Busy child star Althea Ruedas finds time for school

Ten-year-old Althea Ruedas is the kind of child actress who lights up the screen and captivates her audience. Her portrayal of Yumi in Marla Ancheta’s Doll House (2022) earned her the Child Best Actress in a Leading Role trophy at the Sixth Asia-Pacific Luminare Awards.

Although she first filmed the tearjerker Doll House (2022), with Baron Geisler as her dad, it was shown last year in Rotterdam, Netherlands and was aired on Netflix.

“That was my first time riding an airplane two days after my birthday last November,” Althea shared.

However, it was Real Florido’s Bakit ‘Di Mo Sabihin (2022), which was shown ahead of Althea’s first major role.

“Bakit ‘Do Mo Sabihin was also memorable for me because we had to learn sign language — Filipino Sign Language (FSL) — for that movie,” shared Althea who played the daughter of JC De Vera and Janine Gutierrez.

Her other projects are James Robin Mayo’s Silly Red Shoes (2019) and the teleserye, Dirty Linen (2023). She was also in the primetime action-drama series The Iron Heart and the Kathryn Bernardo-Dolly de Leon film, A Very Good Girl, where she played the young Kathryn’s role.

Whether or not she’s playing lead or support, most of Althea’s acting assignments exhibited her natural talent.

Althea started venturing into the entertainment scene when she was only three years old. She painstakingly lined up for auditions in every possible TV commercial. No opportunity opened for her.

In her third attempt at auditions, Althea was readily discouraged by her mom who told her, “Anak ang dami na nating auditions, wala naman kumukuha sa ‘yo,” Althea recalled. “I told her, ‘Mama, hintay-hintay lang po, meron din ‘yan.”

True enough, Althea was soon taken in by a fastfood chain and she was given three projects. Other TV commercials and digital print advertisements followed.

Since then, there was no more stopping the child talent, who later appeared in a TV series and also half-a-dozen films to date. Her fascination into acting transcends to almost everything she does.

“I get amazed how the veteran stars get to do their characters when what they are portraying is not really them,” Althea explained.

In her latest big screen assignment, Instant Daddy, showing starting Oct. 11, Althea gets to work for the first time with comedian Jerald Napoles in the title role. The film is an adaptation of a Mexican box-office hit, Instructions Not Included, shown in 2013.

Althea attested it was consistently fun working with her Papa Je (Napoles). “All the time, he makes jokes,” she said. “He also helps me if sometimes, I find it hard to do my scenes or my parts. If I got to talk faster in my dialogue, Papa Je will always remind me to do it slowly.”

So far, Althea has been enjoying her acting experiences. She hardly gets tired although she sometimes goes home sleeping in their car. “If I don’t have any schedule for the day, my body looks for work. I would tell my mom, ‘Mama, maghanap ka nga ng gagawin ko.”

Althea’s showbiz idol is Kathryn Bernardo. “I grew up watching her in La Luna Sangre,” the child star shared.

She was fortunate to play the young Kathryn in Petersen Vargas’ A Very Good Girl, although they didn’t have scenes together. However, when Althea got to see Kathryn personally on her last day of shooting, she was speechless.

Althea recently signed up a management contract with Viva Artists Agency (VAA), where she expects to be given more acting projects.

Thankfully, Althea does not allow her shooting schedule to get in the way of her studies. She’s home-schooled, but she makes it a point to go to school and see her best friend, Jodi, who often helps her in school work and assignments.

“I do face-to-face when I want to go to school and there are no shooting schedules,” Althea shared. “Top 3 pa rin ako sa class.”

She is also in the cast of the top-rating primetime series, The Iron Heart, with Richard Gutierrez, Jake Cuenca and Albert Martinez. Her character, Lia, gave the much-needed support and strength to the main character, Apollo (Richard Gutierrez).

Last March, Althea also exhibited her vocal prowess and bagged the trophy in the Little Miss Diva contest. Thanks to her dad, who was previously a drummer in a band when he was younger. He was the one who influenced Althea’s musical tastes.