The world stopped as Kyle Echarri owned the spotlight in a recent episode of “Senior High,” where his character, Obet, got shot having uncovered a huge secret that could be the missing piece to Luna (Andrea Brillantes)’s case.

After melting our hearts with his romantic ways during the Northford High prom, Obet made us die of dread as he nervously dove into danger, then switched the mood into heart-wrenching disbelief – different emotions in one night, but all of which were seamlessly put together. A truly intense performance from Kyle.

This scene was powerful, certainly. But we can’t pick just one scene from “Senior High” where Kyle showcased his full acting chops. There were many, and he reacted to and shared trivia bits about some of his golden moments on the show via this edition of “Rate and React.”

We begin with his confrontation with Tonio (Rap Robes) so full of angst that it pierced through the viewers. This was when Obet was almost detained for his drug-pushing activities, which he reluctantly got into in an attempt to save Tonio. In those few seconds, Kyle spitted out strong emotions even without long lines.

According to Kyle, this was his first crying scene in the teleserye. And although it was also his first emotional scene with Rap, he felt an instant connection between them. Coincidentally, he got sick for two weeks after filming this scene.

The next clip shows Obet explaining to Sky (Andrea Brillantes) the depth of his relationship with Luna. On this, Kyle mentioned that it was one of his earliest scenes with Andrea making them realize they’re no longer playing teenybopper roles that only stir ‘kilig’. They’re kids no more. “Sabi namin, ‘This is fun. I’m happy to have this project with you.’ This is not something that we would do four or five years ago.” He rated this scene 6 out of 10 “kasi nangangapa pa ako do’n.” He admitted, “I wasn’t up there yet pero I’m happy that I was able to give my best.”

He also got to take on intense acting sparring with award-winning actress Sylvia Sanchez, who plays his grandma, Lydia, in the story. In one scene, Kyle delivered just the perfect blend of worry, fear, sadness, and love as Sylvia’s character suffered in the hospital due to cancer.

Reacting to this, he expressed gratitude for the screen veteran, who is like a second mom to him, helping him out in his career and personal life, “Malaki ‘yung pasasalamat ko sa kanya kung paano niya ako tinulungan talaga without even trying to help me. She’s just being herself.”

“Kasi may ilang araw ako na hindi ko makuha ‘yung gusto kong makuha na emosyon, pero sa kanya ako humuhugot. Sa kanya lang ako titingin, nararamdaman ko na ‘yung karga ko. Tita Ibyang has always been like that for me kaya ako nagpapasalamat ako sa kanya.”

“That one day na shino-shoot namin ‘yung eksena na ‘yun, do’n din lahat ng iyakan namin, and kumakapit lang kami sa isa’t isa,” he rehashed. For this scene, his rating is between 8 and 9, leaving some space for improvement.

In this video from Kapamilya Chat, we get to see Kyle’s unfiltered reaction to his trending kissing scene with Andrea – their characters’ first kiss in the story, and their first on-screen kiss as actors.

Taking us to their preparations, Kyle revealed that Director Onat Diaz sat down with them to dissect every fiber of this bittersweet moment. “This scene is really, really big sa mangyayari in the next episode. Kinausap po kami ni Direk, binreak-down lahat ng mangyayari, bakit kailangan ganito ‘yung atake, bakit may kiss. Lahat ng galawan may meaning.”

He further divulged, “There were a lot of adlibs that just happened between the two of us, na we just allowed to happen as Obet and as Sky.”

After the take, Kyle expressed appreciation towards his good friend. “Una sa lahat, nag-thank you ako sa kanya ‘cause it’s pretty big for our careers to have our first kissing scene at this age. Nagpasalamat ako sa kanya. Natutuwa ako kasi matagal ko na siyang kilala and I’m happy that she was my first on-screen kiss. I’m happy with how the scene went. It was such a beautiful scene. Sobra siyang bittersweet.”

“Naramdaman namin na it worked the right way. We did what we wanted for our characters,” he added that even their co-stars felt the intensity of that moment. Juan Karlos Labajo walked up to him after filming, in awe of how beautiful the scene turned out. He also gave credit to the writers and creatives for the show’s mind-blowing narrative.

Kyle went on to impart his comment about Andrea’s growth as an actress and excellent performance in the teleserye, “Sinabi ko talaga sa kanya na nawala ‘yung passion niya sa pag-arte pero nakita ko talaga dito sa ‘Senior High,’ bumalik. I’m proud of her in that way, na parang, it was her goal talaga to portray Sky and Luna the way she wanted to, and she did it.”

“Dinala niya si Sky kung saan siya dapat dalhin,” he said of Andrea.

And for his first on-screen kiss, Kyle would give it a perfect 10 rating, or even 11, for its real heart-tugging ‘feels.’

Don’t miss the “Senior High” Ender to Remember”! The series is down to its final week on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, TV5, and A2Z.