MANILA -- After several years of living abroad with her new family, actress Jackie Forster returned to the Philippines before Christmas last year to start a new life here. And hopefully, to resume her showbiz career, too.

Forster said she is open to the possibility of even working with her son, Andrei, or even her erstwhile husband, PBA star-turned-actor Benjie Paras.

The former couple are now “okay” and she is also in a better relationship now with her two sons with Paras after a tumultuous past.

“Benjie and I are okay,” Forster offered. “I don’t want to say we’re ‘friends.’ Ang plastic naman. We’re okay. Not everything is too publicized. Everything is good. Everyone is happy. Wala ng gulo.”

Over the weekend, Forster graced the opening of Shinagawa Lasik and Aesthetics Center at the Bonifacio Golden City in Taguig. This is the third clinic, following the first one at Enterprise Center in Makati City and Hanston Square Building in Ortigas, Pasig City.

“Everything is great actually,” admitted Forster, who’s now 41. “Bonding with my sons, Andrei and Kobe, is great. Everything turned out well. It’s good because we moved back [to Manila]. Everything is turning out the way it was supposed to. In God’s time, everything really turned out well.”

Two of Forster’s younger children, Caleigh (nine) and Yohan, (four), were born in Singapore. Jared, 13, was born here in the Philippines. They are her kids with her second husband, Michel Franken, an expatriate who works for a multinational company.

Since the couple got together in 2007, the family lived in Singapore, moved to Malaysia, the United Kingdom and China. They are now settled here in the Philippines.

“He handles the region, so he’s still in Asia and that’s fine,” Forster said about her husband. “We left China [Guangzhou] before Christmas. Just before the coronavirus breakout. That was a blessing. I was in a hurry to leave. Most of our things, though, were locked down in a container, so we’re still waiting until now.”

Her friend in China, whose husband is a diplomat, had to stay even after everyone started leaving. “When they started evacuating, they moved to Europe,” Forster said. “Her husband is still in China. I get updates from my co-parents in school there.

“The same thing happened to us in Mexico. I felt the need to leave Mexico sooner. I told my husband to leave ahead. One week later after we left, the big earthquake happened.”

While they were living in China, Forster said she was never at home there because of the language barrier. “Everything is in Cantonese,” she lamented. “Just going out to the supermarket is hard. What more now, when you have to wear mask everywhere you go. Now, it’s global because everything comes from China. Everything is affected.

“When we were in China, I was having a hard time going from one place to another. It was stressful. My kids were growing up without a solid group of friends. When they learned we would move here in Manila after almost two years, they wanted to throw a party. They were so happy. If you talk to my children, they love Filipino food. They love the beach, the sun, just not the traffic here.”

Forster’s husband, meanwhile, will continue to travel to other countries. “Now that there’s a lockdown, there are still some countries he can travel to without the virus. That’s still safe.”

Forster does not deny that she missed show business a lot. “I miss performing. It has to be the right project. I really want to do it. A movie. I spent so much time with my children that if I come back home just to be away from my children, it doesn’t make sense. I heard the working conditions now are also different.”

There was a time Forster was branded as “tactless” for showbiz. “Can you blame me?” she asked. “I grew up in America where everything was straightforward. But now, fast forward to 2020, people appreciate more when you’re open and honest.

“I would prefer if you don’t like me because I would say the honest thing, than you like me, because plastic pala ako. I prefer that. Then I know that our friendship is genuine, because you know who I am. I think I’m just too honest for my own good.”

Forster’s only daughter, Caleigh, who’s turning 10, is inclined towards showbiz. “She really wants to try showbiz,” Forster said. “She was sick before. That took two-and-a-half years of our lives. We lived in the hospital practically.

“She’s starting to get back into school and making friends. I feel like she should enjoy that first. But if something comes and it’s meant to be, as long as she will not easily get tired, she can do it.”

Forster’s two older sons have a better relationship with her now. “Andrei is super busy with his showbiz career,” she said. “I don’t see him as regularly as Kobe. Kobe is a lot like me. It’s a little bit scary.

“I love the relationship with Kobe now. I know how to approach things now. He comes to me for a lot of things and I appreciate it so much. Nararamdaman ko na nararamdaman niya there’s something there in our relationship that he cannot get from other people.”

Even if Forster regularly sees Kobe, she still doesn’t want to meddle in everything that he does. “In the beginning, when he first came back, he didn’t want yet everybody to know,” she said. “Kobe doesn’t want to do showbiz. He’s really an athlete. He’s so creative and full of ideas. If you talk to Kobe about his fashion, he really knows a lot, but he doesn’t know how to handle it. I don’t want to talk to him about things like that unless he comes to me. Viva helps him. I want to be known as the mama who doesn’t meddle.”

Once she resumes her showbiz career, Forster is open to even work again with Paras or their son, Andrei. “Now it’s not just about me,” she said. “There are kids to consider. His side is comfortable. I don’t know if it makes a difference if I’m the one to make an effort and push. Working with Andrei and Benjie, that would be fun. If things go well, hopefully for good.”