Actress Jessy Mendiola is back in the spotlight five years since her last acting project. Audiences should expect to see a different Mendiola, though, as the now 31-year old mother and wife declared she’s returning to showbiz with more confidence and maturity than ever before.
At the contract signing with ABS-CBN’s talent agency Star Magic, Mendiola said she’s ready to take on roles she has not done yet.
“I wouldn’t say that I’m a great actor, just that I know how,” a confident yet sincere Mendiola said at the media conference following her contract signing.
“So I think that’s where I will focus now — to hone my acting skills by trying gray roles, antagonist roles, and maybe, because I’m a mother now, mother roles on screen as well. Honestly, I want to try so many things and I’m very excited what Star Magic has in store for me,” she added.
Now a wife and mother, the actress takes on a different approach to life. INSTAGRAM PHOTO/STARMAGICPHILS
Mendiola started acting in 2007 and became a household name in hit ABS-CBN TV series “Sabel,” “Budoy,” and “Paraiso.” She also played the titular role “Maria Mercedes.” On the big screen, she starred in “The Trial,” The Reunion,” and “Call Center Girl.”
In her 17-year-career, Mendiola received recognitions such as the German Moreno Youth Achievement Award at the 2012 Famas Awards and Best Asia Pacific Star at the 5th Asia Pacific Actors Network Star Awards in South Korea.
Mendiola took a hiatus from acting when she started her family with host Luis Manzano. The couple first tied the knot in April 2021 and welcomed their first child, Isabella Rose, in December 2022.
The actress admitted she had to battle self-doubt before agreeing to return to work. It was her husband Manzano who helped her get through it.
“I really had to think if I was ready but it was Luis who said, ‘I know you are doing this for yourself, you deserve it and you deserve to grow.'”
As such, Mendiola revealed that she is extending the same support to her husband who has vocally said he is open to politics much like her parents Vilma Santos and Edu Manzano.
“Actually, we even cried about it, because when I found out that he’s open to it, I admit I didn’t want him to do it before. I told him, ‘We’re already in showbiz and now you want to enter politics. Our lives will become even more chaotic.’
“But when he told me again that he is open to it, I really told him, ‘I’ll support you. Who am I to deny that to you, it’s part of your life… Who am I to stop you from giving service to your countrymen?’ I think he has the right heart for it. And we know that he is very smart, so I think he is the perfect person to serve the public.”
With her openness to answer intriguing questions — regarding her professional and personal life — some members of the media got curious and asked if she’s also willing to work with former onscreen and offscreen partner JM de Guzman.
“Yes of course, why not? We’ve moved on and I’m at this point in my life where I have no bad blood with anyone,” Mendiola said without hesitation.
ABS-CBN executives who were present at the contract signing were COO Cory Vidanes, Star Magic head and Entertainment Production head Laurenti Dyogi, and Mendiola’s manager, Alan Real.
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