Nora on depression

Nora Aunor

As someone who has been in the industry for almost 50 years, Nora Aunor knows only too well that getting burned out is inevitable. And that nagging feeling of emptiness is something she has never been able to brush aside completely.

“That hasn’t left me; it has always been there,” she admitted in a recent interview with reporters. “I have been in the business for so long, and I have been dealing with such problems from the start. Pero ngayon pa ba ako susuko?”

But for the award-winning actress, whose career and personal life have been marked with glorious highs and dispiriting lows, that sense of emptiness could actually prove crucial for an artist.

“Sometimes, you have to feel that, so you become more determined to work harder,” said the Superstar, who attributes her fortitude to living with—and eventually overcoming—poverty.

“It made me stronger,” added Nora, whose first taste of “depression” came shortly after the death of her father, whom she “loved very much.” “You have to fight, no matter what you’re going through.”

At 65, Nora is still raring for roles that challenge her. Admittedly, however, she’s at a loss on what kind of project appeals to this generation of moviegoers.

“To be honest, I don’t know what the people want anymore. If you do an artistic movie, no one pays attention to it—not until it wins awards in international film festivals,” she said. “‘Thy Womb,’ for instance, needed to win in Venice first before people realized it was worth their time.”

“I was frustrated about that, I admit,” she said.

Nora’s not after a box-office hit. She just hopes that Filipinos would start giving local films—especially those produced independently—a second look. “At the end of the day, it boils down to what the audience wants,” relented Nora, who wistfully looked back at the halcyon days of her former movie outfit, NV Productions.

“From the time I produced ‘Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos,’ earning money didn’t matter to me as much. I had enough of doing films that had me singing under one tree to another… I wanted to experiment,” Nora recalled. “If people liked it, thank you. If not, there was no one to blame but me.”

For now, Nora is focusing on “Onanay,” her coming soap on GMA 7. Directed by Gina Alajar, the show, which will have the actress working with Cherie Gil, Gardo Versoza and Jo Berry, is about a mother’s love. It aims to shed light on achondroplasia, a bone disorder that stunts growth.

“Stories about a mother’s love and how she defends her children are close to my heart,” she said.