Paulo Avelino believes working with Kim Chiu was destined to happen

Kim Chiu(left) and Paulo AvelinoDuring the exclusive watch party organized by Viu, Dreamscape Entertainment, and ABS-CBN Studios, fans were on a kilig-fest as they watched the first two episodes of the much-awaited PH adaptation of the hit K-drama series “What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim?”

Lead actors Kim Chiu and Paulo Avelino even gamely reenacted one scene in the series that brought fans into a kilig-frenzy.

Chiu has been in the romantic-comedy genre since the beginning of her career in 2006. She considers this genre as her “safe zone” after being paired with different actors like Gerald Anderson, Xian Lim, and Jake Ejercito, to name a few.

“‘Yung kilig naman, hindi lang siya one-way eh. Dapat two-way siya para mag-transform siya sa audience. Nagpapasalamat din ako kay Paulo for doing a good job. For helping me also,” she said.

For Avelino, known to be top-tier when it comes to drama, wanted to broaden his versatility as actor and that is why he said yes to this project.

Digging up the archives, we saw his interview with “Entertainment Live” (a defunct Kapamilya talkshow) back in 2011, and he expressed his intent to work with Chiu. Twelve years later, that wish manifested and the two worked together with the highly-successful series “Linlang,” and now “Secretary Kim.”

Avelino believes this was destined to happen.

“I think so. There were a lot of people I wanted to work with and Kim Chiu was definitely one of them. Our ages are close together. I just wanted to broaden my… I wanted to be as versatile as possible.”

The award-winning actor went on to describe Chiu as a “mood setter.”

“Her mood sets the mood of the set. So if she’s happy, the whole set is happy. If she’s quiet, then the whole set is quiet also. Kaya merong effort lagi sa part namin na dapat masaya lagi si Kim, para masaya lahat ng tao. Ganun ka-infectious ‘yung saya niya,” explained Avelino.

“What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim?” Is now available for streaming on Viu.