The stars open up about filming abroad, doing stunts, and building chemistry.
For “Love is Never Gone,” Joshua Garcia and Ivana Alawi didn’t just play characters caught in danger—they ran, fought, and leaped right into it themselves.
The upcoming action-romance series, directed by Emmanuel Palo and Jojo Saguin, marks a first in many ways: it is the first Filipino series shot in Morocco, and the first on-screen pairing of Joshua and Ivana. It will begin streaming on Prime Video on May 8.
At the center of the story is a man wronged and pushed into a life of survival, and a woman living a double life as a thief and spy. Their paths collide amid a dangerous web of crime, deception, and revenge—circumstances that naturally demand high-stakes action.
Instead of relying heavily on doubles, Joshua and Ivana stepped up to perform many of the stunts themselves.
Scenes requiring physical intensity and precision
“Yes, we did a lot of our stunts,” Joshua told radar Entertainment during the program launch organized by Prime Video. “There’s a double present, of course, just in case. But most of the time, that’s really us.”
Some of those scenes required physical intensity and precision, with Joshua even performing action sequences while masked. For him, it was all part of the job. “Lightweight lang,” he quipped, brushing off the challenge with ease.
Ivana, however, admitted the experience pushed her far outside her comfort zone. “It was really scary, especially since I’m not a gym person,” she said, laughing. Still, she found the process thrilling, especially watching her co-star in action. “Josh was great at it. He would do tumblings—it was so exciting to watch.”
The physical demands were only one layer of the challenge. For both actors, the deeper difficulty lay in building their characters while already in the middle of production.
“As an actor, that for me was the most difficult,” Joshua explained. “We didn’t have a lot of time to prepare. It’s like we were building our characters while we were already shooting.”
Ivana faced her own unique hurdles, including performing scenes in French. “The hardest part for me was when I was shooting in French,” she said. “Because I have a lot of characters as a spy, and my first scene was in French.”
It was also her first time shooting abroad, an experience she described as both surreal and exciting. “I was just looking at the people around us,” she recalled. “They didn’t even know we were shooting.”
Despite the challenges, Morocco proved to be both a beautiful backdrop and the setting where the two leads formed a genuine connection. “That’s where we bonded. That’s where we became close,” Alawi said. “It was just fun.”
That off-screen closeness translated naturally into their on-screen chemistry, particularly in the series’ more intimate moments. The trailer has already teased a notably steamy dynamic between the two, but both actors were quick to downplay any awkwardness.
“There was no awkwardness,” Joshua declared.
Ivana agreed: “We were already close when we did the scenes. And Josh took care of me.”
As anticipation builds ahead of its release, Ivana shared her excitement after seeing the trailer for the first time. “It’s like we’ve seen everything that we’ve worked hard for,” she said. “The trailer is so beautiful. There’s so much more to see.”
With its mix of action, romance, and an ambitious international setting, “Love is Never Gone” signals a step forward for Filipino storytelling—one where its stars are willing to go the extra mile to bring the story to life.
As an actor, that for me was the most difficult. We didn’t have a lot of time to prepare. It’s like we were building our characters while we were already shooting.
Joshua Garcia
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