She is indeed one of the fast-rising actresses of her generation. In the first few years that she has been in the industry, Kaila Estrada has managed to slowly create a name for herself and step out of the shadows of her famous parents Janice de Belen and John Estrada through her own efforts and skills.

With her performance in Linlang being the talk of the town, Ogie Diaz recently invited her to his online show, wherein they talked about her blooming career and her admirable relationship with her family.

Their conversation commenced with the young actress revealing how she felt about the slew of messages and positive feedback that received due to her astonishing and riveting portrayal of Sylvia in Linlang.

“No’ng una ko siyang nakita, honestly naiyak ako. Sobrang grateful lang din po ako na binigyan ako ng opportunity to be a part of a show na gano’n, na gano’n ‘yong role ko. ‘Yong character ko, nabigyan ng chance na mag-shine. So, sobra po akong grateful talaga. And medyo na-overwhelm ako kaya ako naging emotional. Pero sobrang grateful po ako talaga,” she related.

When it comes to her parents’ reactions, she shared that Janice actually watches the show religiously because she likes the story. She usually does not have comments about her performance because she’s more focused on the narrative, and probably because she does not want to put pressure on her.

In fact, her Mama doesn’t give her advice unless she asks for it since she wants her to do her stuff on her own and figure things out all by herself, which are the same things that she wants to happen. Thus, she was so touched and kilig upon seeing her Mama’s Instagram story, wherein she commended her for a job well done in an episode of Linlang.

Her Papa, on the other hand, was clueless about why she was trending, so he initially felt scared and nervous. But he was super happy upon learning that it was because for a really good reason and for something that he could be really proud of.

While becoming an artista is the greatest ambition for some people in the industry ever since they were young, it’s not the case for Kaila, despite being a child of famous parents. She worked as a part-time model when she was in college since it was what she really liked back then, to which both John and Janice agreed as long as her studies would not suffer. She also dabbled in content creation, and then in acting in her pursuit of finding what she really wanted to do in life, without telling her parents about it yet because she was worried about how they were going to react.

She attended a Star Magic casting in 2020 through the help of her agency. Her parents only found out about her plan two days before her scheduled audition, and the rest, as they say,is history.

When Linlang was offered to her, Kaila implied how over the moon and anxious she was at the same time since it was a really huge project and she would be working with some of the biggest names in the industry, such as Maricel Soriano, Kim Chiu, Paulo Avelino, and JM de Guzman.

As Ogie mentioned how she apparently acquired the “mata-mata” acting of her mom, she said that it’s a compliment for her since Janice is one of the most esteemed actresses in the country. At the same time, she was also fueled by her hunger to really do her best and give everything she could in that project. She also fell in love with the story and the dialogue written by their brilliant writers.

Although it’s indeed a great honor to be called “anak ni Janice” or “anak ni John”, it warms her heart every time people would recognize her for her own character.

Of course, her parents had a few reminders on her as she took on her first project. She shares to Ogie, “Ang lagi lang po nilang sinasabi sa akin is be professional, always be on time, makisama ka sa mga katrabaho mo. Puro general lang naman ang mga sinasabi nila sa akin. Always stay grounded, always come prepared, read your script, make sure pagdating sa set alam mo na ‘yong mga linya mo.”

When asked if she’s keen on the idea of working with her parents, she confessed that, for now, it would be awkward so she wishes for it not to be soon. She wants to gain more experience and confidence first before that exciting moment happens.

“Parang sa ngayon, hindi ko siya ma-imagine. Siguro kasi nahihiya ako magkamali sa harap nila. I think, that’s part of it. Saka siyempre, it’s a different environment, 'di ba? Hindi ako sanay na kasama sila sa gano’ng environment. Pero someday, sana maka-work ko sila,” she related.

Just like other celebrity kids who are able to break into showbiz, Kaila has also received comments that it’s easy for her to build a career in this industry because of her parents. She doesn’t deny that there is indeed privilege there, but she wants to tell naysayers that she chooses to do this on her own and whatever reason she gets accepted is not really something that she has control over. Besides, she doesn’t want to make use of it and wants to achieve things on her own. Thus, she hopes that people will give her the space to show them that she also has something to offer and is working diligently to create her own mark.

Ogie then asks the Can’t Buy Me Love actress for her advice to those who aspire to make it in showbiz, to which she iterates on the importance of preparing themselves to the bashings and gives them some words of encouragement as well.

“Know when to recognize if it’s constructive criticism versus if it’s just noise kasi baka ‘yon pa ang maging dahilan kung bakit mag-give up ka sa dream mo. Maging masipag ka, you don’t give up on yourself, and tibayan mo ‘yong loob mo. You’ll be able to achieve it, whatever it is, kahit hindi sa pag-aartista,”she stated.

The interview concluded with the young actress giving pieces of advice to Gen Zs like her when it comes to dealing with their parents and vice versa. She said, “Siguro, for parents, it is to be open to unlearning. ‘Yong mga bagay na kahit na kinasanayan mo, pwedeng hindi na siya acceptable ngayon or hindi natin alam noon na hindi pala siya nakabubuti. Just the openness to unlearn those things and to make those changes, kasi it’ll be better din for your relationship with your children.”

Meanwhile, for children like her who came from younger generations, Kaila advises us to be patient and understanding, as well as to communicate with our parents in order to fix disagreements. We should also never forget to ask for their permission, especially when it comes to the big decisions we are going to make in life because they always have the best intentions in mind and as our way of showing respect to them, too. She also hopes that we can still have them involved in our lives regardless of our age, which is something that she wants to do better at the same time.