Jaclyn Jose’s red carpet moment

On her first trip down Cannes’ glitzy red carpet in 2008, actress Jaclyn Jose couldn’t help feeling like “royalty.”

“I walked slowly, like I was Queen Elizabeth,” she recalled. “It was the longest red carpet I’ve ever seen in my life.” It was an unending scarlet sea from the entrance near the Croisette to the top of the steps of the Palais. “Walang dugtong. It was one continuous carpet!”

She related that the other cast and crew members of Brillante Mendoza’s “Serbis” were a tad “nervous” then. “I kept telling them to relish the moment,” Jaclyn recounted. “We might never get to experience this again.”

Luckily for Jaclyn, she got to relive that red carpet thrill on Wednesday, at the premiere of her latest movie, Brillante’s “Ma’ Rosa,” an entry in the Main Competition of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, currently ongoing in France.

As bonus, she got to share the “dream” with her daughter, Andi Eigenmann, who costars in the film.

“I’m excited for Andi,” she told the Inquirer two days before her trip to Europe on Monday. “I really want her to attend more festivals.”

As a fest veteran, she had simple advice for Andi and the other first-timers in the “Ma’ Rosa” contingent (Neil Ryan Sese, Jomari Angeles, Luis Ruiz, Natileigh Sitoy and John Paul Duray): “Take your time, enjoy… we walk as a group, but we project as individuals! There are many eyes on you. Who knows, one of them might be a casting agent for an international film.”

One person she misses in Cannes is her perennial partner Julio Diaz who plays her husband in “Ma’ Rosa.” (The actor wanted to join the team, but his doctor advised him to rest as he is still recovering from a stroke, Brillante told the Inquirer.)

“July (Julio’s nickname) is so much fun to travel with,” she explained. “He is very sociable. In 2008, he befriended a Filipino who was based there. While we had to take a train to the French Riviera, he got to drive around in his new pal’s BMW!”

Effortless

JACLYN Jose

While Jaclyn “explored” the film market, Julio watched movies all day. She summed up her screen rapport with Julio as “effortless.” “July is like family to me. We started in the movies at the same time,” she remarked. “We just have to look at each other, and we already know what to do.”

That is precisely the instruction of Direk Brillante.

“The biggest challenge for me was not to act,” she owned up. “Especially since I am coming from TV shows where I play loud and campy characters.”

For “Ma’ Rosa,” she had to “tone everything down to zero.” “Brillante didn’t even allow me to put on makeup,” she gasped.

She didn’t have to do much research for the role, too, she pointed out. “Ma’ Rosa is the typical mother you’ll see on every street corner. I get to see women like her every time I shoot in depressed areas.”

As an actor, she is trained to be a keen observer of life, she acknowledged. “You notice every small detail about human behavior—before you know it, you’re already writing a story or making a short film about the people around you.”

To make it in Cannes, she worked nonstop for four days, giving up sleep while shuttling between two GMA 7 shows—the soap opera “The Millionaire’s Wife” and the sitcom “A1 Ko sa ’Yo.”

Back to the red carpet, she made it a point to wear a modern Filipiniana gown by Dannavie Chanyongco.

“I want to present myself as a proud Filipino woman there,” she said.

Bounce back

If foreigners would ask her about the Philippines, she’d gladly tell them that things are looking up: “Change is coming… the country will bounce back.”

For starters, she is radically optimistic that sweeping reforms will reach the film industry, too.

“We are hoping for continued support from the government,” she said. “I think it is starting already with the new Metro Manila Film Festival, which prioritizes quality films over box-office hits. I wish the new administration would encourage directors like Brillante to keep making movies.”