Kakki Teodoro, from Stage to Screen
Lifestyle

Kakki Teodoro on New Chapters: ‘The Joy is in the Journey’

Kakki Teodoro as Nimia in “Isang Himala.” Photography by @chatanglao of @studio.forty7

Kakki Teodoro reflects on her Best Supporting Actress win at the 50th Metro Manila Film Festival.

One of the breakout stars from last December’s Metro Manila Film Festival was Kakki Teodoro, who says she has always dreamed of winning an award. But taking home the Best Supporting Actress at the 50th staging of the film fest still came as a surprise for her. In a room full of industry veterans such as her fellow nominees Chanda Romero, Lorna Tolentino, Gabby Padilla, Nadine Lustre, and Christine Reyes, Teodoro started off her acceptance speech by introducing herself. “Ako po si Kakki Teodoro, ako po ay 37 years old, ako po ay galing sa mundo ng teatro [I’m Kakki Teodoro, I’m 37 years old, I’m from the theater world]!” she exclaimed.

At a young age, Teodoro has been drawn to performing. Like most girls, her love for musicals came from watching Disney films such as Little Mermaid, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. Growing up as an only child in a house full of adults, these fantasy worlds “really gave me comfort.” She explains, “It was a way of entertainment and something that I have accepted as a way of life, listening to stories and hearing songs.” Throughout elementary and high school, she sang and danced in school programs and presentations, but it was in college that her love for the craft would deepen.

Kakki Teodoro
Teodoro on the set of “Isang Himala.” Photographed by Carlo Saavedra and Josh San Mateo

An active student, Teodoro decided to join Ateneo Blue Repertory. “It was in Ateneo Blue Repertory where I felt the passion really started to happen,” she says. “I was starting to really enjoy the long hours and the process, the repetition, the value of the repetition. I saw and enjoyed it with people who felt the same way.” After realizing that she wanted to be a professional performer, she decided to veer away from her original plan of becoming a journalist.

Teodoro has always been led by her eagerness to learn when it came to making decisions about her life path. “I learned from every director, because I never audition for shows where I don’t want to work with the director. So every time [I do], I learn and absorb,” she says. She credits multiple mentors throughout her career: Chari Arespacochaga, Ed Lacson Jr., and Jenny Jamora. “If it’s the three of them, whatever the role, it’s a yes,” she says.

On stage, she’s played Jose Rizal in Pingkian, Queen Femina in Zsazsa Zaturnnah Ze Muzikal…’Yun Lang!, and a law professor in Bar Boys, to name a few. She’s also starred on the big screen before, in the films A Very Good Girl, Five Breakups and a Romance, Enteng Kabisote 10, and Bliss.

Initially, she never envisioned herself on the big screen. “Before the pandemic, I told myself that theater is my home and that film or TV is not the life for me,” she says. But the pandemic happened; lockdowns were implemented, limiting the amount of opportunities to perform on stage. As with anyone at the time, this period inspired her to push her boundaries and challenge her perspective. “I realized that I am an actor on any platform, and actors or artists should never limit themselves based on the platform.”

Kakki Teodoro
Teodoro while filming “Isang Himala.” Photographed by Carlo Saavedra and Josh San Mateo

Ultimately, following her passion led Teodoro to her MMFF win. Not only did she win an award for a film role, but she also won doing what she loves: musical theater. Based on Ishmael Bernal’s 1982 film Himala, which starred a young Nora Aunor, Isang Himala is a film adaptation of the theatrical play Himala: Isang Musikal. Here, Teodoro plays Nimia, a prostitute who went on to establish her own kabaret (nightclub) in the strange town of Cupang. Forty-two years after Bernal’s Himala, Teodoro follows in the footsteps of Gigi Dueñas, who also won the 1982 MMFF Best Supporting Actress award for the same role.

Most film actresses only spend months with their characters. Teodoro’s relationship with Nimia spans much longer, having played the character on stage during its run in 2018. “It was already easier for me to get into her character. I can tap into her anytime,” she says. 

During the 2019 run of the stage musical, Teodoro describes playing Nimia with a bolder and more direct attitude. In Isang Himala, she plays Nimia louder, grittier, and more colorful, a choice influenced by Eric Navarro’s production design of Cupang in the film. Ishmael Bernal’s Cupang looked more like a desolate desert, while Isang Himala director Pepe Diokno’s is full of rocks, stone, gravel, and mountains.

Kakki Teodoro and Aicelle Santos
Teodoro and Aicelle Santos as Nimia and Elsa. Photographed by Carlo Saavedra and Josh San Mateo

“Nimia before grew up in that emptiness and wanted more color, light, warmth, and adventure in her life. Now, [in Isang Himala] this is her response to a version of Cupang that is crowded and noisy, her response is to get out,” she explains. The result is a more emboldened version of Nimia, who is still vulnerable, caring, and at her core, just aspires to have a better life.

If her character is driven by frustration, Teodoro is driven by happiness. “Joy is my currency,” she says. In a profession that demands long hours and a lot of energy, she finds herself adopting a slower pace of life, focusing on projects that she enjoys doing. She advises aspiring actors to be just as patient with themselves. “Sometimes things need time. It takes time to build your career. It takes time to learn.”

Some things do take time. It may have taken her almost two decades to win an award for film, but Teodoro’s time is only beginning. As she moves forward with her career, she reminds herself, “The reward is in the work. The joy is in the journey.”

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