MANILA — (UPDATED) Admitting she had difficulty adjusting to a new work environment on her first few days on the set of “Flower of Evil,” a tearful Lovi Poe recalled the moment she finally felt at home with her new “family.”

“Flower of Evil,” the Viu and ABS-CBN partnership based on the South Korean drama of the same title, marks Poe’s first series as a Kapamilya after officially signing with ABS-CBN in September 2021.

The Philippine adaptation, which stars Piolo Pascual as Poe’s leading man, will premiere June 23 across 16 territories via Viu, and on June 25 on Kapamilya Channel and A2Z.

Poe spoke about her adjustment period as a newly minted Kapamilya on Monday, during the grand media launch of “Flower of Evil,” after Viu Philippines Head of Content Partnerships Garlic Garcia lauded her performance in the series.

Garcia was sharing her experience on the set of the project, particularly her interactions with crew members who would tell her that they were inspired by the hard work of the cast, including Poe.

Referring to a utility man named Patrick, who would assist on set, Garcia said: “At the end of the lock-in, I just thanked him. I said, ‘Maraming salamat sa lahat ng binigay mo, sa lahat ng tulong mo, kasi hindi ito mabubuo nang wala ikaw at ang kontribusyon mo.’

“Alam mo ang sagot niya? ‘Karangalan ko po na galingan sa trabaho ko, kasi nakikita ko lahat ng kasama ko sa set na ito, ginagalingan po.’ I think that’s a mark of a Kapamilya, the Kapamilya spirit. That’s the mark of a collaboration between Viu and ABS-CBN.”

The content executive went on to praise the cast members, specifically Poe and Pascual. (See the 1:35:30 mark of the video below.)

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Garcia had nicknamed Pascual as “MC” during the production of the series, because of his “masterclass” acting, she recalled.

“He took it to 500% and because he is the lead actor, the leader on set, everyone raised their game to be able to create something truly excellent,” she said.

Turning to Poe, Garcia told the actress, “This is so meaningful for us, to be able to do this together.”

“And really, every day, I saw her work so hard on set. Hindi siya napapagod. She was relentless in nailing the role. There were hard days on set, but what’s important is she never gave up and she kept wanting to give more and more and more. I honor her for that,” she said.

As Garcia spoke, Poe was shown turning emotional and wiping her face. The latter was then asked why she was tearful. At that point, Poe shared how the “family” she has found while doing the project, helped her overcome her difficulty and apprehensions about being a new addition to ABS-CBN.

“Ever since, I’ve been a huge fan of ABS-CBN and Dreamscape, so just to be given the opportunity to work with such an amazing team, it’s just great… It’s my first project [with ABS-CBN], so the transition wasn’t the easiest thing,” she said.

Poe explained that Garcia’s mention of Patrick made her emotional, as she, too, had meaningful interactions with other crew members — an audio man named Adler, and a cameraman she called Fred — who had given reassuring words.

“My first day on set was difficult, kasi all of a sudden I’m a new environment. Everything’s new, everyone’s new. It was hard. And as the days went by, parang I wasn’t myself in the beginning. I was having such a hard time, but with the help of everyone, it felt great.

“‘Yung as simple as sinabi ni Kuya Adler and ni Kuya Fred, ‘Huwag ka mag-alala, nandito kami para sa ‘yo.’ Doon ko na-realize na I’m part of a new family now. And these people want to see me do well,” she said.