Not quite there yet
After coming into their own together as TV soap stars some seasons ago, Julia Montes and Kathryn Bernardo are now separately being built up as bankable solo acts in new series—Julia in “Walang Hanggan,” and Kathryn in “Princess and I.” Naturally, their separate cadres of fans are hotly in contention—and disagreement—over who’s the bright, new star of the season.
Julia’s followers say she’s the one, because the role she plays on “Walang Hanggan” is a plum part, the story’s “young but passionate” heroine who gets to romance Coco Martin, among others. So, how does Julia measure up to the breakout role’s demands?
She fills the “young” aspect of the bill well enough, but she has trouble with the “passionate” part. She comes across as too inexperienced to be truly convincing in scenes where she pines and fights for her truest love. And, when she’s made to marry somebody else, she can’t adequately vivify the added strain of that new “emotional obligation” as well, so those scenes aren’t deeply felt.
We see this as a failure in talent preparation—not on Julia’s part, because she is a mere interpreter of other creative artists’ more challenging intentions. They should have made doubly sure that the actress was properly prepped for those demanding scenes before they were shot.
Seen in this context, Kathryn has the easier task in “Princess and I.” After all, the character she plays in it is more age-appropriate to her—a typical teen who just happens to be the “lost” princess of a Himalayan kingdom.
Being young, lovely and lively in real life, the actress should have no problems coming up with a natural portrayal, right? Uh, not so fast. To keep viewers rowdily entertained, her character is also made to be a cute little pest who pokes her nose into everybody else’s business, chitter-chatters away the whole day about this and that, gets into trouble on a regular basis, and fights with the young Himalayan royal who will eventually turn out to be her beloved.
It’s all “for the fans,” of course, but the actress dishes it out so unselectively and relentlessly that her portrayal, at least in the scenes shot in the Himalayan kingdom, comes off as much too much. A TV-film ingenue is supposed to charm and delight viewers to bits, but this one is more irritating than charming.
Again, this is partly a lapse in direction, since the actress is relatively inexperienced, and should have been guided to come up with a less relentless and unselective portrayal.
If there’s still time to set things right, Kathryn’s performance should be toned down and made more natural, otherwise its kiti-kiti quality will make it difficult for viewers to feel for her once her character’s deeply emotional scenes kick in.
As for Julia, perhaps she and her mentors can take their cue from the more enlightened way that Lino Brocka handled the similarly young Hilda Koronel in the early films they made together. Hilda was only 14 or 15, yet she was carefully guided and mentored by Brocka to be emotionally believable in young-adult parts. It can be done!
