MATCHING UP WITH JUDY ANN SANTOS
CHIC, August 27, 2001 by Dez Lucero

MADONNA HAS made a successful career out of reinventing herself. As one article puts it, at her age of forty-plus, she is now in the midst of another world tour and just added two new hit albums to her long list of chart-topping LPs. In other words, she remains a bonafide superstar.

The ability to successfully reinvent oneself also works in the local entertainment scene--just ask all those big stars like Maricel Soriano, Cesar Montano, Rosanna Roces, to name a few. Judy Ann Santos is another perfect example of successful reinvention. It is one of the reasons why she became Judy Ann Santos, and why her hold on stardom is as strong as ever.

HER STORY FIRST

While Juday did not exactly hit her stride until her teens, like many of our bigger stars she started in the business early, appearing in a number of television shows and movies. Back then, she was equally known for her sibling as she was for herself--she was then still routinely referred to as Jeffrey Santos’ younger sister.

The first movie she debuted in, the Alice Dixson-starrer Dyesebel, is memorable to Juday for several reasons. ‘I played Alice’s best friend,” she recalled her first role as a little girl who believed in mermaids. “It was a big hit: I was supposed to play the young Dyesebel; I even had a fitting for the fish sail costume. But they gave the role, and the fish sail, to another kid. I was so disappointed. That’s why until now, Dyesebel is my dream role.”

She might have lost a meaty role, but does anybody remember the name of that young girl who played the young Alice? Is she even still in show business? On the other hand, Judy Ann went on to become the actress called the Junior Superstar, with a string of hits to her name, both on the small and the big screen. She’s bankable, enjoys the loyalty of a multitude of fans and is big enough to open a show or a movie based on her name alone. Subsequently she also became a sought-after celebrity endorser.

The first indication that Judy Ann would blaze her own path to stardom began when fans of soap opera got to know her as Ula. When she moved on to Mara Clara and was subjected to Gladys Reyes’ bad-girl machinations, Mara became the new heroine of the soap opera set. It was during this time that Juday started making her stride. She became a teen idol, as well as the beloved half of the popular Judy Ann-Wowie de Guzman love team--at its peak it was favorably compared to the legendary Guy and Pip love team. They crossed over to the big screen and starred in one hit after another, movies that made the fans scream with delight and the producers laugh all the way to the bank.

Of the two teen stars, however, Judy Ann proved to be bigger in stellar power. She officially became known as the Soap Opera Princess with the success of ABS-CBN’s Esperanza. The show showcased her, and in so doing inadvertently contributed to the demise of the love team that until then was considered almost inde-structible. Wowie was left to fend for himself (the intrigues he got embroiled in didn’t help, either), as his erstwhile partner stood up by herself and became a star in her own right.

Fortunately, Juday has enough sense not to let all these get into her head. She jokes about her status and be earnest the next. “Flattered, of course,” she says of being tagged the Junior Superstar. “But to be honest, there is only one Superstar and that’s God. In local showbiz, no one can match the phenomenal success of Nora Aunor.”

JUDAY'S NEW CLOTHES

A child star, then a teen idol, then Soap Opera Princess, then Junior Superstar--so what’s next? Judy Ann applies hei. chameleon-like qualities again and is currently trying two new “clothes,” so to speak. The drama princess recently ventured. into romantic comedy with the movie Luv Text (which was followed by that action-romance caper where she co-starred with a bland Mikey Arroyo), and is all new as Patricia in her latest soap series, Sa Puso Ko Iingatan Ka. It seems that at 23, she is saying bye-bye to her martyr-cry baby image of old and is saying hello to a tougher. independent young woman of the world.

Sa Puso Ko lingatan Ka is doing most of the “damage.” Here Patricia is an illegitimate child, which, if Judy Ann portrayed the role before, would mean another example of the inaapi who cries buckets of tears. But no--Patricia here is a fighter who stands up to anyone bent on demolishing her and her helpless mom, played by Zsa Zsa Padilla, who this time takes up the cudgels for all martyrs everywhere. She is a survivor, she is sarcastic, she is street smart, she is strong and sexy--it is in this series that Judy Ann is having a field day displaying her newly slimmed down self. She usually prances about in spaghetti tops and figure—fit pants. She is also very hip here; this is the perfect time for apparel producers to get her as their endorser.

