MANILA — The fresh teamup of Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards appears off to a great start, as the Kapuso actor took part in a surprise to celebrate the Kapamilya star’s birthday.

An unsuspecting Bernardo, who will turn 23 on March 26, was all smiles as the crew of their upcoming film wished her a happy birthday, with Richards bringing her a cake with lit candles.

Bernardo then shared a hug with Richards, and then with their director and the actress’ frequent collaborator, Cathy Garcia-Molina.

“Para sa atin lahat ‘to,” Bernardo said of her birthday wish, after being teased that she appeared to take a while before blowing the candles.

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A post shared by Philip Rojas (@phildada) on Mar 17, 2019 at 1:32am PDT

The moment was captured by talent manager Philip Rojas, who shared the clip on Instagram over the weekend. He said the surprise took place during the look test of Bernardo and Richards for their first film together.

The Star Cinema project was announced last week, eliciting a wave of surprised reactions from fans, in light of the lead stars belonging to rival networks as well as two of the most popular love teams in local showbiz.

Bernardo, who is in a six-year relationship with her leading man Daniel Padilla, has said they have agreed to not accept projects together in 2019, for the sake of their individual growth as artists.