New Darna Jane de Leon revealed that she understands why netizens are skeptical of her as the one chosen to portray the komiks icon Darna.
She said that she will be the first one to judge herself as she also thinks of the reason she was chosen despite landing the role shortly after she signed a contract with ABS-CBN.
In 2019, de Leon was announced to be the next Darna after passing the audition with almost 300 aspirants. She was supposed to star in the imovie but the project was indefinitely postponed due to the challenges brought by COVID-19.
However, it was recently announced that the Mars Ravelo creation will be adapted into a series called “Mars Ravelo’s Darna: The TV Series” which will be released in 2021.
De Leon mentioned that she is grateful to her bosses in ABS-CBN for still entrusting her with the title role.
“Grabe ‘yung pasasalamat ko sa mga boss. Until now, nandoon pa rin ‘yung tiwala nila sa akin na ibigay ‘yung bato,” she said.
She added saying that she thought the project will not push through anymore that’s why she was not letting herself get her hopes up. She said that she didn’t expect anything because she believes that blessings will just come upon her.
“Akala ko, hindi na matutuloy,” de Leon recalled. “Ayoko mag-expect. Iyon ‘yung prinamis ko kay Lord, na ayoko mag-expect ng kahit na ano, kasi I know naman na may mga darating na blessings,” said the actress.
With regards to netizens bashing her capabilities to give justice to the role, she said that receiving negative comments is just normal and is useful in allowing her to manage herself.
“I think it’s very normal to feel down if it’s a negative comment,” she said. “Kailangan lang talaga matuto ako kung paano mag-manage noon, kasi it’s normal sa showbiz,” said de Leon.
The 22-year-old actress said that she understands the concerns of people but said that those were just empty insults as people still haven’t seen her film the project.
“I do understand. Kasi nga, wala pa naman,” she said.
“Sino ba ako? Totoo naman. Baguhan ‘to. Saan nanggaling ‘to? Bakit siya? Iyon ‘yung mga tanong ng netizens. Even me. Huwag kayo mag-alala, kahit ako, tanong ko ‘yun sa sarili ko: Bakit ba ako ‘yung napili?” she added.
However, Director Jerrold Tarog has already answered the said questions before saying that choosing de Leon as the new Darna was a unanimous decision from them.
De Leon once again expressed her gratitude to the people who supported her and said that they were the ones pushing her to go on with the project.
“Maraming salamat po sa pagtitiwala niyo,” she said.
“Kahit na hindi pa po natin ipinapakita, pero ‘yung suporta na pinapakita niyo sa akin, hindi po kayo nag-gi-give up. You’re still pushing me to do it. Salamat din sa pagbibigay sa akin ng positivity. Maraming salamat po,” she added.
Jane was given the Darna role in 2019 after both Angel Locsin and Liza Soberano withdrew from the role due to medical reasons. The Darna project was supposed to be directed by Erik Matti but the director left due to “creative differences” with ABS-CBN Films. Director Jerrold Tarog was then appointed for the project.