Kevin Kreider might be a multi-hyphenate, but he considers his role in Hello, Love, Again, now the Philippines’ highest-grossing film in history, as his first proper acting gig.
As of December 2, the film has grossed a total of 1.4B Philippine pesos ($23.9M) at the global box office.
After his breakout appearance in Netflix reality series Bling Empire, as well as a role in feature film Asian Persuasion, which he also executive produced, Kreider has been busy running his own production outfit, Asian Lead Love Stories (ALLS) Production, while also launching a 50-episode webtoon and helping others develop reality shows. Kreider has also been cast in an upcoming American sci-fi thriller feature, as well as a Filipino medical drama.
However, it’s the magic of the cinema that makes him see Hello, Love, Again differently to his other on screen work. “The reason why I consider this my first proper acting role is because it is in theaters, where my parents could actually go, buy a ticket and watch it with other family members,” said Kreider. “Even my literary agent in New York saw that it was in theaters and she’s going to go see it this week. I didn’t have to tell them, ‘oh, just turn on your TV for streaming.’ I thought that was pretty significant.”
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Kreider, who has also worked as a model, is a strong advocate for mental health, working as a speaker with American business TBH, advocating for college students’ and Asian American and Pacific Islanders’ (AAPI) mental health. Kreider will be visiting several colleges for a campus tour with the organization.
Making Box Office History
Kreider played the role of Uno in Hello, Love, Again alongside veteran Filipino stars Alden Richards and Kathryn Bernardo.
The film — produced by ABS-CBN Studios and GMA Pictures, and distributed by Star Cinema — is the sequel to the 2019 box office hit Hello, Love, Goodbye, which was the Philippines‘ highest-grossing film of all time until Rewind and Hello, Love, Again this year.
Kreider’s previous film role was in Asian Persuasion, directed by Jhett Tolentino, which received a theatrical release in the Philippines.
“When I did Asian Persuasion, you had to be in the Philippines, and only for a week, to be able to see it,” said Krieder. “With Hello, Love, Again, my friends in Los Angeles could see it anywhere and my cousins in Houston saw it. They got to see it with other Filipinos and they talked to each other. That’s why I consider it my first real acting project.
“I consider the Filipino community to be the first champions for my acting career because I produce my own stuff, and a lot of the producers that I co-produce with and the writers that I’m working with are Filipino and Filipino-Amercan,” said Kreider, who is Korean-American. “There are typical things that you run into as a producer, like budget constraints, and people who just don’t believe in me as a creator. They only see me as a dense reality TV guy who’s on Bling Empire taking his shirt off. That’s where I think Fil-Am creatives saw something more in me.”
Kreider said that he counts Filipino-American creatives Tolentino and Mark Labella among his good friends. It was through Labella that ABS-CBN’s John Leo Garcia, supervising producer for Hello, Love, Again, got in touch with Kreider about the role of Uno.
“The role was originally supposed to be somebody who was half-Filipino, but as we were filming, they said, ‘You know what, why don’t you just remain as yourself, Korean’,” said Kreider. “I actually didn’t know I had the role until a week before I flew out to Calgary to film. I had a meeting with them and they said that I’d be great for it. Just a week before we started filming, they booked me a flight.”
Having to adjust to script changes on set on the fly also pushed Kreider to become a more confident and adaptable actor.
“I was making sure to bring Uno to life with the words that I’m given in the script, and then on set, the words are changed,” said Kreider. “Just delivering [the new ones] and trying my best gave me a little bit more confidence as an actor. In the past, I’d think that there’s no way that I could do it, but now when it happens, I can find a way.”
Co-founding Asian Lead Love Stories (ALLS)
Kreider also co-founded production house ALLS Production alongside Devon Diep. “We are working on a few things — anything that has to do with Asian leads and love stories are our jam,” said Kreider. “For instance, we’re starting to take independent clients and help them produce their own reality shows. We’re going to be releasing something for a client in January. It’s basically taking my reality TV skills and producing it for people who want to emulate TV shows that we see, like Bling Empire.”
Under ALLS Production, Diep will also be making her short film directorial debut. The co-founders are also developing a feature film, with a Filipino writer signed to the production. However, producing and funding his own projects have not been smooth-sailing.
“It’s the catch-22 where people will invest in you once you have your first project, but how do you get your first project?” said Kreider. “It’s not been easy. I’m using my own money that I’ve earned to create these projects. I don’t have investors, but would love if investors came on board.”
From Acting To Webtoons
In May this year, Kreider also launched an expansive webcomic titled Taejin: Legend of the Yang Metal on Webtoon with Nina Gee and Razz. It started off as a pandemic project and has taken several years to bring into fruition.
“My inspiration came during the pandemic. It’s a very long project. I just found myself wanting to be creative and writing my own story, and I just felt like talking about it too much wasn’t as effective as creating one,” said Kreider. “I would say that creating this character as well as delving into Chinese astrology and thought were things that really helped me during the pandemic, to get to know myself better, my strengths and weaknesses.
Taejin: Legend of the Yang Metal follows Taejin Choi, a rebellious teenager, after he pawns off a mysterious family heirloom talisman that leads to the awakening of his ‘Yang Metal’ powers. “It’s been something I wanted young boys, especially young Asian men, to be able to look up to and see themselves as heroic, just knowing that they have natural gifts themselves,” said Kreider.
Looking ahead, Kreider has already set several goals for 2025.
“I’d love to be able to produce my first full feature, even on a streaming platform,” said Kreider. “I’d love to be on another movie or TV series, and keeping my acting career going. I would love to do more speaking on mental health for Asian Americans, which is very important for me.”
Kreider has also set his sights on a book deal. “With my literary agent, I am writing a book about masculinity and mental health, especially for the AAPI community. I’d love to have a book publishing company with an Asian agent or editor sign this on,” said Kreider.
Fair to say Kevin Kreider is living up to the multi-hyphenate label.
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