Anne Curtis: ‘I’m very grateful to have Dahlia in my life’
The Kapamilya star, who is celebrating her second Mother’s Day this May, was launched on Thursday as the ambassador of the Family Thanksgiving Month — a new campaign by Jollibee that encourages people to openly and actively express their gratitude to their families and loved ones.
During the virtual presscon, the leading fastfood chain got Anne emotional as they presented a video montage from when she joined the Jollibee family shortly after she got engaged, to now that she’s a wife and mother.
Anne said that motherhood has changed her perspective on life completely. “It has changed it completely, I must say. In a way, as a mom, yung time mo, you realize how precious it is. Whereas before, alam kong maiintindihan ako ng mom ko or dad ko because I’m an adult already and nagwo-work lang ako. But when you have a daughter of your own, you realize how precious time spent with her is. That’s probably how my parents felt when I was younger. Alam mo yun? It’s changed how I view things.”
Nevertheless, becoming a newbie mom and having to start a family at this time of pandemic brought to light how important family or people you treat as family are, she said.
Anne is grateful for the chance to have spent time with her mother Carmen and brother Thomas in Melbourne, Australia, and to have husband Erwan Heussaff beside her every step of the way, especially during the crucial first few months of being a mother.
The actress gave birth in her hometown in Melbourne, but her and Erwan’s stay in the Land Down Under got extended to over a year because of the global COVID lockdowns. The family of three returned to the Philippines last March.
She particularly honored her mom. “Just seeing my mom as a lola, in a different light, you know, and I could see now how true it is what they say that the apo is more spoiled (laughs). Little things like that made me thankful really to have them not only in my life, but also in Dahlia’s life.”
Meanwhile, the event also served as the launchpad of the campaign’s manifesto video, directed by Joel Ruiz and featuring Anne, which can be viewed on Jollibee’s Facebook and YouTube channel.
“We think that this is the perfect time to start openly showing our appreciation to the people who matter most to us — our families,” said Francis Flores, Jollibee Foods Corp. Philippines country/regional marketing head and concurrent Philippine marketing head, in a statement.
He added that with the launch of the Family Thanksgiving Month, “we hope to remind and encourage people to appreciate the time we spend with our families, and to say thank you for all the things that they have done or continued doing for us not just for a day, or a month but for as long as we can. Because if there’s one thing that this pandemic taught us, it’s to never take anything for granted and cherish the people who matter most.”
Anne led the media guests in thanking their loved ones via the #IDontSayThisEveryDayBut activity on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, wherein she wrote how grateful she is to her younger sister, actress Jasmine Curtis-Smith.
She said, “Thank you to my sestra for being an amazing Tata. Whenever I have a day full of Zoom meetings or one of the rare days I go out to work or may it be just any random day, I appreciate you coming to the playhouse or luto-lutuan and yes, even magic-magic with Dahlia.”
Meanwhile, The Philippine STAR had a quick one-on-one with Anne about being a proud momma to Dahlia Amelie, who’s incidentally celebrating her 14 months of life today (she was born on March 2, 2020). The 36-year-old also talked about how watching K-dramas (she recently discovered It’s Okay To Not Be Okay) has made her miss acting so much.
The social media queen was also asked if she’s ready to invade YouTube after becoming one of the, if not the most-followed Pinoy celebrity on Instagram (16.6 million), Twitter (14 million) and Facebook (18 million); and fast-gaining a following on TikTok, which she just joined this year with a single video.
On how Dahlia changed her life:
“You know, I remember one of the questions that I would always get before was, ‘Ano yung dream mo? What is one of your biggest dreams?’ And every time, I would say, to have an action movie or having a concert in Araneta or kung ano man. And I finally reached the point that it would be to become a mother. When it happened, it was everything I certainly imagined it would be — and more. I’m very grateful to have Dahlia in my life.”
On how she stays positive while being a newbie parent mom during these trying times:
“You know, I think everyone, individually, has had to deal with it in their own ways and I guess, it really helped me to have such a great support system during the first few months of motherhood and being on lockdown.
“It really helped that Erwan was supportive and my mom and my brother were there, they all helped me. And even through the likes of video-calling with my sister and my other family members, it really helped me to stay positive. And when you look at your baby, everything else vanishes. All of the stress, all of the anxiety, it all disappears once you look at her beautiful brown eyes.”
On her biggest realization over the pandemic:
“I think, it would be how valuable time is. Time with family, time with friends and time with people who you really care about. You know, that’s one thing that makes you really take a step back and realize how precious time is and that you should value it.”
On invading TikTok and starting a YouTube channel:
“A lot of people have been asking me because my husband, that’s his world. It takes a lot of time and effort. Even yung TikTok, it takes a lot of effort so happy muna ako sa Instagram, Twitter and Facebook (laughs).”
On when she plans to officially return to showbiz:
“I’m very excited when I met with my management (Viva), may mga ino-offer sila, maganda naman yung mga materials, very exciting. Of course, I miss my It’s Showtime family a lot! But I just want to be careful din, and especially now and having a child, I just wanna make sure that when I go back to work, kampante yung loob ko na medyo mas safe ng konti. But, as you mentioned, I will definitely be back and I’m very excited to act again. You know what, one of the things, having all this time now, watching more series, watching more K-dramas, it really makes me miss acting every day and being with my Showtime family. So, I’m looking forward to that day.”
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