MANILA -- After rising to fame as the other half of the JaDine love team, Nadine Lustre is ready to make it on her own without her erstwhile reel and real partner, James Reid.

She is ready to resume her showbiz career without a love team. “I feel like I’m totally past the love team phase,” Lustre told ABS-CBN News. “I do believe that it’s something a lot of celebrities really go through.

“It’s not a bad thing, though. A love team is a partnership. If you’re in a love team, you pull each other up. It’s really team work. Feeling ko I’m already past that. When you reached this age, feeling ko wala ng love team.”

At the same time, Lustre will veer away from doing love stories in her forthcoming projects. “Alam na ng mga tao kung paano ako sa love stories,” she maintained. “I think it’s time for me to do other genres.”

Lustre turned 28 last October. “Whatever happens, I’m open to it,” she admitted. “Let’s see what happens. Sobrang na miss ko ang pag-arte. Ibang-iba talaga ang pakiramdam kapag umaarte at iba din ang feeling kapag nagpe-perform ka, kumakanta o sumasayaw.

“Ang na-miss ko talaga sa pag-arte, where you portray a character. I don’t mind doing thriller, action, horror. Scripts that are mind-boggling. Kapag binasa mo talagang mapapa-isip ka.

“Gusto ko psychopath naman ako in my next project. Something different. Para naman exciting siya kung gagawin ko. Para iba din ang pakiramdam kung iba’t ibang characters ang gagawin mo.”

Lustre expressed her admiration to Hollywood actor Johnny Depp, who has played a wide array of challenging roles through the years.

“His range is so wide,” she said of Depp. “It’s something I love to do because I love putting myself into different characters’ shoes.”

WORKING ON 'GREED'

After three years of not acting in front of the camera, Lustre cannot be thankful enough that she gets to work with award-winning director, Yam Laranas, who is at the helm of her comeback film, the horror thriller “Greed.”

“Gustong gusto ko ‘yung ‘Aurora’ ni Direk Yam,” Lustre said. “That’s one of my favorite films of Direk Yam. I know he likes thinking out of the box. He’s very adventurous with his scripts and his stories.

“When Boss Vic (del Rosario of Viva) and Direk Yam pitched this ‘Greed’ project to me, sobrang na-excite ako. Ang saya ko din. Finally, the project is no longer romantic-comedy or drama. Horror-thriller ang ‘Greed,’ so very exciting din for me.”

For everyone, the last two years became very different because of the pandemic. Lustre felt she is no exception. “Hindi ako humaharap sa camera, so there were times na nag-shoot kami lately, hindi ko na alam kung paano ako magpo-pose or mag-smile.

“Back to zero ang skills ko kasi nga, ang tagal kong hindi nagtrabaho. Nanibago ako. Although nag-music ako pero iba naman kasi ‘yung experience doon.

“Whenever I acted with Direk Yam for this film, ang feeling ko may kulang or may mali. Sobrang nakakapanibago. Eventually, natama ko with the help of Direk Yam and my co-actors.”

The whole time they were filming “Greed,” Lustre observed there was no negative energy on the set. She is paired for the first time with Diego Loyzaga, who plays her husband in “Greed.”

“Chill lang kaming lahat,” Lustre said. “We were all enjoying the moment while filming.”

NEW LEADING MAN

Her first-time leading man Loyzaga is not totally a stranger to her. “Magkakilala na kami ni Diego, pero hindi naman kami close ever since,” Lustre said.

“Dito lang sa ‘Greed’ talaga kami nakapag-bonding, naging friends pretty much and got to know each other better. He was super easy to work with.”

Meanwhile, Lustre also relished working even with Epy Quizon. “Nagku-kwentuhan lang kami ‘pag break time. Ang dami naming napag-uusapan. Kumakain kami ng sabay-sabay. Pero ‘pag work, work na talaga. Hindi siya naging mahirap.

“What I liked about the whole team was the energy that they gave every time we did a scene. Especially sa mga scenes na literally madugo at medyo violent, I super enjoyed working with them.”

The first time she read the script of “Greed,” Lustre found it was really good. “Naisip ko sa sarili ko, this is really happening finally,” she said. “Something that is not rom-com or not drama. It’s very bloody and violent. Walang censor si Direk Yam. He does everything and anything for art.”

In “Greed,” set to start showing March 16 on Vivamax Plus, Lustre plays Kichi, the typical “dalagang Pilipina” who grew up in the province as a sheltered girl.

Her relationship with Loyzaga’s character is not approved by her parents. Kitchi moves out of her parents’ house to be with her man.

Strong-willed and courageous, Kichi will do everything to have a better relationship and a better life with him. When things get harder, audiences will see how the circumstances change her into a different person.

AFTER 'GREED'

After “Greed,” Lustre assured she will be making films again, one after the other. “Definitely, I can finally say na tuloy-tuloy na ‘to,” she assured. “Of course, gusto ko na talagang bumalik sa acting scene.

“This is really something that I enjoyed doing. I’m really happy because this time around, everyone is really tying to make an effort into changing the genres and the stories that are being given to me.

“May effort na gusto talaga namin this time, ibang klaseng pelikula na ang gagawin ko. Before, sunod-sunod nga pero pare-pareho naman with rom-coms and dramas. Sana naman. I will be given more intense stories, so super exciting ang gagawin ko.”

Lustre does not discount the fact that although Reid is now in the US trying to explore his singing career, they can always do another project in the future.

“I think it really depends at the end of the day,” Lustre said. “Si James has been very explorative with all of the things he wants to do. Let’s see. If there’s a good script, he’s probably game to do it. For now, I guess he really wants to focus more on his music.”

Lustre rose to fame after playing the role of Eya Rodriguez in the successful film, Andoy Ranay’s “Diary ng Panget” (2014), her first opposite Reid.

Since then, Lustre starred in “Talk Back and You’re Dead” (2014), “Para sa Hopeless Romantic” (2015), “Chain Mail” (2015), “Never Not Love You” (2018), “Ulan” (2019) and “Indak” (2019).

She is the only performer to win successive FAMAS Award, Young Critics Circle and Urian Awards as best actress in a span of only a year.

When she’s not acting, Lustre is busy making waves in the music industry. She is one of the original members of the all-girl group, Pop Girls, who eventually released her self-titled album in 2014.

The musical outing garnered numerous awards in the 2016 MYX Music Awards, like Favorite Song, Favorite Music Video, Favorite Female Artist.

The past two years that Lustre did not have any acting projects, she turned her attention to exploring her music.

In October 2020, in time for her 27th birthday, she released an all-original, 12-track album, “Wildest Dreams.” The music video immediately amassed more than a million views in only two days.

“Mainly, that album became my focus the last two years,” Lustre said.

To her millions of fans, Lustre acknowledged their constant support through the years. “Love na love ko silang lahat dahil ang dami nating lahat na pinagdaanan the last four or five years. I guess bumagal ang takbo ng mga career ng maraming mga artista at tao sa industry.

“Sobrang grateful ako at sobrang swerte ko dahil nandiyan lang lahat ng fans ko with whatever decision I made with my life. Sobrang supportive sila talaga. At the end of the day, gusto lang talaga nila masaya ako. Na-appreciate ko sila talaga.”