Yes, Odette, you Khan!

She thought that it could not be done, that it would never happen, until she was proven wrong not once, not twice but thrice.

“To God be the glory,” Odette Khan said in her acceptance speech when she received her Best Supporting Actress trophy first at the Star Awards for Movies (of the Philippine Movie Press Club), then at the FAMAS and finally at the recent Gawad Urian.

Her near-grand-slam victory (counting only the major award-giving bodies and not the dozens of others, mostly from schools) was for her performance as a judge/law professor in Bar Boys, an indie directed by Kip Oebanda about young law graduates preparing for the bar exams (played by Kean Cipriano, Rocco Nacino, Sebastian Castro, Enzo Pineda and Carlo Aquino).

“First thing I asked when they offered me the movie was, ‘Am I going to play a mamasang (mother pimp)?’ Kasi Bar Boys so I thought it was about boys who hang around in bars,” Odette recalled with a laugh in an exclusive interview with Funfare. “Then they told me that I would play a judge and a law professor and my peg was Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago. I said, ‘What!?!’ Miriam was still alive at that time so nakakataranta if I didn’t do the role right.”

Easy does it, it turned out.

Besides watching the late senator on TV, Odette had the pleasure of actually competing with Miriam back when they were in college.

“It was at the regional Mission Oratorical contest held at the University of Negros Occidental,” recounted Odette who hails from Bacolod. “I represented my school and Miriam, representing her school, had to fly to Negros for the contest. She placed first and I, second.”

Asked what her winning piece was, Odette said, “Naku, I forgot na. That was a long time ago!”

The script of Bar Boys required Odette to deliver kilometric lines verbatim a la Miriam ­­— such as “Do not answer me to do this or that because I know what I am doing…” – with Miriam’s signature “threatening” tone.

“I had fun playing the role,” said Odette.

How did she think Miriam would have reacted had she lived long enough to watch the movie?

“I’m sure she would love it,” assured Odette who acknowledged Miriam in her acceptance speeches.

The triple award capped a career that spans decades, marked by just one FAMAS nomination.

For what movie?

“Naku, I forgot na. That was a long time ago when I was young.”

Does she have a selective memory?

“Alam mo, I have lost count of how many movies I have done. Basta marami. I was typecast in kontrabida roles kasi masungit daw ang look ko. Hindi daw ako puedeng bida. Oh yes, I do count not movies but money…sometimes mayroon, sometimes wala. Showbiz runs like a wheel, parang gulong. Sometimes you have work, sometimes wala.”

But she vividly remembers how she broke into showbiz.

“It’s a long story. I will tell you how pero I will make it short.”

In kindergarten, she was asked to offer a bouquet to a certain Sor Evangelista. Onstage, she was dictated lines until she realized that she was playing a blind girl in a school play. Then she began competing in oratorical/declamation contests (and winning them), once against contestants from La Salle Bacolod. After school, Odette watched black-and-white Tagalog movies and mimicked the actresses at home.

“I wanted to be in showbiz so on my second year college, I decided to go to Manila and enrolled in a Theater Arts course at FEU. I was a production assistant for Sir Nick Agudo and Ma’am Sarah Joaquin.

“Between classes, I worked as a promo girl at ABS-CBN once a week from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. earning P50. That was good enough. I was staying at a dorm in Quiapo, walking distance to FEU, so I saved a little.

“One time, Ma’am Sarah told us to observe how a movie was done, so I went to Sampaguita Studio where the movie Kapag Langit ang Umusig was being shot, starring Charito Solis. The set was around the rotunda inside the studio and I stayed there from morning till night. Luckily, I was taken in as extra. My dialogue was, ‘Happy birthday, Normita!’ Years later when I did a movie with Charito, I told her about that experience and she was laughing.”

To make a long story shorter, Odette did more movies (“Naku, I forgot na the titles. That was a long time ago!”) playing mostly villainess roles. She was one of the late director Danny Zialcita’s favorites (remember her as the tomboy in T-Bird at Ako, starring Vilma Santos and Nora Aunor?).

“I was honored to have worked with Laurice (Guillen) who was also Danny’s favorite,” said Odette. “I’m a big Laurice fan. I love her natural acting style. She’s my idol.”

Who would have thought that, years later, they would be reunited in the hit GMA soap Ika-6 Na Utos where Odette plays a lovable nanny pushed in her wheelchair off a cliff and left for dead?

“I felt like I won an award working with direk Laurice,” said Odette.

Come to think of it, what if, just IF, she won another Best Supporting Actress award at the Eddys (of SPEED) come July 9?

“Siguro mabla-blangko ako,” admitted Odette. “Kahit isang award nga lang, ayos na ako!”

But then, as a malaprop actress is often quoted, she can never can tell, ‘no?

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)