Janice conquers one of her greatest fears

MANILA, Philippines – Because she’s been in front of the cameras since she was 9, Janice de Belen thought she has conquered all forms of insecurities as an actress. She thought she can sail through any role without worrying about what people think. Janice assumed that since she grew up in the public eye and her life is an open book, she can get away with being different from the person next door.

“I have played so many different roles and done so many things in my life, I thought it was too late to think of audience reception,” she said in an interview minutes before the presscon of her latest indie film Ringgo The Dog-Shooter, where she’s cast as a lesbian.

She spoke too soon.

No sooner did the cameras start grinding for the Rahyan Carlos film than the director told Janice she has an intimate scene with co-actress Liza Diño-Seguerra. The scene was so delicate, Janice cringed. Not only was it a first in her career, it’s something she never saw herself doing in real life. The veteran actress balked.

“It was early in the morning (on the set), and I was hoping the scene won’t push through,” she admitted.

Janice even asked her director if they can do the scene at the 11th hour, on the last day of the shoot. She wanted to buy time.

But no amount of worrying and asking the director if the scene was necessary can change the fact that it had to be done.

“It’s the hardest role I’ve done. For a moment, I thought about what the audience would think.”

Would they think Janice can go intimate with another woman in real life?

Janice and direk Rahyan with (from left) Ringgo The Dog-Shooter executive producer Olive Oteyza (partly hidden), Micha Oteyza, Liza Diño-Seguerra, Sandino Martin and Inca the Doberman

The thought haunted her like a nightmare that won’t go away. But she had to conquer her fear and forget her inhibitions.

Liza was a big help. She knew Janice was nervous, so Liza made sure her co-star felt more comfortable. Liza, who is in a relationship with Aiza Seguerra, assured Janice, “When we love, we love like heterosexuals.”

Come D-Day, at 4 a.m., Janice finally shot the scene, giving it all the passion she can muster. She and Liza did it all in one take.

“I pushed my limits. It had to be take one because I didn’t want to do it again,” Janice recalled.

That scene not only made Janice conquer her fear of the unknown. It also made her realize all the more that “I’m really a girl.”

On a serious note, realizations are something Janice is familiar with, right from the start. When she was nine years old, Janice realized fear could make her cry buckets when the late director Mario O’Hara shouted, “Action!”

“He was the only director who ever screamed at me,” she described one of her mentors.

Janice remembered how shocked she felt when direk Mario stormed out of the control room and hurled invectives after she failed to shed tears in a scene where her onscreen mother in the drama series Ulila died.

Janice admitted she didn’t know any better back then. Her director’s outburst made the tears flow ever so freely.         

Since then, Janice didn’t have to be coaxed into breaking down in tears. She would move on to become the star of the long-running soap Flordeluna.

Not a single director ever tried to shout at Janice again.

Then, and now, the actress knows you have to deal with firsts — some of them downright scary — to learn and excel.

Decades after and a slew of acting awards later, Janice doesn’t mind remembering that valuable lesson all over again.

(Ringgo The Dog-Shooter, a finalist in the Filipino New Cinema section of the third World Premieres Film Festival, will have a gala premiere tomorrow, July 1, 8 p.m. at SM North EDSA Cinema 6. Other screenings are on July 3, 3 p.m. and July 4, 3 p.m. at SM North EDSA Cinema 6; July 6, 7 p.m., July 8, 7 p.m. and July 9, 9 p.m. at SM Megamall Cinema 6.)