Juday attributes her new figure to her latest movie, Star Cinema’s Bakit ‘Di Totohanin, where she portrays a--tadaah!--girl boxer. The role, to say the least, is not only unique, it also has loads of mass potential; you add Juday’s unmistakable charisma, and Star Cinema could have another big hit in its hands.

The synopsis of the movie goes: Judy Ann and Jeffrey Quizon (this guy is all over the place!) are the children of an ex-boxing champ turned OFW (Johnny Delgado). They have managed to establish a boxing gym, which they loses to an old enemy (Vic Vargas) through a reckless gambling debt incurred by the grandma (Gloria Romero). The father learns of this turn of events after he returns home from his old job in Saudi Arabia, and he sets about to train his son for a boxing match in a bid to regain their gym. He discovers, however, that Jeffrey’s character would rather beautify himself and cheer from the sidelines. Judy Ann’s character then offers herself as a substitute, in her own bid to salvage the situation and earn her dad’s respect. However, she has to train for the fight under her dad’s erstwhile protégé (Piolo Pascual), an ex-childhood sweetheart with whom she shares a love-hate relationship. Now Judy Ann not only has to deal with the upcoming fight, but also with her reawakening love for Piolo’s character.

This time, when Judy Ann lost weight, there was no controversy like the Bangkok pills issue clouding the matter. In preparation for the project, she trained in the Fit for Life Gym, under Roger Morin, who also coaches Mark Anthony Fernandez. This time Judy Ann was not bugged by anything as she slimmed down to her slimmest self ever. She looks great too. In fact, she and the hunk known as Piolo Pascual look well together. Whether they will become a real item, the same way she and Wowie ended up during their days together, is still up in the air.

In reinventing oneself there is always the danger of lukewarm--or worse, negative--reception from the public who once adored you. The public can be pretty conservative: they stick to what is familiar to them, to what they like. Some wags are pointing to the cool reception given to Luv Text as a sign that either Juday is “angling” for the dubious title of “Floptsina Queen” or has changed into something the public has not taken to--yet. There are also rumors that Sa Puso Ko Iingatan Ka is lagging behind its sister show Pangako sa ‘Yo, which stars Kristine Hermosa. (For that matter the rumors put Juday’s show and Claudine’s Sa Dulo ng Walang Han ggan as tail enders compared to Pangako sa ‘Yo--in short, the established soap opera princesses are being trashed in the ratings game by a relative newcomer. Do you smell a controversy coming?) A movie scribe speculated that one of Juday’ s chief charms lay in her ,roundish face. She might have been teased “siopao” because of it, but it was part of her charisma and public persona. Naturally when she slimmed down her entire body changed too, including her face. The title of the movie scribe’s article sounded like a battle cry: “Ibalik ang Bilugang Mukha ni Juday!” Question is, will the parties concerned listen?

(If she is going to react to this in her typical way, Judy Ann more than likely will just ignore it. If you had spent that long a period in show business, you do grow accustomed, or immune, to issues of almost every kind. However, recently she did indicate that there are stories that do hit her below the belt, and in such cases she does know how to fight back, as when she planned to sue three tabloid reporters for libel. The real Judy Ann is no shrinking violet.)

THE CAFÉ QUEEN

Like many of our stars who are now more conscious of showbiz’ instability as a source of regular income and have ventured into something else as a sort of fallback when the time comes, Judy Ann has likewise entered the field of restaurant business. Along with partners, she set up Café Kilimanjaro along Timog Avenue in Quezon City.

Just like showbiz, her other business has taught her valuable lessons as well. “It has taught me to be more responsible,” she says. “How to get along with people, especially employees. I treat them as friends, but still ‘andoon pa rin ‘yung authority. (It’s like) okay, we’re friends, but when it’s work time, it’s work.”

With show business still in the doldrums, only the best and the toughest and the extraordinary survive with projects and/or regular gigs. Often stars of uncommon appeal endure. So it is with Judy Ann Santos, a girl with ordinary pretty features and an extraordinary pull on the masses. She is a “sell-able” commodity, which in turn provided her with a very good living. Fortunately, she has her feet firndy planted in the ground and is appreciative of the blessings that have come, and continues to come, her way.

“I cherish what I went through in this business,” she says. “It feels good when people mob you. They shower you with love not just because you’re a star, but also because you’ve become a part of their lives. Parang anak ka nila.” 

No wonder she is at the top of her game. e

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