When He’s Into Her started production for its second season last month, many fans were excited to see their favorite characters return to the hit series. Likewise, a lot of viewers questioned why the role of Elle Luna had to be recasted when its former actress, Melizza Jimenez, performed well in season one.
In her latest YouTube vlog, Melizza addressed the issue and answered all the fan's queries. In a nutshell, the whole situation was apparently just caused by schedule conflicts.
While filming season one, Melizza began studying at an Australian university from a remote setup. For season two, however, the production calendar was a bit trickier to follow due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Some people tested positive and that delayed the filming for He’s Into Her. That was the first schedule. And then other people had conflicting schedules as well,” she stated, explaining that their filming schedule in November got delayed twice due to various factors.
When Melizza returned to the Philippines from a New York trip in January, the entire cast was finally ready to start taping. Unfortunately, the schedule got delayed again because they were required to quarantine for an additional 10 days prior to lock-in taping.
By this time, Melizza had already booked a flight to Australia in February—meaning they wouldn’t have enough time to film all her parts before her last day in the country.
“I already had a flight booked to go to school in Brisbane on the 20th of February, and that’s because I’ve been locked out of Australia for two years. I’ve been doing online [classes] for two years and I couldn’t risk not being able to go study on campus,” Melizza explained.
“Two days later, I found out I was being re-casted. And this was the hardest moment of my life because I worked so hard. I was going through a lot in season one and I worked so hard for that,” she added, emphasizing that she doesn’t blame anyone in the production at all.
There were talks of integrating Melizza's being abroad into the actual storyline, but she didn’t want the show’s entire script to change for her sake. Despite her initial reluctance to let go of the role, Melizza ultimately decided to prioritize her college degree first.
“I couldn’t just give up my studies because I worked so hard also on that. I worked so hard in maintaining everything and balancing everything. But alas, I had to choose education, as much as it hurts to give up that character. I thought to myself, I had to study because I value studying so much,” Melizza concluded.
Currently, Melizza is taking up a Double Bachelor’s Degree in Business and Communication at Queensland University of Technology. For the upcoming season, her former character Elle will be played by BINI’s Mikha Lim.
You can watch Melizza’s full vlog here:
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