Maria Ozawa admits she used to wonder why she’s famous in the Philippines

Maria Ozawa in “Fast Talk with Boy Abunda” | Image: Screengrab from YouTube/@GMA Network

Japanese actress Maria Ozawa recalled the first time she found out that she was famous in the Philippines, wondering why, as she had never even been in the country at the time.

“This is my 10th year here in the Philippines. Maybe at the end of 2014, I had Filipino friends visiting Japan and then they were saying, ‘Why don’t you visit the Philippines? Have you been there?’ I’ve only been to Cebu once, and Manila I haven’t and they were like, ‘Oh, you’re famous there’ and I was like, ‘Really? I’ve never been to the Philippines and I’m famous?” she shared during a recent appearance on Fast Talk with Boy Abunda.

Ozawa recalled that she proceeded to visit the Philippines the following year and emphasized that she ended up loving the hospitality, the Filipino food, and the weather.

Rising to fame from her adult movies, Ozawa is now playing David Licauco’s mother in the GMA series “Pulang Araw.” The former adult film star revealed she had “mixed feelings” about accepting the role.

“It was very hard, actually, because when I first read the script and my role, I had mixed feelings, of course, because when it comes to history, it’s really hard to repeat that because nobody wants to, you know, remember the bad things that they had to go through in every country, which doesn’t mean only in Japan or in the Philippines,” she explained.

The 38-year-old actress stated that she didn’t want to disrespect anybody or the history in her portrayal.

“The drama itself is about the Philippines, Japan, and then, this time, the world. When I was reading it, I had an image that maybe a little bit slightly the Japanese were in the bad in the role itself so I was like, Would I be able to, you know, act out as a good Japanese mother? I didn’t want to disrespect anybody or the role itself so I studied some of the history back then and then how everything was going on,” she continued.

Meanwhile, Ozawa also shared the reason she quit the adult movie industry.

“I wanted to quit the industry while they still know about me or when they’re still talking about me. ‘Cause how am I supposed to prove anything if I’m not famous anymore?” she remarked.

Meanwhile, Licauco recently revealed in a separate interview that he got starstuck upon meeting Ozawa.

“Actually, paakyat dito nakita ko si (coming here, I saw) Maria Ozawa,” he said in a 24 Oras interview. “Nagulat ako na andyan siya (I was surprised she’s here), saka ang ganda niya (she’s so beautiful).”

In January, Licauco went viral for his appearance in “Family Feud” after he answered “Maria Ozawa” as a name associated with “Maria,” receiving teasing and laughter from his teammates and the netizens.