Nadine Lustre admitted to taking glutathione, Kyline Alcantara hitchhiked on a truck from Bicol to Manila, and Jane De Leon slept in ABS-CBN’s dressing room to save transportation fees…all to pass an audition. These are their stories.
Most of us think being an actor just entails somebody to sit pretty and use their face card to get anything they want. False. Before they reach the small or silver screen, it takes more than a hundred failed auditions, sleepless nights, and little to no budget for food and transportation. This generation’s Darna herself admitted to sleeping in dressing rooms a night before her auditions, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. A huge respect goes out to these individuals who fought for their success as it did not come with no hardships and a lot of imposter syndrome episodes. Read on below to see which of your favorite celebrities revealed their hardest pre-showbiz challenges.
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KYLINE ALCANTARA – HITCHHIKED ON A TRUCK FROM BICOL TO MANILA
Gen Z actress Kyline Alcantara once admitted to hitchhiking on a truck from Bicol to Manila with her mom back then just to go to an audition. She was encouraged by her mother after watching one of the episodes of the kids’ series Goin’ Bulilit. Sadly, Kyline Alcantara missed the auditions as soon as they got there, but still tried her luck in respective competitions. Her big break was her role as a villain in Annaliza back in 2013.
KATHRYN BERNARDO – TRAVELED BACK AND FORTH FROM CABANATUAN TO MANILA
Kathryn Bernardo once revealed that she traveled all the way from Cabanatuan to Manila just to attend a casting audition. Before she became a household name, she’d spend several hours traveling just for a few minutes in the spotlight, making the travel time longer than the audition itself. If not for those hardships and failed auditions, we wouldn’t be living in the time of Kathryn dominating the entertainment industry. Now that’s on royalty.
FRANCINE DIAZ – WAS NOT ALLOWED TO EAT BEFORE GOING TO AN AUDITION
Going to bed hungry is one thing, but going to work with no food in your stomach leaves you physically and mentally drained. This was Gen Z actress Francine Diaz’s situation during auditions before her big break. She revealed in the past that before an audition, there was an unspoken rule of not eating prior to that until she finishes in order to save money. She was even called “tatanga-tanga” for not responding immediately by a director during an audition because she had an empty stomach while being on set. Francine earned her big break in the Kadenang Ginto series as the protagonist in 2020.
BELLE MARIANO – ATTENDED 100+ AUDITIONS
Belle Mariano is living proof that you should never give up. After attending more than 100 acting auditions, she was close to giving up. It didn’t help that her parents initially didn’t approve of her joining the industry at an early age. Belle recognizes that these trials made her a better person and finally earned a starring role years later.
NADINE LUSTRE – TOOK GLUTATHIONE AFTER BEING DISCRIMATED FOR HER SKIN COLOR
Before she became this generation’s morena icon, Nadine Lustre admitted to taking glutathione out of pressure during one of her auditions. She revealed that a staff told her, “mestiza hinahanap namin” after falling in line for hours next to fair-skinned females. Whoever said that fumbled the bag because Nadine eventually became one of the most sought-after leading ladies of her generation.
LIZA SOBERANO – NEVER BOOKED JOBS AS A MODEL, HER FIRST CAMPAIGN WAS SCRAPPED OFF
Liza Soberano has been going to auditions since she was 13. It’s hard to imagine that an alluring face like hers made it hard to book jobs. She shared in the past that her first campaign was when she was already an actress but was then scrapped off after the shoot as the brand went with another endorser. Fortunately, Liza was still paid afterwards. Now, she has become more meticulous and in control of her career.
JANE DE LEON – WOULD SLEEP IN DRESSING ROOMS, COMMUTE FROM LAGUNA TO MANILA
We all know Jane de Leon as this generation’s Darna, but little did she know that she truly embodies the qualities of her character, Narda. A hard-working individual, Jane said that she used to commute from Laguna to Quezon City everyday during the auditions for the show. This lead her to admitting that she’d sleep in ABS-CBN’s dressing rooms just to save up on her transportation fees. That time, she also said that her family was counting on her, to the point where they couldn’t eat anything else other than salt and soy sauce. Look where her perseverance got her now. Jane had finally become a breakout star.
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