Jasmine Curtis-Smith takes charge

MANILA, Philippines - In about 24 hours, Jasmine Curtis-Smith is going to be a star. The 20-year-old actress is already famous, of course, with a string of lead roles on television, an award-winning performance in the Philippine Oscar entry, Transit, and least, for being the younger sibling of Anne — you know, the Anne with 6.5 million followers on Twitter. But tomorrow night at 9:15 p.m., a few things will change for Jasmine, as her eponymous mini-series premieres on TV5. With Jasmine, she joins a list of stars with TV shows marketed entirely on their name — a list that includes the likes of Nora Aunor, Vilma Santos, and very few others.

It’s an ambitious move for an actress who has only been in show business for three years. But ambition could be Jasmine’s middle name, we find, after speaking to her this week in the midst of a crazy schedule shooting and promoting her show. On location, in between takes, we talked to her about her craft, the cult of celebrity, and why she’s taking on such mature roles at an age where her contemporaries are still expected to act like children.

SUPREME: Tell us about Jasmine.

Jasmine Curtis-Smith: It’s a thriller-love story where I play an actress — basically myself in a fictional story — and I have a stalker who I first think is a regular fan. I start noticing that this fan does crazy things to the people around me. The person goes as far as destroying billboards and kidnapping my suitor. So, it gets crazy and we just see how my character ends up handling it. The mystery is the identity of the stalker because he seems to know every single thing about me, even personal, private details.

Has something similar happened to you in real life?

Someone hacked my Facebook and my email once, but after I tweeted about it, the person texted me, saying, “I’m so sorry I was just having fun. Here’s your new password for your Facebook and your email.”

That was nice of him.

Yeah, but I had to get rid of everything, all my social media accounts and even some bank accounts. It was creepy!

This does come with the territory of celebrity, though. And you grew up watching a sister in show business, with all the sh*t that comes with it.

Yes, it’s a crazy world I’ve decided to join, but through my sister, I was able to study showbiz from an outsider’s point of view, so when my time came to experience it, I was fine.

How in control are you of your career?

I would say a good percentage of control. More often than not, I get a pretty big say in what I get to do, thankfully because I have good bosses, anyway we have good relationships.

I ask because you’re 20, and there are so many actors your age who are packaged as squeaky-clean, cookie-cutter tweetums. But between Transit, where you play a young Filipina living in Israel searching for her identity, and your role in Jasmine, you aren’t taking light roles, at all. Why have you decided to go this route?

Jasmine Curtis-Smith's self-titled mini-series, Jasmine, premieres tomorrow night on TV5.

A lot of new actresses get criticized when they do small roles. You don’t really get to show much of your skills when you play roles like that. Although it’s a good break. The roles that I’ve decided to take on and the projects that I’ve accepted are ways of me learning about acting. It started with Transit. I had no freaking clue that I would be able to give justice to my role because I was with great actors, actors who’ve been in this industry for years and have been seen as having amazing talent. I was so scared because her manager told me, “I have no idea how you’re going to pull this off because there are so many good actors here.” And I was like, “I don’t know either. I’m just going to try out my luck and see where this goes.” After that I was able to develop my confidence in acting and also just thinking for myself. I think that’s one of the reasons why I like to pick roles that are similar to that.

For a lot of young performers, there’s a whole process that comes with the word “maturity.” From Miley Cyrus’ transition from teeny bopper to sex pot, to Justin Bieber. Many local stars go through this, too. But you seem to have bypassed this?

Many people in our generation think being mature is acting all “party-people” and going out every night. But I’ve encountered people who are, say, 18 years old but think like 25-year-olds. They make great decisions and they’re already independent and live on their own. That’s what I strive to be, to think for myself and try to become more reliant on myself instead of asking advice from others.

What do you think is more important in this industry, youth or experience?

It goes hand in hand, but it really helps to have experience. Experience helps me embody the different characters that I play.

What are your dreams?

I want to be able to change the way viewers see television shows. We keep recycling the same mold. We try to innovate, but sometimes it doesn’t work out, so TV networks go back to the same mold that people like. Therefore, it’s just a cycle and nothing ever goes forward.

It sucks because you want to be moving forward like other countries are. You see countries like Japan who are so far beyond reach of the Philippines when it comes to, say, editing and effects on screen. Even with just sound effects, they’re way more advanced than we are. Many years ago, we were more advanced than any other Asian country. But today, we’re still stuck.

In all aspects, I want to change the way people see our country. I want people to move forward together. I want people to stop saying, “Ah ito naman ang mebenta. Let’s keep doing that.” Especially in my industry, I want people to take more risks when creating shows or movies. I don’t know if that day will come, I don’t know if it’s ever going to be on the mainstream scene, but let’s hope.

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Tweet the author @PepeDiokno.

Photos by BJ PASCUAL

Produced by DAVID MILAN

Makeup by JOHN PAGADUAN

Hair by JERRY BUENJAVIER