MANILA, Philippines — Actress Cristine Reyes opened up about her mental health journey on Liza Soberano's Spotify podcast show "Open Mind."
"Open Mind" is Soberano's podcast show produced by Mind You, a company founded by actresses Nadine Lustre and Yassi Pressman with Liza that aims to provide Filipinos easier and affordable access to mental health experts.
The second episode of "Open Mind" tackled the pro-active decision of Cristine to attend a personal course on self-love in Los Angeles, California recently.
"It's a personal and professional course. I have been working on myself because I have fear and anger inside me since I was a kid. I have a lot of trapped emotions. I don't know how to handle my angers and my fears. Now I am currently practicing to be aware of my triggers, and trying to stay away from it, obviously just protecting myself," Cristine shared.
The course has helped Reyes, who's usually very private about her life, to process her emotions.
"I think there are some parts of me that I am just not ready to let people know about me. I took this course, and now I've realized that I have supressed some emotions that I carried all throughout my life since I was six years old. That course helped me to actually dive into myself and how to deal with it. Now, yes I am still private but at the same time, now I am opening up," she said. "I'm at a point in my life that I have to let it go and not just cover this up. I never opened up about it all my life, not even to my sisters and brothers."
The actress shared about her very personal interview she did in Los Angeles recently that allowed her to tell her story "for the first time ever." In the YouTube interview with the LA-based "Eight Billion Project" hosted by Liza Florida, Cristine talked about the abuse she experienced from her biological mom. After being taken from her “loving” adopted family at the age of six, Cristine said that she was taken to her biological mother's “big house” but was made to feel unwelcome, unwanted, and unloved.
“Ever since I moved to my biological mom, I felt that I didn't have a voice. So as much as possible, I don't really talk,” Cristine shared on "Eight Billion Project."
On Soberano's show, Cristine shared that some of her childhood experiences contributed to her angers, fears and triggers. She also mentioned that she's been working on herself since 2018, and that the recent LA self-love course opened her eyes about the things she does not want to do anymore in her career.
"The only thing that hinders me from loving my job is doing some roles that I myself am not comfortable (with), like movies that are advocating about affairs, and endorsing something, like a liquor, and you're wearing, like, a two-piece. Like for me, I'm so tired. I don't wanna do it anymore," Cristine said.
"First, it makes me uncomfortable and second, you lose your self-respect. It bothers me that I am always seen in a different light. Like I'm an object," she added.
The actress narrated that when she got back from LA, she got offered by a "dream director" another movie that's centered about marital affairs, which triggered her.
"I was shocked because I already voiced out my sentiments about doing those kinds of stuff and then here we go again. Oh my god, I cried. I was like, sobbing," she said. "I did a lot of self-work in LA, and now I'm faced with this again. I was like, am I gonna be pushed over again? Because I'm scared if I decline. Would I still get work?"
The actress is a single mom to daughter Amara. "What I did in LA, I really had to step up and learn to value myself more, so I said no (to the role). I was so scared, and I think I'm just so blessed because the next day, they offered me three projects that are really, really good."
Liza commended Cristine for opening up about her very personal journey when it comes to her mental health. "I think it's because we don't want to bring back that pain that we once felt. We don't wanna relive those experiences. I'm glad that you took that extra step in trying to release those emotions," Liza said, as she mentioned how she can relate to Cristine about pent up emotions. Cristine took a psychological test before coming to the show, and the two revealed that they actually have the same personality type.
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