Julia: Not yet, not now?

MANILA, Philippines - Just because Julia Montes has turned 18, it doesn’t mean she’s willing to do love or kissing scenes.

“I can’t say I’m super open to it. But if you ask me, if it can be avoided, I will avoid it. I’m super young pa,” said the Kapamilya actress in an interview during the recent launch of her endorsement for Dailies FreshLook Illuminate Contacts.

“If it’s really necessary, if it can improve the show, then maybe… Maybe, I can do it. But not soon. It’s also going to give me a different kind of pressure,” added Julia, who agreed to one kissing scene though, her first in reel and real-life, in the film A Moment In Time early this year, in the follow-up project to her tandem with Coco Martin in the top-rating teleserye Walang Hanggan.

Nevertheless, mature, heavy-drama roles (in her most unforgettable teleserye yet, Walang Hanggan, she played a long-suffering young bride) have become her niche, and she doesn’t mind being given more because the challenge she gleans from it is how to make her very grown-up character believable considering that yes, she’s only 18.

“It’s more challenging for me. Not all artists are given that kind of opportunity — a serious, mature role for my age. For that, I’m happy and blessed.”

Her next ABS-CBN project is Muling Buksan Ang Puso with Enrique Gil and Enchong Dee. Julia said that in her brand-new series, she will be portraying someone close to her age. “Young ang makikita ng tao; maybe ABS wants to remind viewers that ‘I’m just 18.’”

Her role here “is similar somehow to the roles that Judy Ann Santos has  been playing in teleseryes — yung bida pero palaban.”

The challenge for her now is “kung papaano ko siya i-po-portray na kilig na young. Because, frankly speaking, in real life, nahirapan ako sa kilig-kilig. I’m more okay with serious. It’s hard to explain but yes, kinikilig ako, pero di ako madaling pakiligin.”

As Dailies FreshLook Illuminate Contacts endorser

Meanwhile, Julia was asked if she feels any different after turning 18. “Honestly, no, although people have been treating me differently. Mas na-awkward ako sa sarili ko, like I have to be more ladylike in my actions. I have to be more conscious about that now.”

As for her suitors, they apparently have grown in number as well. “Maybe, compared before. Nadagdagan in a way kasi legal age na. May nakikita akong OK pero medyo careful lang ako sa pagpipili.”

Julia, who grew up with her grandmother, said that her lola has not dished any specific advice on matters of the heart, only reminding her, “that you can follow your heart, but use your brain as well.”

Meanwhile, Julia may be the new Dailies FreshLook Illuminate Contacts by global eye-care leader Alcon, but she’s been a long-time user of the product. Since she was nine and already starting in showbiz (via the kiddie gag show Goin’ Bulilit, wherein she was already cast in the mature roles in skits), she has been using contact lenses for her poor eyesight. “I’m near-sighted. My grade is 400-plus.”

She believes that for any actor, the eyes are one of the biggest assets. “I believe that you can act with your eyes alone. Even if there are no words, you can still express yourself with your eyes.” 

Asked how she sees herself right now, Julia said: “I’m like a cup overflowing with water. I never expected this or dreamt of this, and now this is happening and this soon. I’m super blessed.”

There’s still one thing she’s seriously hoping for, and that is to see her estranged German father. “I’m still praying for that to happen. Every time I go to church, that’s one of the first on my prayers. After all the blessings I’ve received, I want to hear from him what he thinks about it, I want to see for myself if he’s proud of me. I believe everything happens for a reason and that everything will happen in God’s perfect time. I’m still waiting for that perfect time to come.”