40 on the cover BENCH top, Glorietta 4, BASIC MOVEMENT skirt, basicmovement.ph
on the cover 41 movie’s title mentioning stars. “Maybe other people will consider me weird for believing in aliens—because I believe in aliens—but that’s my character. You’ll know why when you watch the film, but other than that my look is very unique: everything vintage.” Julia keeps mum about all the other details, but reassures me that it will be a film worth watching. She also mentions that she has other impending projects she’s working on for the rest of the year but tells me she can’t disclose anything about them yet. What she does tell me is that she draws from her own experience for her performances. “Compared to when I was starting out, I think I have a deeper pain,” she says. “I have a deeper understanding of life: about people, about love, and about pain. I’ve become a better and stronger person.” She says that learning to embrace and understand pain has become the key to her success as an actress. “Every painful moment in my life, I take in, and I embrace it,” she says. “So when the time comes to use it, I can go back and re-feel that feeling. And I can do that because I don’t escape from feelings, I endure it.” A technique I imagine a Hollywood actress would go by. Julia casually mentions it like it’s just something she’s learned to do through the years. When I ask her more questions about the scrutiny surrounding her family and its effect on her career, she fights back tears. “I don’t regret anything in my career. There’s no preparation for a life like this, for an industry like this. When you get into this, you just have to toughen up and know how to handle it well, deal with it well.” Recently, her own sister Claudia entered the scene as a singer with her debut single Stay. I ask her what advice she’s given her younger sister. “I’ve told her to stay true to herself,” she shares. “I don’t want her to be manipulated by other people because they want her to be a certain way. I want her to be the person that she wants herself to be. I want her to just be real, be honest with herself.” Julia sheepishly confesses to being a stage sister. There is a certain sense of sorrow in her answer, perhaps because of the implications of her own struggles growing up in the industryshe’s been in since the age of nine. Her sister, who’s now 17, will most likely have to face the same challenges as part of the family legacy. From what I can surmise about Julia based on my brief encounter with her, she’s truly passionate about what she does, and she’s surprisingly well adjusted and accustomed to the work that comes with it. Her work ethic is perhaps one of the better things to come from her lineage. But, given the weight of her last name, Clearly, as someone who is itching to come out of her shell, it comes to no surprise to me when she professes that in 10 years, when she’s 30, she’d imagine herself as a mom who owns a day care. it’s difficult not to question whether her profession is something she’s chosen on her own, or something she’s followed to prolong her family’s dynasty. It’s evident that this is only the beginning and that there’s a part of her still waiting to come out of her shell—a version of Julia Barretto that has yet to be shared with the world. Perhaps her idea of making a name for herself is more than just stepping outside of her family’s shadow. This facet of Julia that we see now may be just a preamble for what awaits her in the future—a future that she envisions will include a stint at a film school in New York (“I have to do that before I die or I can’t die!”). She’s well aware of what her name means to the showbiz industry, but she also knows that being an actress is not something she sees herself doing in the long run—she’s also itching to explore more things in life, like her dreams of being a “normal” film student or owning a daycare. She blurts out the word “normal” like it’s something that’s out of her reach, which it probably is. There’s definitely nothing normal about living life like a “fish a in fishbowl,” formulating pristine answers to probing questions from people who are always doubting her sincerity, and shouldering the weight of the expectations that precedes her. Perhaps in another life—a life after the industry or outside of it— maybe that’s when she can finally make an excuse to get that much needed rest. Maybe then, but not today. • Makeup by LALA FLORES Hair by JOHN VALLE Special thanks to CAI MAROKET Intern VERA CABANOS
Change language