KAPAMILYA actress Judy Ann Santos-Agoncillo once again proved her mettle by bagging the Best Actress trophy in the recent Luna Awards held on December 18 for the movie “Mindanao.”
The 42-year-old multi-awarded mother of two and wife to fellow actor Ryan Agoncillo won her second Luna award, with the first one coming in 2007 for the movie “Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo.”
The Luna Awards is formerly known as the FAP Awards and is given out by the Film Academy of the Philippines. The award-giving body started handing out awards in 1983.
Aside from her two Luna best actress nods, has acting category wins from the other major award-giving bodies in the Philippines, namely FAMAS, Gawad Urian and PMPC Star Awards.
“Mindanao” has officially been selected as the entry to the 93rd Academy Awards in the International Feature Film category. It is helmed by Brillante Mendoza.
In “Mindanao,” Judy Ann tackles the role of Salma Datupalo, a Muslim mother who cares for her daughter who is stricken with cancer. Actor Allen Dizon portrays the role of Judy Ann’s husband, Malang Datupalo, who is a combat medic with the Philippine armed forces and who is deployed in the southern part of the country.
The film has been exhibited in many film festivals around the world, and was an entry to the 2019 Metro Manila Film Festival where it garnered acting, directing and best picture wins. At the 41st Cairo International Film Festival, the movie had two nods – Best Actress for Judy Ann Santos and the Henry Barakat Award for Best Artistic Contribution for director Brillante Mendoza.
This is the second project of Judy Ann that has a connection to the Academy Awards. In 2008, her movie “Ploning,” which she starred in and also had a credit as producer, was the Philippine entry to the Best Foreign Language Film category.
Aside from her acting career, Judy Ann is known for her YouTube cooking show, “Judy Ann’s Kitchen.” She has also dabbled in music, having released three albums. The actress also has her own star in the Eastwood City Walk of Fame and has been inducted into the Paradise of Stars in the Mowelfund Compound.
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Actor Jake Ejercito is not too keen to see daughter grow up so fast but accepts its inevitability.
In an interview with PEP.ph, Ejercito says that though he wants nine-year-old Ellie Eigenmann, his daughter with former girlfriend Andi Eigenmann, to remain a baby, he has noticed subtle changes.
“That’s the challenge kasi nandoon na si Ellie sa age na she gets curious about lots of things and slowly, parang gusto na rin niya maging independent somehow,” the actor was quoted as saying in the interview.
According to the same article, Jake keeps in mind a quote he read from Hollywood actor Will Smith’s Instagram account, which he remembers as something like, “Parenthood is a balance between letting go and squeezing tight.”
This early, Jake, for his part, is determined to give his daughter the right skills and mindset when she eventually seeks her independence and leaves the nest.
He stated: “Maybe a few more years, she’ll leave the nest. And I just have to make sure na before that happens, she’s well-equipped to survive by herself.”
While many laud Jake and Andi for their co-parenting ways, the actor says it took a lot of hard work to get to a rhythm and be at this stage.
“I get to read the comments about iyong set-up namin and how we’re doing nowadays. But you know, it wasn’t always this easy,” he related.
“Co-parenting, it goes through many phases. Pero eventually when you guys mature and you learn to be child-focused and set the past aside, talagang iyon. You just have to compromise and focus on the welfare of the kid, and that’s what we did,” Jake added.
Jake revealed that he tries to spend as much quality time with his daughter, having missed some of her growing up years while he studied abroad.
“By the time I got back here, I made it a point to make up for lost time, na makabawi kay Ellie. Ginagawa ko talaga lahat,” he said. “I try to spoil her, but not too much. Every time she’s with me, I make sure na we have fun.”
