‘Naturalistic grace’: Philippine soap star Jaclyn Jose wins best actress at Cannes for gritty role in Ma Rosa
Philippine soap star Jaclyn Jose won best actress at the Cannes film festival on Sunday for her mesmerising performance as a slum matriarch who falls prey to corrupt police.
A huge star in her homeland, she said she had to forget everything she learned in her 30 years in the business for the role as a sweetshop owner and small-time drug dealer in Ma’ Rosa.
“The biggest challenge for me was not to act. Especially since I am coming from television shows where I play loud and campy characters,” she told reporters.
The 52-year-old said she had to “tone everything down to zero” - for the stark, realistic portrait of a woman fighting to do the best for her family in director Brillante Mendoza’s gritty film.
It is a dramatic change from her regular job, playing a spoilt, rich woman in the popular Philippine TV soap opera, The Millionaire’s Wife.
The biggest challenge for me was not to act
Variety magazine praised Jose for the “naturalistic grace” of her film performance, playing the matriarch of a family struggling to survive amid squalor.