Story by Camille Aguinaldo, InterAksyon | MJ Marfori, News5
MANILA, Philippines – Host and actress Kris Aquino may have disappeared in television screens lately but the next time we see her again, it will be on bigger cinema screens as she has landed a role at a major Hollywood movie.
“Tonight I fly to Los Angeles to meet Chris Lee, my agent to sign my contract. I passed 5 levels of scrutiny and was offered a role,” she announced in her Instagram post on Sunday.
“It is surreal to be reading the script from a major Hollywood studio watermarked on every page with my name,” added Kris, sister of former President Benigno Aquino III.
She said she had signed a non-disclosure agreement with the Hollywood studio thus she was not allowed to reveal more details about the movie and about her role.
Aquino narrated in her Instagram post the journey she went through before being casted.
She said Jhett Tolentino, a Tony and Grammy award-winning producer, called her up on March 23, asking if she wanted to audition for a major Hollywood movie.
Born and raised in Iloilo, Tolentino is known for winning a Grammy award for Best Musical Theater Album on February for co-producing the historical musical “The Color Purple.” He was also a three-time Tony Award winner.
Tolentino explained to Aquino that he was helping out a Filipino-Chinese-American agent who was trying to reach her.
She was called up by the award-winning producer on the same day in 2016 when she announced the final airing of her show Kris TV in ABS-CBN.
“I felt I had nothing to lose, so we went for it,” Aquino said.
Aquino was then instructed to submit her reel after three days. Then on March 25, two days after the call, she shot her audition reel at the Manila Peninsula in Makati City.
The following day, Aquino and her team submitted her audition scenes along with her video biography. And they waited.
The response came on Easter Sunday as she announced that she was bound for Los Angeles to meet with her agent Chris Lee to sign a contract.
She said she wanted to share her story to give people encouragement and hope after experiencing rejections for a year.
“I am proof that in life doors will shut & there will be heartbreaking setbacks but FAITH in God’s plan will open new, unexpected doors,” she said in her post.
She also revealed that she had lost her two shows because of her family name.
“There were 2 shows i lost because hiring an Aquino for TV was a political risk not worth taking,” she said.
She also thanked her family for giving her strength and those who had helped her produce her audition shoot such as Direk Ricky Villabona and her Kris Online team.
In 2016, Kris Aquino decided to leave ABS-CBN due to health reasons. She had her comeback show “Trip Ni Kris” that was aired at GMA Channel recently. But a reported row with the show’s producer Rhodora Pascual Morales resulted in “Trip Ni Kris” becoming only a one-time TV special instead of a regular one.
Aquino also earlier partnered with Petron and San Miguel Corporation for her “#KrisList webisodes.”
Click and watch the video report from News5’s MJ Marfori below: