MANILA, Philippines - Star Magic talent Jessy Mendiola doesn’t mind foregoing a grand debut party when she turned 18 last Dec. 3. Her mother studio already gave what to her is the best debut gift ever: the title role in the primetime series Sabel, which premieres today before TV Patrol on ABS-CBN.
As a girl cursed with bad luck, Jessy is the network’s first and only choice to play the role that launched Snooky Serna as an actress in the 1981 Regal classic Bata Pa Si Sabel.
“I feel happy and nervous at the same time,” admits Jessy, whose role in Your Song Presents Boystown made people sit up and notice.
This early, comparisons fly fast and furious. Observers say Jessy is the new Erich Gonzales, whom ABS-CBN launched in another remake, Katorse. Then there’s Empress Schuck, whom the network took a gamble on in Rosalka.
Jessy is tickled pink.
“Now I share the same rank as Empress and Erich,” she explains. “I saw how they bloomed after their respective series.
Blooming might as well be the word to describe Jessy as well. She sizzles in a wet look scene by the beach and shares passionate kissing scenes with one of her leading men, AJ Perez (the other one is newcomer Joseph Marco).
But Jessy herself isn’t sure that she’s sexy alright.
“See, I’m sweating!” she admits.
Still, she doesn’t mind being tagged as “the new sex symbol.”
Jessy will obey whatever her mother studio will ask her to do. But please, no super bold poses, she says. It took four months of negotiations until she finally agreed to wear that white camisole that clung close to her shapely body in that eye-popping wet scene.
Not everybody believes what they see, though. Jessy, a veteran of four years in the business, wasn’t surprised when people thought those ample chests are the products of science, not nature. Jessy shrugs this off, saying that everything about her is natural, thank you.
So people are comparing her to Erich and Empress?
“We play different characters, and our personalities are different,” Jessy shoots back.
But she has a few things in common with Kristine Hermosa, whom some people say is Jessy’s lookalike.
Just like Kristine, who accompanied her sister to audition, Jessy happened to be around when her sister went to Star Magic.
Kristine and Jessy’s sisters were not cut out for showbiz. But Kristine and Jessy surprised even themselves when they were asked to audition.
Now, Jessy lives and breathes showbiz. She’s not entertaining suitors, fearful that a lovelife will get in the way of work.
AJ, she insists, is just a long-time friend and they take turns ribbing each other on and off-cam.
“He’s more of a brother to me,” comments Jessy. She even playfully jabs his stomach when the press asks them ticklish questions.
“We’ve been working together for years,” Jessy expains.
AJ adds, “We swap stories, share food and horse around on the set.”
No wonder Jessy’s mom isn’t afraid something more than meets the eye will happen between her daughter and AJ after their kissing scene (it took them only two takes).
“We acted as if nothing happened after we shot that scene,” says AJ.
“My mom is very supportive,” reveals Jessy.“She watches the taping — including the kissing scene.”
Jessy is prepared to go beyond kissing scenes in her next assignments. She has played a 23-year-old — or someone five years her senior — in Kung Tayo’y Magkakalayo. As Christina, Jessy was Coco Martin’s leading lady. So, Jessy is no stranger to more mature roles.
After Sabel, Jessy might as well get used to playing leading lady. ABS-CBN management told her it will give her no less than lead roles the next time around.
Now, Jessy Mendiola has reached the point of no return. Sabel will make or break her. And she’s willing to take the risk.
“I know many people want to be in my shoes,” she relates. “So I feel so lucky.”
Now, she has to bid the teenybooper image of her Gimik days goodbye and say hello to mature, serious roles.
We wlll see Jessy morph into Sabel, the innocent adolescent who will turn into a full-blown woman no man can say no to. Jessy’s mentors in the acting workshop and her director, Don Cuaresma are confident their new protégé will pass this acid test in her career.
When that happens, we will soon be seeing the birth of a new star who can lay claim to fame and fortune and everything else that goes with it.