Six years after her last acting project, actress Jessy Mendiola has made her long-awaited comeback via the ongoing ABS-CBN Studios crime drama series “Sins of the Father,” wherein she depicts the role of Agnes Policarpio.
While we’re still figuring out whether she’s a genuine friend or a pretentious foe to Gerald Anderson’s character Samuel Trinidad, Kapamilya Chat had her play the fun and exciting “Through The Years Challenge,” wherein she looked back and reacted to her past teleserye stints.
Jessy wasn’t able to conceal her shock when we started the game with the scene that she shared with late veteran actress Jaclyn Jose in the fantasy drama series “Dyosa.” She raised the “face with peeking eye” emoji as she felt embarrassed with how obviously nervous she was in that scene. Aside from the fact that she was opposite Jaclyn, it seemed to be her first-ever full-length teleserye gig as well.
The next one was one of her scenes with Jason Abalos in the 2011 series “Agimat: Ang Mga Alamat ni Ramon Revilla: Bianong Bulag,” to which she pulled out the “squinting face with tongue out” emoji. She praised her performance as Isabel in that series, wherein she got to work with Jason for the first time. When asked by the host if she already thought of wanting to do acting for the rest of her life at the time, she said that the idea actually didn’t occur to her then since she was probably just 16 or 17 years old.
Sadness, meanwhile, was instantly painted onto her face upon seeing her former onscreen partner, AJ Perez, who died in a vehicular accident in 2011. It was taken from their last project together, the ABS-CBN romance drama series “Sabel.” Since she misses him so much, Jessy picked the “face holding back tears” emoji and went on to express how grateful she is to be able to work with him because, aside from being nice and a gentleman, he also had the potential to become one of the biggest stars in the country if ever he’s still alive at present.
Apart from working with AJ, what made the series more memorable for her is that it was actually her first-ever starring role in a teleserye since she was the one who was tapped to portray Sabel, which was originally played by veteran actress Snooky Serna.
Jessie then had a hard time choosing how to react in her scene from the 2013 series “Maria Mercedes,” but eventually decided to give it a “like” or a “thumbs up” emoji. When asked for a little backstory about the teleserye, she stated, “I’m really grateful kasi diyan talaga ako nakilala [as] Maria Mercedes. And no’ng time na ‘yon, kahit sana ko lumingon, Mercedes ang tawag sa akin.”
She went on to add, “Marami talaga akong natutunan sa show na ‘yan. You know, if ginawa ko ‘yan ngayon, I think I could have done better. Kasi noong time na ‘yon, I was like 19 or 20, so I was really young, and pakiramdam ko I hadn’t had enough experience to fully embody the role. So, sabi ko, siguro kung nabigay sa’kin ‘yon ngayon, talagang mas may lalim, mas may layers si Maria Mercedes, and mas daring, mas sensual kasi, hello naman, marami na akong napagdaanan sa buhay.”
Thus, if there’s one project of hers that she would wish to do again, it’s definitely none other than “Maria Mercedes.” She also thanked ABS-CBN for giving her the opportunity to shine via the said series, which was based on the 1992 Mexican drama series of the same title.
And lastly, she once again picked the “face holding back tears” emoji after watching a clip of her character Melissa from the afternoon soap opera “Sandugo.” Not a lot of people know, but the series actually was “very special” to her since she admitted to already considering quitting showbiz completely during that time.
“’Yong ‘Sandugo’, tinuruan ako ng show na ‘yon na kaya ko pala talagang umarte. Kasi ‘yong role ko diyan ay gray character, hindi ako ‘yong mabait masyado. Although mayroon din siyang mga bubog, mayroon din siyang mga pinagdaanan kung bakit siya gano’n katapang in her life, naturuan ako ng range of emotions ng show na ‘yan,” she related, adding that she’s able to apply everything that she had learned from “Sandugo” into her current portrayal in “Sins of the Father.”
Then she continued, “So, talagang natutuwa ako na ‘yong ‘Sandugo’ talaga, even if it was my last, I felt like I did that serye yesterday lang kasi fresh pa sa akin ‘yong emotions na ibinigay ko sa show na ‘yon. ABS-CBN once again ang nagturo sa akin na kaya ko palang umarte.”
Just when we thought that it was already the last, the Kapamilya Chat team actually prepared a bonus clip for her, which was from her guesting in “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano” in 2018. She gave her portrayal of Nurse Andi a “like” or “thumbs up” emoji, which, according to her, was supposedly just two weeks, yet it lasted for five months. Besides, Andi was originally not a nurse but a woman who works in a nightclub, but director-cum-lead actor Coco Martin decided to rewrite her role.
Since it was the period when she was going through a lot of backlash due to the malicious rumors she was entangled in, Jessy had nothing but gratitude to Coco for being one of the people who helped her get through that dark phase in her life.
“I’m very grateful kay Coco kasi talagang sabi niya sa akin, ‘Jess, gusto ko ‘yong unang labas mo sa ‘Probinsyano’ naka-white ka, pure, and makita ng mga tao ‘yong innocence talaga.’ So, no’ng lumabas ‘yon, if I’m not mistaken, isa ‘yon sa highest rated episodes ng ‘Ang Probinsyano’,” she imparted.
Jessy further added how that gig made her realize that there were still people like Coco and the Dreamscape Entertainment family, who are willing to help others go back on track. Thus, it was among the projects that she’s truly grateful for despite not being part of the main cast yet she still felt like one since Coco gave her the chance to shine.
When quizzed about her preference between portraying a bida or a gray character, Jessy stated that, just like any actor, she would actually like to do both, and there’s definitely no problem with her.
She also went on to mention being repeatedly asked in interviews what motivated her to go back, to which she replied, “Dati kasi ang priority ko maging breadwinner. And ngayon, kaya ako bumalik kasi gusto kong gumawa ng roles na hindi ko pa nagagawa at tatatak talaga. At ang pinaka main goal ko ay manalo ng award.”
Catch Jessy as Agnes in “Sins of the Father,” weeknights, on iWant, Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live (KOL), TV5, and A2Z.