Why Jodi keeps her personal life separate from her acting

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“Untold” lead star Jodi Sta. Maria said that her personal life is off limits when it comes to finding inspiration or motivation for her acting performances.

When co-star Gloria Diaz jokingly described her in a presscon as a woman in love — opening the door to questions about her personal life — Jodi quickly shut it down with a smile, saying, “I don’t think so. Kaya nga ‘untold.’” She was reacting to the former Miss Universe’s quip that Jodi would be the one to share some untold stories when a reporter tried to prod her for details.

The two play mother and daughter in Derick Cabrido’s horror movie produced by Regal Entertainment. The film premieres on April 30 in cinemas nationwide.

During the mediacon, their close relationship is obvious, and Gloria clearly knows a lot more than she lets on.

In a separate interview, the veteran actress said, “Well, everybody knows it,” referring to Jodi’s love life, which the latter has successfully kept under wraps and never really confirmed on record.

“Sabagay, I never saw them in action but parang OK naman siya,” she added.

Did she advise Jodi to settle down? “Never. You know, one man pwede na. If you find the perfect guy, yes, but you know what, you cannot have two bad guys in one lifetime.

“The next one will be good. If he’s already good, don’t look for another one because the next will be bad. Hindi naman siya bago. Matagal ko na siyang kilala. Very kilala. He’s cute and (I’m) 75 percent boto ako sa kanya. Why 75 percent? You have to give room for 25 percent because baka may better pa.

“But my advice to her is that she should work and work and work, and enjoy and spend a lot of time with her son. Like me with my kids, at my age, parang it’s so important those times I’ve spent with them.

“Now, they give me time but they have their own families. The good thing is, I have someone special since they have more time for their families and less time with me. Nakakainis sometimes lang.

“With Jodi, her son is still young and she’s very, very close to her son and she really enjoys her son because he cooks for her and stuff. She has to enjoy that and treasure that.”

But back to Jodi.

We learned that, unlike other actors, she has not been tapping into her reservoir of past experiences for her onscreen performances.

“My process as an actor is different. So what I do is… it’s so important for us actors to embark on different techniques and workshops because each and every time we have work, these workshops work as your tools,” she began, explaining.

“Of course, you don’t go into a war without a weapon. So the technique that I am using doesn’t really require me to like, mag-bukas ng baul (open a trunk) from my personal life, or my childhood, things like that, so that I can use it.

“The technique that I learned during the pandemic and have since used in several of my teleserye is that kahit papaano naman, I’m really thankful na nagbubunga.

“Before, when you are young, your training is when you’re being motivated, the motivation is to use your pain from past experiences. But the problem there is… well, it works.

“However, if you keep on reliving the traumatic experiences because you need to use them for a scene, after a while, hindi na siya umuubra.

“(It won’t work) for the reason that there are things that you are already healed from, there are things that you outgrow. So, what will happen now kung tuloy-tuloy ang trabaho and ‘di na siya magagamit? You need to find different ways and techniques that you can use for your work.”

This is why she goes on trips and has her alone time.

“It’s important not just for actors, but for every human being to find that space of rest and stillness. Our world is so busy and there are many things going on. That space is very sacred for me, for a human being,” she said.

“That’s where you find rest and in those moments, you are able to reflect, and more importantly, to introspect on the things that happen in your life and do an assessment on the things you will do next and your future plans.”

Meanwhile, in her latest movie, “Untold,” opening on April 30, part of her preparation was interviewing and drawing insights from journalist-friends.

This is how the synopsis teases the story: Jodi plays Vivian Vera, a journalist and social media personality who is on a career high as the news anchor for her own investigative documentary series, “Untold.” Things go horribly wrong when she pursues a story and it leaves her traumatized. Soon, inexplicable occurrences start surrounding her and her news crew, which plunge them deeper into a mystery that forces Vivian to face her own deep secrets if she wants answers.

“Untold” the movie will also be shown in Hong Kong, Singapore, the US, Canada, Guam and Saipan on May 2.

On the bigger message of the film, Jodi said, “It’s not just limited to being a journalist. It’s really about each and everyone’s social responsibility. Walang taong nabubuhay para sa sarili lamang. All of us are connected in a way to each other.

“Now, we live in a digital world where everything is just put out there. So as a human being, I personally believe that platforms are neutral, they are powerless. It is us who give the platforms power. The question is, how will you use that platform? Will you use it for good or to create chaos?

“So, what I want audiences to take away from the film is No. 1, a sense of social responsibility. Second, if you reach that point in your life where you are offered work and a huge amount of money, but in exchange are your principles — what are you willing to give in exchange for your soul?” she said.

What made Jodi say yes to star in another horror project after swearing off the genre following her experience in “Clarita,” the 2018 film also megged by direk Derick Cabrido?

She recalled, “(‘Clarita’) was a very challenging and difficult project and I told myself, after that one, that I won’t do horror again. And then more than five years later, here comes Derick Cabrido saying he’s going to pitch something.

“(I immediately thought) this is not going to be a drama, he’s going to pitch horror for sure. But I said, okay, let’s hear it. Then he pitched ‘Untold.’ Ewan ko ba but I said, let’s talk about it. I didn’t say yes right away.

“When I read the script thoroughly, I found myself liking it because it’s different. And working with direk, our working relationship is built on trust. I super trust him as my director. What I liked about him is that he’s very collaborative and he’s open to suggestions.

“He’s open to insights coming from his actors. Also, I like his honesty. For example, if there’s one thing he wants to do in one scene, he won’t think twice of executing it, like let’s try it this way, or that way. And since I trust him, okay let’s do it, no problem. That’s the relationship we have.”

Jodi shared that many scenes in “Untold” were physically challenging, like when she fell into the “burial” ground and had to hang from a height. She joked that direk would assure her a stunt double was available but would end up letting her do the stunts herself.

The most difficult for her was a scene on the fourth floor of a construction site, where she was suspended with a harness for safety. She admitted it was risky because if the harness failed, she could have fallen off. She, nevertheless, gamely took them on because of her commitment to get the job done.

Jodi was also asked about the biggest scare or horror experience she has faced in life — not necessarily the supernatural kind.

“When my Lola passed,” she shared. “I wasn’t around, I was at a shoot. This was in 2012, we were doing ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ during that time. She was looking forward to it. Then one day, she suddenly died, she never saw the show, and my lola was one of my biggest fans.

“I guess, another source of horror, it’s the injustices we’re seeing left and right. Another fear is when you’re a parent, ang iniisip mo ang mga maaaring mangyari sa mga anak mo.”