Janine Gutierrez is ready for her closeup

MANILA, Philippines - Janine Gutierrez says “legit” a lot. She says it when describing her Lola Pilita’s coolness (“Mamita is legit cool! We just found out Elvis wanted to go out with her pala!”). She uses it to tell me how much she wanted a role (“legit praying”). She uses it to explain her friend’s affinity with Selena Gomez (“He legit loves her”). And she uses it to fawn over Emma Watson (“so legit”).

It’s kind of jarring coming from the kind of face she has, a doe-eyed classic beauty that seems better fit for Sampaguita Pictures rather than Instagram. But it’s a nice reminder about how old she is and what kind of life she’s lived — Janine Gutierrez is 24 years old but a young 24.

Fresh off her first lead role, in GMA-7’s daytime hit Villa Quintana (opposite her on-screen and off-screen love interest Elmo Magalona), she’s gearing up for a new phase in her career. After a few years in the wilderness of still-born TV pilots and career opportunities that just never caught on, she seems on the verge of a moment now, her face omnipresent on billboards for Boardwalk and MyPhone, her career seemingly on the cusp of a breakthrough.

It’s an enviable position but also one many starlets have been in before her. In Hollywood terms, is she going to be a Gretchen Mol, a mid-’90s Vanity Fair-anointed It girl who inexplicably faded out? Or a Winona Ryder, a savvy marriage of hype and talent eventually making way for longevity?

At 24, Janine could still go either way. With a good head on her shoulders (career peg: Shailene Woodley) and a well-tuned bullshit radar (the result of growing up in showbiz), it’s pretty likely she’ll avoid the potholes of fame. But still, you have to wonder — why isn’t Janine Gutierrez more famous? I pondered this, as I thought about her beauty, poise, and professionalism, and decided to make this article about that. I would give Janine suggestions on how to be more famous and she would tell me what she thought about them. In other words, legit!

Ways Janine Gutierrez Could Be More Famous

#1 Whore her family out.

The stars and superstars she’s related to are a virtual constellation — Nora Aunor and Christopher De Leon for maternal grandparents, Pilita Corrales and Eddie Gutierrez for paternal grandparents, Lotlot De Leon and Ramon Christopher for parents. It’s a heady family tree and that’s not even taking into consideration the extended family — Tita Matet, Tita Jackielou, Titos Richard and Raymond, Tita Ruffa, and so on and so forth.

It’s worth noting that a lesser person would be keen to ride those connections to the hilt. It’s what’s done in showbiz, after all. The easiest way for a showbiz scion to get ahead is to divulge family details on a Sunday talk show, maybe even get into a fight with a more famous relative. But while Janine doesn’t shy from answering questions about her family, she isn’t exactly looking to use that to get somewhere.

“Growing up, I didn’t really know they were famous… There was this one time in grade school,” she says. “I really can’t forget this. We were in grade two and in Sibika class. They had the book about the famous scientists canon, and there’s a chapter on Sining. And my two lolas were there! Dun ko lang na-realize na, wow, they’re personalities.”

Instead, before showbiz, Janine dreamt of working in international relations, taking up European Studies in the Ateneo de Manila University. “I wanted to be an ambassador. I wanted to be a diplomat. It just seemed kind of romantic… And not in a silly way but with a purpose,” to believe in peace and the ultimate goodness of people. She went as far as doing an internship in the Department of Foreign Affairs.

 #2 Make a sex tape with Elmo Magalona.

She looks at me incredulously and laughs at the suggestion. “No!” she says.

On Villa Quintana, the daytime teleserye that gave Janine her first lead role, she met Elmo Magalona, her co-star and new ka-love team. Now, she admits that they’re dating.

Of course, being one-half of a couple top-billing a show also means a higher profile — one that comes with intrigue. “I’ve always known that it was part of it because I grew up hearing intriga about my parents and my grandparents,” she says. But intriga in the time of her parents was a completely different beast. While personal pain was routinely dissected on TV, newspapers, and tabloids, the intrigue Janine’s generation goes through is direct and in real time — so much so that you never know what kind of acrid insult you’re getting when you open your Instagram.

Fans of Elmo’s last love team (with Julie Anne San Jose) routinely send her threats (“Mukha kang yuping lata,” one of the more imaginative ones said) and her fans sometimes fight back. She says though that everything’s fine between her and Julie Anne. And that this is mostly just fan wars.

“Everyone has something to say, I guess. And I can’t blame them because, I mean, we all have opinions about Brangelina too, or those Hollywood stars… I can’t complain because it’s part of the territory.

 #3 Become an It Girl.

Janine’s grandparents came from a time vastly different from the industry she movies in now. In their time, if you were really good at what you did, if you were in a good movie or had a good song, you became famous.

Today, talent and achievement are almost secondary. Stardom has become the dominion of savvy self-marketers and players with a flair for hype — stars who are famous for being famous, stars who can’t really sing or dance but can fill stadiums, stars who are famous for famous sex tapes.

A year ago, Janine wondered if she should just quit showbiz and take her masters. She had, after all, finished college. She didn’t know what she was waiting for and couldn’t really understand why projects she was working on kept falling through. Opportunity beckoned, however, and suddenly, she was top-billing a teleserye.

“I’ve learned that [fame] just comes second. It’s not my goal,” she says now. “I just really want to be an actress — does that make sense?” she asks, to no one in particular. “Of course, before, I wanted to be a superstar. But now, I just really want to do more when it comes to work — I want to make a movie, I hope I can get an indie, I hope I can be a good actress.” She looks down and blushes a little bit. “Doing good work feels more important to me than doing something just so my face is everywhere.”