‘BACK in each other’s arms,’ Richard and Heart during the press presentation of the whole cast of ‘Full House’ at 55 Events Place, QC.

Primetime television royalties – King of Primetime Richard Gutierrez and TV Queen of Heart, Heart Evangelista, with three of the country’s Prince of Comedies, Epi Quizon, Keempee de Leon, and John Lapus return to television via the Kapuso Network’s latest Filipinized-Korean soap opera “Full House.”

The light romance and comedy drama reunites the popular tandem of Richard and Heart (“Codename: Asero”) in “Full House” as Justin, an international actor, and Jessie, an aspiring writer and novelist, respectively.

“I realized with ‘Full House’ how enjoyable it is to do a normal human being role for a change. I haven’t done this for a long time,” shared Richard.

He admitted though that during taping inside houses has made him miss his TV fight scenes.

“Sometimes I get restless and ask the director if we have a car chase scene, blastings or if we’re using a harness,” laughed Richard. “I’m really having fun and we’re making people happy because it’s light and a funny series. We always have a happy atmosphere on the set.”

What the actor is excited to showcase on TV is his hidden knack for comedy. Co-star John Lapus once described Richard as very funny and a natural comedian in “Full House.” He even said that such qualities of Richard which people don’t know of would endear him more to viewers and his fans.

“I’ve done romantic comedy in my movies but I’ve never done it on primetime TV. I really love doing romantic comedy. People will see my comic side… hopefully I’d get to do more romantic comedy TV projects in the future. I don’t mind it alternating with my action-fantasy series,” exclaimed Richard.

Regarding his leading lady Heart Evangelista, Richard said that a lot has change between them since they’ve worked in “Codename: Asero.” Both were given enough space to grow as actors in different TV projects and enough time in working together to discover new stuffs about each other in “Full House.”

“I think we’ve become closer as friends since ‘Asero.’ When we were taping in Prague, we were able to talk about our personal lives, our love life and our problems. We’ve become more open and it’s always nice to have that certain kind of relationship wherein you’re comfortable with your leading man,” related Heart.

The two even had a romantic kissing scene at the middle of the street market located at the Old Town Square where the Astronomical Clock is located.

“I was surprised with the kissing scene. Our director just thought of it because it was a nice location for a 360 degrees shot. So we had a long kiss which surprised everyone at the market that time. We were cheered on and applauded by the people. I had a hard time breathing during our kiss,” Heart commented about the scene which she thinks would be used at the latter part of “Full House.”

“I’m very excited working with Heart again. In Prague, we rented a boat and did the river tour. We toured the more scenic places in Prague. Prague is really beautiful and magical,” added Richard.

But is Richard pressured about being compared to Korean pop icon and international star Rain who portrayed Justin in the original “Full House?”

“The comparison will always be there like when I did ‘Zorro’ wherein we were compared to the original ‘Zorro.’ The pressure is also there but of course we try to make the series our own. We stick to the plot but we added more stories and characters to stretch the whole series. In Korea, the original series was a once a week show,” he replied.

Rain in the original “Full House” also made a mark by appearing shirtless a lot of times. And according to Richard, he is already preparing to look in the buff when a scene necessitates him to go “topless.”

With regards to Rain’s fashion sense, Richard has his own stylist and he is leaving to Bench, the clothing company he endorses, to provide him with the latest fashion in men’s clothes.

“I watched the original show and I try to get some nuances of Rain’s character every now and then. But mostly I give my own interpretation. But I do get nuances that for me are effective for some scenes,” explained Richard.

And how is it portraying a popular actor, being a popular actor himself?

“Actually it’s okay because I can relate a lot to the role. For instance, when a scene calls for my manager showing me bad write-ups, viewers and the press could see how I really react,” smiled Richard sheepishly. “Or scenes when my manager keeps calling me. My mom always does that as my manager. The show also shows Justin dealing with his personal life and career and how he balances them. It’s really an exciting show.”

With the competition getting stiffer on primetime TV, Richard is confident that the phenomenal following of the original “Full House” when it aired on Philippine TV would be supportive to him and Heart too. He also believes that the Filipino-humor and romance injected to their version of “Full House” would be an edge.

Also in “Full House” are Rainier Castillo, Sheena Halili, Raquel Villavicencio, Chariz Solomon, Marky Lopez, Ronaldo Valdez, and Ms. Pilita Corales. Written by Denoy Navarro-Puno, “Full House” airs tonight after “Darna” on GMA Telebabad.