Arzen Rose Dulzura

Mae Cruz-Alviar breaks down how they approached mental health matters in ‘It’s Okay to Not Be Okay’

Article (news)

Jemuel Tandoc

Push Team

<p>Mae Cruz-Alviar has long proven herself with original hits, but now she’s stepping into new territory with her first K-drama adaptation.</p><p>During the intimate media roundtable for<em> It’s Okay to Not Be Okay</em>, the blockbuster director shared what convinced her to say yes to this Philippine adaptation.</p><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-6" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/DL4SrT9S91t/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=768&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A6%2C%22os%22%3A5637301.5%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="548" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-6" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><p>“Number one is Star Creatives. Number two, my actors. Number three, the challenge. I&#x27;m a K-drama fan and parang okay so paano ba natin &#x27;to gagawing katanggap-tanggap. That&#x27;s one, na katanggap-tanggap, at hindi lang katanggap-tanggap, mamahalin. Yun, that&#x27;s what made me say yes. Kasi parang all those combined,” Mae revealed.</p><p>Direk Mae, who proudly admits to being a K-drama fan, shared that she didn’t actually finish the original series the first time she checked it out.</p><p>“Truthfully, nung napanood ko siya, I just watched <em>Crash Landing On You</em>. Tapos hindi ko alam kung tungkol saan yun ng <em>It&#x27;s Okay (to Not Be Okay)</em>. And this was during the pandemic. So nung pinanood ko siya, tungkol pala to sa mental health. Hindi ako prepared. Nag-expect ako na parang CLOY na gugulong-gulong ako (sa kilig) na parang nabudburan ng asin. Hindi siya gano&#x27;n, it&#x27;s different. It was the pandemic. Siyempre iba yung mindset mo. You want to escape, you want something else. So parang hindi ko siya tinuloy sa totoo lang,” she admitted.</p><p>Years later, she revealed that she rewatched the original series as soon as she was offered the chance to direct its remake.</p><p>“When this was offered to me, (sabi ko) okay I will watch it. I will watch it again. Tapos nung pinanood ko siya ngayon, na wala lang yung parang that, you know, the pandemic. Na-appreciate ko siya. Sobra ko siyang nagustuhan. So sabi ko, ah, okay, now I understand why (it’s well-liked)” she recalled.</p><div><iframe width="1280" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u8GU1Hf4jPw" title="It&#x27;s Okay To Not Be Okay | Official Trailer | Netflix Philippines" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><p>The Philippine adaptation keeps mental health awareness front and center, and Direk Mae shared how they made sure to approach it with a lighter but meaningful touch.</p><p>“Sure it&#x27;s about mental health. But hindi siya yung tipong, ang bigat (about) mental health, ganon-ganon, na parang, oh, we&#x27;re discussing something so serious. Ang beauty kasi nito is that, nandun pa rin yung family drama. Nandun pa rin yung romance mo. Tapos siyempre, di ba, localized siya? Ito, Pinoy humor, nung ginawa namin. It was all there. So parang hindi siya yung heavy handling of a very serious topic,” she revealed.</p><p>She added that their goal was to portray it in the most natural and relatable way, especially through the lens of the characters.</p><p>“Habang pinapanood mo, hindi mo namamalayaan. May natututunan ka. Hindi mo namamalayaan na naiintindihan mo na pala yung sitwasyon o yung emosyon ng mga pinagdadaanan ng mga characters. Parang it&#x27;s the way yung sa storytelling niya. Yun yung beauty nun. Yun yung na-appreciate ko,” Direk Mae said.</p>

<p>Mae Cruz-Alviar opens up about how they tackled mental health themes in '<i>It’s Okay to Not Be Okay</i>,' and what convinced her to direct her first K-drama remake.</p>

Mae Cruz-Alviar opens up about how they tackled mental health themes in ' It’s Okay to Not Be Okay ,' and what convinced her to direct her first K-drama remake.