• Home
• /
• Entertainment

Jodi counts her blessings

THE SECRET to good acting, says Jodi Sta Maria, is to get into the character. The former teen actress-who started out as an ingenue in the youth-oriented show Tabing-Ilog-has finally perfected the technique, and that is the reason for the success she’s currently enjoying.

Jodi turned in an impressive performance as the manic-depressive Cynthia in Walang Kapalit, and after that, the movie-TV assignments never stopped coming.

She bagged the role of Ruth in Patayin Sa Sindak Si Barbara (where, critics say, she out-acted Kris Aquino), in Palos, Kung Fu Kids, and in the indie film Maling Akala, an entry to the Cinema One Originals Film Festival. She is also now working on a forthcoming Indie film, her second in as many years. There was a time that she was so busy, she was shuttling back and forth between Palos and Patayin Sa Sindak si Barbara when taping schedules of the two shows overlapped. Jodi recalls that she would even bring her two-year-old son to the set just so she could be assured of spending time with him.

Even the critics have taken notice of her work, and last year, honoured her with a Star Awards for Television Best Actress in a Drama Series nomination for her work in Walang Kapalit. She may have lost the award to Sunshine Dizon (for GMA-7’s Bakekang) but the nomination was enough to serve notice to all and sundry that Jodi has finally arrived as an actress and can be considered a legitimate talent.

Through sheer determination and hard work, Jodi has now become one of the most in-demand actresses of her generation. How did she do it? How did she transform herself from teen ingenue to serious actress, something that does not come easy to every actress?

According to Jodi, it starts with getting into character. Whenever she has to work, she sees to it that she immerses herself completely in the character to the point that she loses herself in it.

“Once I get to the set, people are no longer talking to Jodi, but to whoever the character I’m playing is,” she explains. “Of course, I get a lot of help from my directors. I’ve been very fortunate to have been handled by some very good directors, like Direk Maryo J. delos Reyes, Rory Quintos and Marilou Diaz-Abaya. I really learned a lot from them.”

Jodi has been acting since her teen years, but she never really got noticed before. “I guess it was because the roles I was getting before weren’t really that meaty, acting-wise,” she says. “They were all mostly teenybopper roles that didn’t demand much from me in terms of acting. The roles I’m getting now are very different. There’s more depth to the characters I’m playing, so that’s very exciting for me as an actress.”