Since tying the knot in 2015 and becoming parents to first-born Severiano “Seve” Elliott last year, actress Toni Gonzaga and director-producer Paul Soriano are still looking forward to more blessings.
For Toni, it’s the resumption of her film and television career that was briefly put on hold by her pregnancy but has since resumed with her recent hosting stint in “The Voice Teens.” She is raring to go back to acting and will soon start filming “Last Night” a reunion project with her “Starting Over Again” leading man Piolo Pascual to be directed by Joyce Bernal and to be written by actress Bela Padilla.
For Paul, it’s back to the director’s chair with “Siargao,” a new film headlined by Jericho Rosales, Erich Gonzales and Jasmine Curtis-Smith. After this, he will start work on a new project that will star comebacking actor Aga Muhlach, whom Toni said she had always dreamed to work with in a recent Instagram post. No other details about the project have been revealed.
As for working together, Toni and Paul have actually collaborated on small projects here and there, including her cameo appearance in Hannah Espia’s “Transit” in 2013 which he produced, some videos for her “Celestine” concert in 2014, and his brief cameo in “Starting Over Again” the following year.
Recently, the couple got the chance to work together again for a TV commercial introducing Gold Seas Tuna Chunks. In the 30-second commercial within a commercial, Toni is revealed as being directed by her husband and loving every minute of it.
In an interview with media during the product’s recent launch at Blue Leaf Pavilion at McKinley Hill in Bonifacio Global City, Toni and Paul admitted that like most married couples, they’ve had their share of occasional misunderstandings which Paul said are part of what make a marriage a “work in progress.”
Their son, Baby Seve, is one source of disagreement. Direk Paul says he likes to play with him a lot but Toni is always worried that Seve might get hurt.
“She disciplines the boy. I’m more of a play, fun so she’s trying her best to calm us down. We’re just boys being boys so she needs to get used to it,” Direk Paul quipped.
“It’s a challenge to not give your son what he wants when you know you can give what he wants. It’s a discipline not just for our son, but also for us parents,” Toni acknowledged.
Outside of Baby Seve, the couple has not escaped the occasional showbiz intrigues as Direk Paul was recently linked to his “Siargao” lead star, Erich Gonzales.
In a separate interview with pep.ph, Toni said that as early as May, her husband had already anticipated that such an issue would come out as Direk Paul was also once linked to Maja Salvador who was the lead actress in his 2011 film, “Thelma.”
Toni said Direk Paul said that the issue with Erich is not true and she believes him. She’s also a firm believer of women’s intuition and her mom told her once that even when there’s no issue, when people are not talking about it, when her intuition tells her something, 80 percent of the time, it’s true.
But with regards to her husband, Toni added that she has not had that intuition “so far.”
If anything, their increasing love for the kitchen is bringing them closer together. Toni revealed that Direk Paul recently enrolled her in a culinary school and, yes, so far, he’s very pleased with her cooking.
As celebrity endorsers of Gold Seas Tuna Chunks which are made from premium Yellowfin tuna and come in several variants (in Olive Oil, Olive Oil with Chili, in Springwater, in Herb and Garlic, in Lemon and Pepper and Mild Indian Curry), Toni and Paul both believe in the importance of extending as much love and care to family by not compromising when it comes to the family’s overall health and well-being.
