Newcomer ticks off items from wishlist in upcoming film

MANILA, Philippines — The local tinseltown welcomes and witnesses up-and-coming talents year in and year out. One of them is Jhassy Busran, who will headline the family drama movie Unspoken Letters, produced by Utmost Creatives Motion Pictures.

“I play the lead character Felipa and the story will revolve around her. It’s about the struggles of a family raising a member who is a special child,” said the young actress in a recent virtual interview with The STAR. “She has the mental age of a seven-year-old. She is a special child whose cognitive development is late.”

The piece of information given to this paper further describes the character as someone “who looks up to her older siblings and dreams of following in their footsteps.”

When she heard of a film that would be produced with that compelling narrative, Jhassy never had second thoughts about auditioning for the role.

“I consider (it) a dream role. I wanted to play a special child (character) or someone with special needs,” said she. “I was really interested in getting the role.”

To make the story short, she eventually landed the role, which required her to discuss it with a psychologist, read up on research studies on how special children act and interact, and attend a workshop.

Asked how Jhassy got into acting, she shared: “I started acting before the pandemic. I had my workshop in 2019. Getting into this field (or line of work) never crossed my mind. I was just there to widen my knowledge about acting since I was doing it in school. That was the main purpose, tapos nag-tuloy, tuloy na lang po (from there, an opportunity to learn more about acting led to another). I eventually liked it.”

Her first foray into essaying roles was in the short film Pugon, or oven in English, directed by Gabby Ramos. It graced the 2021 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival. Her character lives in a fishing village where children are being pawned by their parents to work because of poverty. The movie was also shown abroad, and her performance was also recognized.

“I won the (Jury Award) Best of the Best Performance by an Actress at the International Film Festival Manhattan New York (in 2021) and (Best Child Actress) at the Ashoka (International Film Festival 2021) in Japan. There’s also the (Best Child Actress award at the Gully International Film Festival 2021) in India.”

After starring in Pugon, Jhassy played a superhero character in Genius Teens — Chapter 1 and 2, and a teenager, along with her friends, who created a security, crime monitoring app in Caught in The Act. In Home I Found In You, she portrayed a hardworking character who is not into social media and meets a famous celebrity.

According to her team, Jhassy also acted in the Facebook drama series Roommate and will be part of the soon-to-premiere 12-episode TV series, Genius Teens Season One on IBC13 and Tropa Peeps with the Department of Education’s National Council of Children’s TV.

So far, her role in Unspoken Letters, which will have its red-carpet premiere on Nov. 30 at the TriNoma Mall Cinema and hit the cinemas on Dec. 13, is Jhassy’s most challenging.

“The different characters that I can play and (the fact that) I get to experience them, which are totally far from or opposite to my personality,” said she about the joys of acting.

After starring in short and full-length films, Jhassy Busran plays the role of a child with special needs in the Utmost Creatives family drama movie. She considers it a dream role and feels lucky to have worked with veteran actors, who also headline Unspoken Letters. As an indie talent, Jhassy is happy with the way things are going in her promising career.

Her latest movie, meanwhile, has given Jhassy the opportunity to work with veteran actors such as Matet de Leon, Tonton Gutierrez, Simon Ibarra, Glydel Mercado, Gladys Reyes and to learn from them.

“It was a dream come true, of course, for someone who has just started in the industry, and working with them was really overwhelming and at the same time, nakakakaba po (nerve-wracking). So, I did my best,” said she.

The newbie actress follows and watches the works of Sylvia Sanchez, Kathryn Bernardo, Lorna Tolentino, Maricel Soriano, and Jaclyn Jose. She said she likes their versatility, which is something she aspires to achieve in the future.

Jhassy would also like to collaborate with Elijah Canlas, Kyle Echarri, Joshua Garcia and Daniel Padilla.

As of the moment, Jhassy is an independent talent and is happy with the way things are going in her promising career.

“I’m happy and it’s fine with me to wait for the right opportunity to come instead of rushing (things),” said she. “Naniniwala naman ako na kapag may door na nag-close, marami pang window na magbubukas (I believe when one door closes, another window opens). You just have to wait for the perfect time.”

As she pursues her interest in acting, Jhassy always finds time for her studies.

“I intend to take up Psychology, which will be my pre-law course,” she concluded.

(Unspoken Letters will be released and distributed by Reality Entertainment.)