Jasmine Curtis-Smith. Photo by Clarizel Abanilla
With a few movies under her belt, and as her contemporaries now handle serious roles which require intimate scenes, young actress Jasmine Curtis-Smith noticeably seems to shy away from doing on-screen kissing.
At the press conference held for the commercial release of Cinema One Originals 2016 entries “Baka Bukas” and “2 Cool 2 be 4gotten”, the 22-year-old actress revealed why she never engages in kissing scenes on screen.
“Hindi talaga [I never did kissing scenes], we made it a rule nung nag-join ako [when I joined showbiz] na off limits muna kami dun,” she shared.
(I never really did kissing scenes on-screen, we made it a rule [when I joined showbiz] that I would be off-limits to that.)
“Nag-start kasi ako, estudyante pa ko sa high school so s’yempre may restriction lang, kasi baka s’yempre, teenager ka, ang emotions mo, heightened ‘yan, madala ka, baka akala mo in love ka talaga sa ka-eksena mo,” Curtis-Smith explained.
(I was still a high school student when I started, so of course I had restrictions. When you’re a teenager, your emotions are heightened. You can be easily swept away while filming a scene, and you might think you’ve fallen in love with your fellow actor.)
Her management also studies the suitability of a specific project for her. She believes that any material, if it can be portrayed in the same perspective with the exclusion of compromising scenes, may be altered.
“Kung hindi naman talaga kinakailangan, bakit pa namin ilalagay, eh marami namang different way para i-emulate ang pagmamahal or ang interes sa isang ka-partner mo sa screen,” she said.
(If it’s [kissing scene] not really needed, why include it? There are many different ways of showing love or interest towards an on-screen partner.)
Exception to her rule: the same sex kiss on “Baka Bukas“
In her recent portrayal as “Alex” in the hit 2016 romance flick “Baka Bukas”, Curtis-Smith played a lesbian who has long been in love with her girl best friend. Curtis-Smith did a kissing scene with Louise De Los Reyes who plays her love interest. The actress, despite not engaging in on-screen kissing scenes with the opposite sex, has agreed to do this one.
“There are no boundaries in terms of gender. Bakit natin hinuhusgugahan yun? (Why do we judge that?)” Curtis-Smith asked. “I wanted to be a part of that type of movement, I guess to make people more open-minded. Normal lang naman ‘yun eh (That is normal.). Bakit, ano ba’ng mali dun? (What’s wrong with that?).”
A known supporter of the LGBT (Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgenders) community, Curtis-Smith believes that her choice to do relevant films such as “Baka Bukas” could help remove the stigma on same sex relationships.
“It’s a side of love kasi that people don’t usually see on screen, so I want to just strengthen that in the media. We need to provide all types of people a representation in this media.”
“Baka Bukas” is an official entry to the Cinema One Originals 2016 festival, for which Jasmine Curtis-Smith won the Best Actress award. Due to insistent public demand, the film will be commercially released on March 1 in select cinemas nationwide. JB