Alden Richards, Tom Cruise’s meeting gets noticed by international media

Alden Richards meets Tom Cruise. Screengrab from YouTube/Etalk

It appears that the encounter between Alden Richards and Tom Cruise has not only smitten Filipino audiences but also the international crowd after the most-watched entertainment news program “Etalk” featured the meeting between the two stars. 

In the program’s May 9 report, anchor Tyrone Edwards spotlighted the interaction between Cruise and Richards, whom he referred to as the Filipino megastar. Both actors have played characters named Ethan.

“It’s the meeting of two Ethans as Filipino megastar Alden Richards, who famously plays Ethan in ‘Hello, Love, Again,’ the highest grossing Filipino film ever, gets to have some face time with Tom. It’s safe to say Tom wins Alden over with his charm,” Edwards said.

Following the Canadian feature, fans took to social media to express their positive reactions about Richards gaining global attention.

The Hollywood star and Richards recently met in South Korea for the “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” red-carpet premiere.

Cruise, who portrays Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible franchise, is currently on a press tour as he promotes the latest installment with his co-stars.

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, the new installment follows Cruise’s Ethan and his allies as they attempt to defeat the bad guys and destroy the AI program called Entity that can weaken the world’s stability.

Aside from Cruise, the film also features Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Pom Klementieff, Greg Tarzan Davis and Angela Bassett, among others. It is set to premiere in Philippine theaters on May 17. 

Meanwhile, Richards and his “Hello, Love, Again” co-star Kathryn Bernardo were previously awarded the title of box-office king and queen by the Cinema Exhibitors Association of the Philippines. 

The recognition was due to their film’s achievement, which set a record as the highest-grossing Filipino movie ever, earning ₱1.6 billion globally.  /ra