Kapamilya actress Janine Gutierrez recently shared a special throwback post on her social media, highlighting her journey in preparing for her role as Iris in Lavender Fields.

On her social media page, she shared clips from her action training during the series’ early days and expressed gratitude as the show wraps up its run.

“becoming iris part 1 - clips from early training 🔪 as we've come to the end of #LavenderFields, please allow me to take you back to the VERY start as I begin my sincerest thank yous!! ❤️,” Janine wrote.

Janine revealed that her interest in Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) started after recognizing its influence in the Hollywood film Dune. 

“I recognized Kali or Filipino Martial Arts in Dune 2, did some research, and true enough - they used FMA! dug deeper and found out that Timothée and Austin were trained by @guro.alvin.catacutan in LA,” she explained. 

This led her to train with FMA guru Alvin Catacutan himself when he visited the Philippines.

"I took a chance and sent him a message and luckily enough he had a trip planned to the Philippines!!! he was kind enough to meet me and I had my first ever Kali session with him!!! what a dream!” