“The Day I Loved You” BL Drama Stars Raynold Tan & Tommy Alejandrino Felt “Euphoric” During Season 1

Playing a character like Nikko pushed Alejandrino into a vulnerable place. “The line between me and Nikko is very thin,” he says. Especially now, with the full series open to fan reception. “It was the first time I felt interpreted or perceived by people in a very different light from how I used to be perceived, given my previous projects.” Alejandrino knew what kind of BL coupling people would want (“More socially acceptable… Masculine with another masculine guy”), and indeed some fans expressed interest in Eli ending up with Justin, but Alejandrino enjoyed the different responses Nikko’s character elicited.

Witnessing Alejandrino as the cameras rolled was a masterclass in acting for Tan. “Everything Tommy did was deliberate,” Tan says. “It felt so natural, it felt real, in the moment.” When he asked Alejandrino for tips, he merely replied “You gotta feel it, man,” Tan laughs reenacting it. “I was like, what do you mean I gotta feel it? Dude, give me something more concrete!”

The Day I Loved You follows in the footsteps of other BL series from the Philippines such as our Best BL Dramas of 2021 picks, Gameboys and Stuck on You, all broadcasting kilig to the masses. But this strand of content is vital. Alejandrino’s industry mate and star of Gaya Sa Pelikula, Paolo Pangilinan, put it like this to Teen Vogue last year: “In all spheres of life — art, education, media and politics — especially those that are visible, what we put out there should be reflective of what is also behind the lens.”

It speaks to what piqued Alejandrino’s interest in the project. He calls it “unearthing what’s so secret.” The realities we know to be true yet often relegate to the periphery. The ways of life that we don’t understand — is it because we can’t, or because we don’t want to? Queer love doesn’t exist in the fringes, it permeates the lives closest to us, it is alive and everywhere. Acting is about “having one minute of that one scene where you can show and reveal to everybody the secret that you know,” Alejandrino says. “You’re opening this door that nobody wants to open up, but you know that everybody knows it exists.”

He has found that this BL, and Nikko’s story within it, is an opportunity to bridge audiences to the truths they shy away from. It’s like taking their hand, guiding them, telling them “I have something in me,” Alejandrino continues. “It’s real. And I want you to see it, I want you to look at it, and I want you to listen. Maybe you’ll see the human in it. It’s probably not such a big monster to be feared. It’s probably the opposite.” This all comes as queer rights advocates in the Philippines await the future of the SOGIESC bill, which would prohibit discrimination and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics.