Olive May is set on Acting for the Long Haul

CEBU, Philippines — Back in her hometown of Cebu during the recent holidays with her family, Olive May Sophia Bihag carved out time for an interview with The FREEMAN at a crowded cafe. Throughout the hour-long conversation, it was clear she was determined to make a mark on showbiz.

At 21, she’s already a teen beauty queen, a former P-pop group member, and now, one of Sparkle GMA Artist Center’s talents under the screen name Olive May.

Since signing with the Kapuso talent agency last year, offers have poured in, including roles in the second season of “Lolong” and a movie starring Miguel Tanfelix.

Scheduling conflicts, however, limited her to two projects: the GMA Afternoon Prime teleserye “Forever Young,” which will wrap next month, and the weekly youth-oriented series “Maka,” which will premiere its second season on February 1.

“I was told that new artists typically don’t get the chance to be part of two shows in the same year, so I am thankful,” she shared.

In “Forever Young,” she plays Jenny, the love interest of Rambo (Euwenn Mikaell), an adult man with the appearance of an adolescent boy, à la Benjamin Button.

“It was weird at first,” she admitted about the pairing. “I have to be sweet with him, especially since Euwenn is still a kid and hasn’t experienced firsthand what love is yet.”

Olive May was in awe of the young actor’s understanding of his role. “He has to act like he is 25 years old, but he is 11 in real life, and it’s hard to pull that off. I am impressed with the way he speaks because he is very mature for his age,” she said.

Her pairing in “Maka” is more age-appropriate. Livvy, her role, is being paired with fellow Cebuano actor John Clifford, who plays JC. The two introverts employed a technique they learned from actress Ana Feleo during their acting workshops to break the ice, which is simply getting to know each other.

“Since we are both from Cebu, we were able to share our experiences living there and reminisce about certain places. We started getting comfortable with each other, and there was no awkwardness anymore when the camera started rolling,” she explained.

In the first season, Livvy and JC are students at Douglas MacArthur High School, along with Zephanie, Marco Masa, Ashley Sarmiento, and Dylan Menor, under the mentorship of Victor (Romnick Sarmenta). Coincidentally, the veteran actor teaches at the Trinity University of Asia, where Olive May is a sophomore marketing management student.

Because the first season was filmed in Antipolo, Rizal in an area with no signal coverage, the cast was able to develop strong camaraderie.

“Because we weren’t on our phones, there were so many bonding moments where we would talk about life and joke around. It’s a good thing because we get easily distracted by our gadgets,” she said.

These on-set connections extended beyond taping, with Olive May, Zephanie, Masa, and Menor even hiking Mount Kulis together.

Olive May is looking forward to the second season, which will see the characters in college, with filming closer to Metro Manila.

Former P-pop idol, teen beauty queen

Some P-pop fans may recognize Olive May as a former member of CALISTA. The group debuted in 2022 under Merlion Entertainment, which currently co-manages her with Sparkle.

“It was fun because we were able to perform on big stages like Araneta and Mall of Asia Arena,” she recalled. “But it’s also hard. I feel like K-pop has already perfected its promotional strategies, but here in the Philippines, they are still trying to figure things out. Being an idol is hard, and you have to condition your body to sing and dance at the same time.”

She wanted to be a K-pop idol because of her love for BTS. Now, having experienced the rigors of P-pop herself, she understands the struggles of her idols, particularly with restrictive diets.

“It was hard because you want to eat. You are tired from the training, but you only eat one chicken breast for the whole day,” she recalled.

Olive May bonded with her “Maka” co-star Chanty, a member of the K-pop group Lapillus, sharing their experiences as idols. Through these conversations, she learned that Chanty endured a similar diet during her trainee days in South Korea.

Olive May noted a key difference between K-pop and P-pop: the fans. She observed that P-pop fans are more understanding, unlike some K-pop fans who demand a perfect image from their idols.

Last year, Merlion announced Olive May’s departure from CALISTA as she pursued a solo path under Sparkle. She explained that she couldn’t be an active P-pop idol and a solo actress simultaneously.

This ultimatum presented itself twice, as she passed the Sparkle auditions on both occasions. Initially, she chose to stay with the group, as they had just debuted.

“A few things happened, and I felt like nothing was going anywhere, so I decided to audition for Sparkle again, and I got in on my second try,” she said.

Ultimately, her management decided that it was best for Olive May to leave the group and focus on acting. She described her departure from CALISTA as awkward and emotional. “The girls didn’t want to talk to me at first because they were sad that I left the group,” she shared.

But all is well now between her and her former bandmates — Anne, Dain, Denise, and Ellen — who are just a phone call away.

“When we were taping for ‘All Out Sundays,’ CALISTA had their performance in a P-pop segment, and I had a performance with my fellow Sparkle artists. I was touched when I found out that the members watched me and recorded my performance on their phones,” she said.

She admitted to feeling nervous in her first few months going solo. “I am so used to training every day with my members. When you are in a group, you have your members to help you out. But going solo, you are alone, and it was so hard at first,” she said.

While fully committed to acting, she hasn’t entirely closed the door to doing music again.

“I told my manager that I do want to have my own single out there and an album, and I want to be able to write my songs in the future,” she said, citing Taylor Swift as inspiration.

One door she is closing, however, is her return to pageants. She was 14 when she was one of the finalists of Miss Teen Philippines 2019 with Nicole Borromeo. Prior, she participated in various barangay and school pageants.

Her recent beauty tilt was Miss Cebu 2023, which crowned Kefaiah Al-zair as winner. The stressful experience in Miss Cebu made her realize she wasn’t interested in joining pageants anymore.

“When you do something, it has to be something you enjoy. If not, it will stress you out. I was doing CALISTA and Miss Cebu at the same time, and I was so burned out,” she explained.

“I don’t think I will be back in pageants. I am really into acting. I do still get stressed over it, but at least I love doing it, and I am happy.”

Acting idols

Olive May admitted she’s had moments of doubt if acting was really in the cards for her. She was initially intimidated by Feleo’s mentorship, recalling a time she went home crying after a particularly difficult session.

One memorable moment during the workshops was a comedy skit with fellow Cebuana Sparkle talents Beatrice Gomez and Gazini Ganados, where they played Bisaya-speaking sisters.

“It’s so fulfilling when you achieve something good and she compliments you, because she is quite strict. I did learn a lot of acting techniques from her. She said that if it’s hard in workshops, it’s harder on set because the director might scold you.”

Olive May admires Barbie Forteza, noting her friendliness backstage. “She is so flexible because she can do comedy and drama, which is very hard to do,” she said, expressing a desire to play Forteza’s sister or best friend in a project.

Inspired by Angelina Jolie, she also dreams of trying out the action genre. “If I am at the right age, I want to play a heroine,” she said.