Nadine Lustre IS ALL FIRED UP

WORDS BY LEN ARMEA

Multi-hyphenate Nadine Lustre is one of the most followed – and hailed – celebrities in Philippine showbiz and social media. She is always relevant as an actress, singer, style icon, environmentalist, mental health advocate and LGBTQIA+ ally.

It seems like 2023 is shaping up to be another bright year for Nadine. Fondly called “The President” or “Miss Nadine” by netizens, she started the year birthing to a new meme, “2023 na, amaccana accla,” that became viral in an instant garnering 5.6 million views and 117,000 likes and is now a favorite mantra for the year. Her 2014 song, “Paligoy-ligoy,” is currently trending on Tiktok with close to a million video variations and uploads with the hashtag #PaligoyLigoyChallenge. Topping that is receiving her Best Actress trophy at the recently concluded Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) for her horror film “Deleter.”

Whatever she says or does never fails to elicit attention. The thing is Nadine, 29, has always been ahead of the game. When most celebrities are boxed in a certain way or image, she has learned to deviate from it by being fearless when she speaks her mind and shows her authentic self. She has managed to take control of her career, her art, her branding and the viewing public is certainly all for it.

This Generation’s Best Actress

A young superstar in local tinseltown, Nadine has earned accolades for her works on film and television, which include “Diary ng Panget” in 2014, “On the Wings of Love” in 2015, “Never Not Love You” in 2018, “Ulan” in 2019, and “Deleter” in 2022.

In 2019, she won best actress awards from FAMAS, Gawad Urian, and YCC Young Critic’s Circle – three acclaimed award-giving bodies in the country – for her performance in the film “Never Not Love You,” which she starred opposite love team partner and former boyfriend James Reid.

Adding to her string of achievements, she received another best actress trophy from MMFF in 2022 for her performance in “Deleter.” It was Nadine’s first horror film, which was also the festival’s top grossing film earning more than 240 million pesos.

In the said film, she played the role of Lyra, a content moderator, a.k.a. deleter, whose job is to sift through countless gruesome images and videos, and make sure they don’t get to be released on social media platforms.

Nadine has been vocal about how she wants to veer away from doing romcom films and is challenged to explore other acting genres.

“I’m always up for challenges. It’s so hard to get boxed into one particular genre. I guess for someone like me who has been in dramas and romcoms for a while, until now, there are still many people who could not believe I did horror,” she said in an interview with ABSCBN News.

With her renewed relationship with Viva Films, Nadine vows to make more empowering career choices.

“My plan for this year was to really grind and get back into circulation. I don’t want to break the stride.

“I don’t want to break the momentum. Baka mawala pa. So habang nandiyan na ‘yan, tutuloy-tuluyin ko na. Sobrang excited akong mag-work. Sana more out-of-thebox projects,” she added.

Japan Connection

Nadine is known for having more than 10 tattoos and one of them is “Nozomi Komiya” in Japanese characters. In a radio interview by Monster RX93.1, she said that her great grandfather was a Japanese who changed his surname from Komiya to Lustre.

“It was weird like even as a kid I’ve always been fascinated with the Japanese culture, and I always feel like I belong somewhere there. I’ve always had that feeling. Then my tito told me about it and then one of my aunts like confirmed. I was like ‘oh that’s crazy.’ It would have been Komiya,” she revealed.

“So my tattoo means Nozomi Komiya because Nozomi means hope and Nadine also means hope so I just kind of figured that out and decided to use that.”

Nadine has also been to Japan for work and leisure. She shot the film “This Time” in Saga Prefecture with James, which was featured in a local TV news program.

Currently, Nadine is enjoying a peaceful life in Siargao, and is flying back and forth to Manila for her work commitments.