Janice de Belen earned the title Scream Queen in the nineties for portrayal several times in Shake
Rattle and Roll films, and of course
headlining the blockbuster Tiyanak, which
gave birth to the popular phrase “anak ni Janice,” referring to her monster
baby in the Peque Gallaga movie.
A generation of audiences have seen Janice grow up on national television, playing many roles. First as a child struggling to keep her parents together no matter the odds in the soap Flordeluna, and then years later, as a woman who would get her heart broken a few times in movies and in real life. Through it all, the public has always had an affinity with the actress, taking her side especially when she’s running from monsters and ghouls and whatnot. Today, after more than three decades in the limelight, audiences continue to be enamored by her—her honesty, her smarts, and her acting chops.
This October, audiences will once more hear
her scream and battle the supernatural in the much-anticipated Tiktik:
The Aswang Chronicles, as she plays the mother of Lovi Poe.
“I am Lovi’s hysterical and judgmental
mother!” she says. She forgot to say very protective, which she is in this
movie about a group of aswangs that
threaten the life of her pregnant daughter.
“At first, hindi pa ako na-excite,
maybe because I read the script on my iPad, and it felt different,” Janice says
when asked about the film.
“Then I got the hard copy and suddenly I was in. I
have done a lot of horror and monster films in the past and it was a great idea
to start doing them again.”
“I think it’s safe to say that I’m
having a sort of second wind,” says Janice, who has just won Best Actress at
the last Cinemalaya Film Festival, together with her three co-stars in Mga
Mumunting Lihim. At 43, she is probably at
her busiest: she hosts the Saturday talk show Showbiz Inside Report, is
currently working on a primetime soap slated to premiere in October, and is one
of the stars of the recent horror studio offering The Healing—together with no less than Vilma Santos. It might
just as well be her second wind, or, she says,
“Maybe the renewed passion for
my craft just emanates from within.”
There was a time, she confesses,
when she was content in just playing mom to her five kids. She was still
married then, of course, to the actor John Estrada. But after their separation,
she knew she needed to work again to support her children. She came back to
television, but this time as a TV host. It was only in 2009 that she would go
back to acting via the fantaserye Darna. When she moved to ABS-CBN in 2011, first appearing in the successful
primetime drama Budoy as
the adoptive mother of a special child played by Gerald Anderson, her star
would continue to rise again.
After a couple of indie projects
that included the 2011 hit Zombadings 1: Patayin Sa Shokot Si Remington, Janice will again be seen in the genre she
continues to shine in: the suspense-horror-adventure. In Tiktik:
The Aswang Chronicles, she is once
more part of a colorful ensemble of actors, but this time working in a
completely made-up set inside a green screen studio.
Janice
enjoyed working in a studio where an entire fictional town was built.
“Controlled environment is the best condition to work in!” And she also enjoyed
working with the director Erik Matti for the first time in a film. He has
directed her before, but in TV commercials. “It was fun! Directors and actors
really need to have a rapport for the work to turn out well. I think we did
have that. He gave me the freehand to explore and play with my character, and
it’s always nice to hear him say ‘Beautiful!’ or ‘Very good!’ after each take.”
Despite
her busy schedule, she still finds time to be a mom, of course, to her real
life kids. She says nothing much has changed in her role as mother, even if her
kids are all relatively grownups. “I don’t think much has changed. Nabawasan
lang ng isa kasi married na si Luigi [her son by Aga Muhlach],” she says,
before adding: “Ah, wait—I’m less hysterical now.”
She
knew she was quite an OA mom before, much like the character she plays in Tiktik:
The Aswang Chronicles, but for good reason.
“I think all moms have that hysterical and judgmental streak—iba-iba lang ang
pag-execute. We only want the best for our kids.”
Career
and her children are easily Janice’s top priorities these days. Romance has
taken a backseat.
“I haven’t been lucky in that aspect of my life, so huwag na muna. Let it come when I am truly ready. Now is not the time.”
