In her latest vlog, the homegrown ABS-CBN star talked about venturing solo and achieving the creative freedom she longed for.
Actress Liza Soberano, was both making brows raise and hands clap, following her decision to air her grievances over how her career went under ABS-CBN. She was with the media giant for more than a decade, and was among its most prized talents, along with her long-time onscreen and now real-life partner, Enrique Gil.
In her vlog posted today, February 26, Soberano lamented about the repetitive themes of her projects, as well as having practically one just leading man, since 2016.
Soberano was notably with ABS-CBN’s talent management arm, Star Magic, from 2011 to 2022. She was also co-managed by showbiz columnist, talent manager, and comedian Ogie Diaz. Under their care, she landed some of the Network’s biggest and most ambitious projects, including top raters Forevermore (2014) Dolce Amore (2016), and the epic drama Bagani (2018).
Before parting ways with ABS-CBN, she had her last Kapamiilya series, via the canceled Make It With You (2020).
She is now under James Reid’s Careless Manila, which has been aggressively assisting he in her pursuit to achieve success in Hollywood and other overseas markets.
She also starred in several box office chart-toppers, including Alone/Together (2019) and My Ex and Whys (2017), which both grossed more than PhP 300 million.
“I’m finally taking control of my life pursuing dreams that I’ve always had to hold off on.” Soberano declared in her latest vlog entry, admitting that the new venture she’s embarking on is exciting, terrifying, it’s anxiety-filled, and confusing.
Why did she decide to go solo?
Soberano recalled her career under ABS-CBN and went on to shred the details of her grievances.
“I am 25 years old now and I think people forget that I’ve been working for 13 years now, since I was 12 years old. I’ve been in six feature films, over 500 episodes of teleseryes and have only really dabbled into three main genres – romance, comedy and drama. Since I was 16, I had only really worked side by side with one main co-star, with the same production company, rotating around the same three directors,” she said.
“During all those years, I was never really asked for my input, my thoughts, my ideas. I felt like I was being told to be just a flower for so long and I finally started to explore a world of being able to create and tell my story and hopefully others.”
It is interesting, however, that in 2019, she revealed that she and her partner Gil were asked for their openness to work with other projects outside their love team, but refused as they did not feel it was already time to part ways.
“They were, like, asking us, sina Inang, ‘Are you guys open to working with other actors and actresses in the future? (Pero) parang I don’t think it’s really time for us yet to separate; but it’s really inevitable because we really need it for our growth and also for the company’s growth as well,” she told the press, during a media conference for Make It With You in December 2019
Soberano, in her latest vlog, took her time to reminisce the good times in her career, and show gratitude to everyone who assisted her in her climb to superstardom. That said, she expressed her desire to finally be able to design how her career will move forward.
“ I think I’ve earned the right to finally be me, to finally be able to do things for me as Hope Soberano,” she declared.
The actress also revealed the details of her upcoming projects, including a new brand, where she will be directing for the first time.
