses, parang &#x27;di ko na-feel. While waiting to find out who Jana is, iniisip ko, &#x27;Sana si Aya&#x27;,&quot; she added.</p><p>And when Tingjuy won Best Actress honors on Sunday, no one was happier for her than Fernandez, who believes that her on-screen partner has a bright future in the entertainment industry. </p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m very, very, very happy for her. I&#x27;m so proud of her,&quot; said Fernandez. &quot;I&#x27;m very proud of her, and she always tells me na &#x27;I&#x27;m so happy that you&#x27;re my Jana,&#x27; ganyan. And I always tell her din, like audition pa lang, sa kanya nga rin ako pinaka-kinilig. Parang it was just meant to be.&quot;</p><p>&quot;I can&#x27;t wait for her to like, spread her wings in this industry. I still hope I could work with her in the future, may it be the same roles or not, I loved working with her,&quot; she added.</p><p>A future project together remains to be seen, but for now, Fernandez and Tingjuy can take pride in the impact that they have already made through &quot;Rookie.&quot; As it stands, the film has only been screened in Metro Manila, but both are aware of the demand for a nationwide and even an international release.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m praying for more success and wider reach of this film. Not for me, I always say this, it&#x27;s never about me. But it&#x27;s for the audience,&quot; Fernandez says. &quot;Like, what this is for, for the next generation. Para wala na &#x27;yung mga what-if.&quot;</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/08/16/23/rookies-pat-tingjuy-reflects-on-first-role-cinemalaya-win">&#x27;Sino ba ako?&#x27; Rookie&#x27;s Pat Tingjuy reflects on first role, Cinemalaya win</a></li></ul>

When the lights came on, Tingjuy and Fernandez stood up to a huge round of applause, as the audience showed their appreciation to the leads of 'Rookie.'

'Very, very grateful': Aya Fernandez, Pat Tingjuy in awe of support for 'Rookie'

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'Very, very grateful': Aya Fernandez, Pat Tingjuy in awe of support for 'Rookie'

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 16, 2023 08:27 PM PHT

|

Updated August 17, 2023 12:39 PM PHT

Read More:

film

movies

Cinemalaya

Cinemalaya 2023

Rookie

Rookie film

Pat Tingjuy

Aya Fernandez

Natts Jadaone

Samantha Lee

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