EXCLUSIVE: Sister Act: Jasmine Curtis-Smith on Anne, surging career

Jasmine Curtis-Smith (Photo by Annie S. Alejo)

When Jasmine Curtis-Smith presented an award at the Cinemalaya festival in early August, she was apparently asked to stay to possibly present another one. She acquiesced; only to find out they had kept her there because she was going to be on the receiving end of a coveted trophy and title before the night ended.

Bagging the Best Supporting Actress for her role in “Transit” (the movie also earned a Special Citation for ensemble acting) immediately put the young actress on local showbiz radar. She had been dabbling in show business prior to this, but this time – after finishing school in Australia where her family is based – she is set to stay “for good.”

“It was very overwhelming. Hindi ko talaga inabangan… Siyempre ang mga kasabayan ko sa film festival na ’yun mga veterans na,” she tells Bulletin Entertainment of the award in an exclusive interview. “I was super surprised but it was a fulfilling moment as a newbie actress, especially in my first ever film, and in Cinemalaya where the panel of judges is so prestigious.”

One of those happiest for Jasmine was her sister, Anne Curtis, herself a star in the industry. Though working out of town that time, Jasmine says Anne “texted me straight away. I was very pleased to know that she was keeping in the loop even if she wasn’t there… I didn’t tell her anything. She found out for herself.”

Asked what about Anne she would want to emulate, Jasmine says, “(It’s learning to) keep a positive outlook and everything. Anne’s the type that she can completely change her way of thinking into something positive, and that’s something that I know is not innate in myself. So I really have to strive hard in switching my way of thinking to enable myself to not be stressed and affected to easily by things.”

Jasmine has always been thankful of Anne’s support and constant advice, which she says she used to have a tendency to repel, but “now I understand why she’s doing it.” Naturally, she also credits Anne for helping her break into local showbiz. Although the sisters are with rival networks, Jasmine hopes working together with Anne would happen “maybe in the future – we’ll see.” She also notes, “I think it’ll be more possible to do a movie together because we’re both with Viva also.”

For now, though, “We’ve done a commercial together, we’ve done magazine covers together,” she states. In fact, the sisters are featured together in the maiden issue of Hola! Magazine, which hit the stands only this month.

In the Hola! article, Anne said she was especially happy to do the cover feature because it was with her sister. Jasmine shared, “It was actually (done) the night before the gala night of ‘Transit,’ for Cinemalaya. Straight from that I was already at home, I was trying to relax myself but, really, I was bouncing around, like ‘Oh my goodness.’ So we got through the shoot and it was very fun also, and relaxing.”

Jose Mari Ugarte, Hola! Philippines Editor-in-Chief, notes in a private interview with Bulletin Entertainment during a soft launch for the media that, although the maiden issue’s cover story “is actually more on Jasmine and how Anne is so proud of her,” they could not have gotten more perfect celebrities than the sisters who are both celebrated and are inspirations to many people their age.

Clarifying that it is not a tabloid by far, Jose Mari explains, “A tabloid implies negative news. Hola! has always made it a point to always report good news. It is a celebrity news magazine but it’s always good news –weddings, babies being born, people falling in love, getting married, inviting us into their homes. It’s very personal in that sense, but not in the ugly sense. They don’t focus on scandals; it never criticizes or judges people.” It is a photo-driven “paparazzi type” magazine that is personal but is never intrusive.

In that sense, Jasmine’s blossoming acting career is definitely the kind of aspirational topic that the magazine would carry, alongside some content from the principal magazine that also highlights high society personalities and even European royalties. Hola! Philippines would be the first-ever full-English Hola! magazine (all are in Spanish; the rest of the English versions are called Hello!, which also carries content in the native language particularly the Asian editions). The maiden issue also features a story on Prince William and the Duchess Kate’s royal baby Prince George, as well as local celebrities like Azkals player Anton Del Rosario and his fiancée, Marlon Stöckinger, and the younger generation of the Zobel family, among others.

At the swanky magazine launch held on Sept. 5 at the Harbour View Tent of the Sofitel Philippine Plaza, Jasmine was a special guest sans her sister Anne. Among the celebrities that graced the event were Bianca Manalo, Tim Yap, Angelie and Keana Valenciano, Christian Bautista, Cristalle Henares, and many others. Solenn Heussaff hosted the event, but actually did a couple of sultry piano-accompanied numbers in her sexy gown by Francis Libiran, who also hobnobbed with the elite attendees.

Aside from reading more about Jasmine in Hola! Philippines, she will be seen next in a CineFilipino movie called “Puti (Achromatopsia),” which opens on Sept. 18. Directed by Mike Alcazaren, it also stars Ian Veneracion and Lauren Young in a psycho-thriller about a painter who gets into a car accident, becomes color blind and starts seeing strange images. Jasmine actually filmed “Puti” before “Transit,” and she describes it as “just very new and fresh – something I knew I had never done before.”

EXCLUSIVE: Sister Act: Jasmine Curtis-Smith on Anne, surging career

Source: Mb.com.ph (September 17, 2013 at 04:47PM)

Continue...