Lea Salonga feared being branded a 'bold star' because of 'Miss Saigon'

Reyma Deveza

ABS-CBN News

<p>Tony award-winner Lea Salonga admitted that being branded a &quot;bold star&quot; was one of her concerns when offered the musical &quot;Miss Saigon.&quot;</p><p>Salonga, who started as a child star, opened up about her fear in a clip from Season 11 of PBS&#x27;s &quot;Finding Your Roots.&quot;</p><p>&quot;I was really concerned with how conservative audiences in the Philippine were going to take it, because my career up at that point was just very wholesome. And I was a child entertainer, performer. I was about to turn the page in a really big way. Because back home actors especially actresses you were really either wholesome or really not.  There was no gray area,&quot; Salonga told host Henry Louis Gates, Jr.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable fr-active" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CULQiGoBce0?autoplay=1&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><div><br/></div><p>Asked if she was afraid that she could no longer come back, Salonga replied: &quot;Yeah, like am I gonna be like what they called a &#x27;bold star&#x27;? Am I gonna be branded as that?&quot;</p><p>&quot;A bold star, that&#x27;s what they were called. And then I realized, in the West, the gray area was where a lot of actors resided,&quot; she added.</p><p>Eventually, Salonga decided to take the risk and redefined her career as she took on the role of Kim in &quot;Miss Saigon&quot; in London&#x27;s West End in 1989.</p><p>The phenomenal musical gave Salonga her historic Best Actress in a Musical win from the 1990 Laurence Olivier Award.</p><p>In 1991, Salonga again played the role of Kim on Broadway and received several awards. The Filipina singer-actress was the first Asian descent to win a Tony award. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/life/03/12/21/lea-salonga-celebrates-43rd-year-of-working-in-theater" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lea Salonga celebrates 43rd year of working in theater</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS:</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-1BB20psKWg?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ru9aiqbksDU?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rkhYP2Xd2YQ?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Lea Salonga, who started as child entertainer, opened up about her fear in a clip from Season 11 of PBS's 'Finding Your Roots.'</p>

Lea Salonga, who started as child entertainer, opened up about her fear in a clip from Season 11 of PBS's 'Finding Your Roots.'

Lea Salonga recalls fear of being branded a 'bold star' because of 'Miss Saigon' | ABS-CBN

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Lea Salonga recalls fear of being branded a 'bold star' because of 'Miss Saigon'

Lea Salonga recalls fear of being branded a 'bold star' because of 'Miss Saigon'

Reyma Deveza,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jan 07, 2025 12:59 PM PHT

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Lea Salonga

Miss Saigon

Kim

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