CEBU, Philippines — For as long as anyone can remember, whitening products have littered television screens and supermarkets in the Philippines. Here, the mestiza has been the epitome of beauty as many actors, models and celebrities have the favored fair skin and sharp features.
Visayan actress Chai Fonacier puts the pressures of fitting in to the limelight as she stars in the upcoming film “Pinay Beauty.” Kapuso actor Egdar Allan Guzman revealed a few details of the flick in a Pep.ph interview.
“Tungkol ito sa beauty ng isang Pinay,” EA says of the film that also stars Miss Universe Philippines 2016 Maxine Medina and Janus del Prado.
Maxine, a Miss Universe 2016 top six finisher, will portray a celebrity, perhaps the standard of beauty for people like Chai, who is petite, brown, and has curly hair. Chai’s character will do whatever it takes to be deemed beautiful. Edgar plays Chai’s doting boyfriend who, in turn would do anything for her.
“Si Chai, gusto niyang magparetoke. Ako yung apple of the eye dito ni Chai Fonacier. Ako yung tutulong sa kanya na maging maganda. Gagawin ko lahat para sa kanya,” he shares
This is an especially interesting project for Chai. The “Patay Na si Hesus” star is firm with her views on current events. The theatre actress through Sutukil Sauce (a production team that she is also part of) once published a video that poked fun on the Filipino obsession with having white skin. They made an ad for the fictional “Pak’s Brownening Soap” which presented an alternate universe where people favored the morena over the mestiza.
Although not intending to discriminate those with fair skin, the video pointed out the ridiculous beauty standard which forced Filipinas to shun their natural physical features. Their attempt at social commentary was a hit throughout social media and had everyone saying “Sunkissed pa rin mga ulol!”
After a memorable performance as the lesbian Judith Marie in last year’s sleeper hit “Patay Na si Hesus,” the award-winning and former Cebu-based actress has been working on a string of projects including portraying the nerdy, fashionable writer Heidi in the Janella Salvador and Jameson Blake flick “So Connected.” She is also set to appear in an upcoming ABS-CBN teleserye.
Chai, nominated for Best Supporting Actress in recent FAMAS for her work in “Respeto,” worked on “Pinay Beauty” around the same time she shot for the upcoming McCoy De Leon and Elisse Joson film. According to Edgar, post production has begun for “Pinay Beauty” in hopes of getting it ready for the second Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino.