MANILA, Philippines — Long before starring in the Netflix mystery-thriller “Balaraw,” Janine Gutierrez was already hooked on Filipino folklore. Growing up, she said, she couldn’t get enough of supernatural tales, whether from books or Halloween TV specials.
“I’m really a fan of Filipino folklore. Like nung bata ako, I would buy those books na meron sa National Bookstore. Manipis lang siya. Mga like haunted Philippines or mga mythological creatures of the Philippines,” she said during a one-on-one interview with The STAR. “And then favorite ko ‘pag Halloween, panoorin yung ‘Magandang Gabi Bayan.’ I love Filipino thrillers and Filipino horror.”
Janine got the opportunity to bring that childhood fascination to work through the new series directed by Rae Red.
She went on, “To be part of ‘Balaraw,’ na yun yung theme, and at the same time, set on an island that’s mysterious, (to) get to work with such a good cast, super excited talaga ako from the start.
“Sobrang saya na balikan yung gano’ng mga kwento in more of an in-depth and mature perspective. Like what would happen if these creatures were with us, co-existing today?”
But Janine also revealed that she was already game to accept the project even before reading the script.
She recalled receiving a message from EpicMedia producer Bianca Balbuena about the series with direk Rae, whose 2019 film “Babae at Baril” had given Janine one of her most memorable filmmaking experiences. After all, it won her three Best Actress awards from QCinema, Gawad Urian and FAMAS.
So, the prospect of working anew with much of the same creative team was enough to excite her. But once she got hold of the script, she said she found the story hard to put down.
In “Balaraw,” Janine plays Sabina, a woman whose mother, Rebecca (Agot Isidro), mysteriously disappeared four years earlier. Despite others giving up the search, Sabina refuses to stop looking for her. Together with her supportive girlfriend Bulak (Charlie Dizon) and police-uncle Arturo (Ronnie Lazaro), she heads to the mysterious island of Balaraw, where she’s bound to unearth more family secrets.
During the presscon, direk Rae explained that she and co-creator Jecco Aguado wanted the story to have a strong emotional foundation through the female relationships in the show.
This aspect of the story also appealed to Janine, as well as the way “Balaraw” challenges the traditional portrayal of women in mystery-thrillers.
“Actually, I really like how the characters are portrayed here because mostly women eh. From Rebecca, (played by) Miss Agot, to Sabina and Bulak (Charlie). Kami yung women in the story and very complex yung characters,” she said.
“Like si Rebecca, hindi lang siya nanay. She has this whole other side of her that Sabina is trying to discover. Si Sabina naman at si Bulak, super adventurous, super tapang, super go-getter.”
True enough, in the first three episodes, viewers will see Janine’s Sabina as not the type to sit around and wait. She actively looks for answers even if it means venturing into dangerous territory.
“So, I think it’s also cool to show that side of women, especially in a thriller na historically, usually yung mga babae yung mga unang namamatay in the first few minutes. So, this will really show you yung tapang ng Filipina,” the actress said.
Joining Sabina on her journey is girlfriend, Bulak (Charlie).
Janine described their characters as contrasting personalities, making them a good match. Despite their differences, both are willing to go to great lengths for each other.
“Ako, I think, super bagay kasi si Sabina at si Bulak. Para silang opposites attract. But they love each other so much... Super complementary. Tsaka, they’ll go to the ends of the earth to support each other,” she said.
“Balaraw” is now streaming on Netflix.