Janice can’t believe her career resurgence
Janice de Belen is on a roll. Again.
And she can’t believe she’s experiencing another career high after a very long time.
Ever since Janice transferred to ABS-CBN, she bagged a remarkable and memorable role in the TV drama "Budoy." She is seen weekly in the talk show "Showbiz Inside Report." She has also appeared in "The Healing," "Mumunting Lihim," and the upcoming "Aswang: The Tiktik Chronicles."
"I think I was 16 (when I was this busy),” Janice told Yahoo! Philippines OMG! and some members of the press at the pictorial of upcoming TV drama, "Ina, Kapatid, Anak."
Grateful to GMA
“I'm really thankful, pero minsan nagugulat na lang rin ako, like, 'Hindi nga?'"
When asked if she feels like she didn't have the same opportunities in her previous network, Janice answered, "I don't like to think of it that way kasi malaki rin ang natulong ng GMA. When I needed a job, they gave me a job; wala rin naman akong masabi. Through the years, nagkataon lang rin siguro. I think it is just enhanced.”
Janice’s stint as a GMA network star yielded successes as well, most notably the morning talk show “Sis,” which she hosted with real-life sister Gelli de Belen (now with TV5) and Carmina Villoroel, who has also become a Kapamilya talent like Janice. “Sis” aired for nine years.
In "Ina, Kapatid, Anak," her new primetime drama in ABS-CBN, Janice stars opposite Kim Chiu, Xian Lim, Maja Salvador, Enchong Dee and Cherry Pie Picache.
"It is different. My character is also different from what I usually play. I haven't done this for a very long time," she said.
Loves playing the kontrabida
After being cast in as an antagonist in "Budoy," Janice will play a feistier character in the new TV drama.
She loved playing villain, she said. "Mabait na role, for me, it is a given kasi I've been doing it ever since. To play a kontrabida role parang, 'Yes!' Kasi marami kang magagawa, you're free to play," she explained.
Now 42, Janice has been in the business for 33 years, having started at age 9 as a newscaster for a kiddie news show.
While her life as a showbiz personality meant having had to endure the public airing of very private affairs (pregnant at age 18 with fellow teen star Aga Muhlach, the dissolution of her marriage to actor John Estrada who had been linked to TV host Vanessa del Bianco), she is not stopping her kids from entering the business should they want it.
Her kids can enter showbiz, but…
"Wala naman akong problema kung gusto nilang mag-artista. Pero isa lang hinihingi ko sa mga anak ko: college. After college, they can do whatever they want, I don't really care. Basta mag-college, kasi para sa akin kung mag-aartista ko or for any other job, because when you're an artist, you need to talk," she said.
Janice, who has five children (one with Aga and four with John), said that she wants them to have confidence, a good foundation and be educated before they face the world of showbiz.
"Haharap ka sa presscons, interviews. Ayaw kong tatayo ka doon but you're not confident, that you won't be able to answer or you don't know what you're talking about. Kapag nag-college ka, kahit anong mangyari, may fallback ka. Mabilis ang turnover (sa showbiz), it's not permanent. Whatever happened to me doesn't necessarily mean na it will happen to you," Janice said.
