Though he is already recognized as one of the hottest teleserye leading men today, Jake Cuenca said he never had any hesitation when he was offered to play kontrabida to Jericho Rosales in the Koreanovela remake Green Rose. During the press conference for the new drama, Jake described his character Edward Fuentebella. “Hindi siya marunong magmahal. Gagawin niya ang lahat para makuha ang gusto niya. Ang taong mahal lang niya is si Angela, played by Anne. Along the story makokonsensya siya kasi makikita niya na maraming nagmamahal sa kanya. Makikita niya ‘yung pagkakamali niya, magsisisi siya.”Jake said he was convinced that the role would enable to mature as an actor. “When this project was presented to me I thought I needed to do this for my maturity as an actor. Gusto ko ma-enhance ang aking craft. Also I wanted to work with Jericho and Anne (Curtis) who are both good actors.”
Now that Green Rose is already in its final days of taping, Jake said he learned so much from playing Edward and from being directed by Manny Palo. “Nasa last five days of taping na kami and madami madudugong eksena, marami akong natutunan from Direk Manny who’s such a great director. I’ve learned so much from this project and I’m very proud of it. I’m excited sa pag ere namin kasi matagal na namin itong pinaghihirapan lahat.”
Direk Manny revealed why he felt reluctant about working with Jake before. “Dati apprehensive akong makatrabaho siya kasi parang ang pormal pormal niya. ‘Yun pala ‘yung pagiging pormal niya sa set nagta-translate into sa pagiging intense niya as an actor. Nakakatakot siya minsan sa mga eksena. Sa mga mabibigat na eksena gusto ko sana ‘wag muna niyang ibigay lahat. Pero si Jake, gaya rin ni Jericho, kahit rehearsal pa lang umiiyak na.”
Jake expressed his gratitude to ABS-CBN for entrusting him with roles and projects that gave him the opportunity to prove his acting talent. “Malaki ang utang na loob ko from the other station. But kaya kong sabihin na because of ABS-CBN nailabas ko ‘yung galing ko as an artista. Nagtiwala sila sa akin, marami na akong shows na nagawa in almost four years. Ang sarap ng feeling na sumusugal ‘yung network sa ‘yo, nagtitiwala sila ng responsibilidad sa ‘yo.”
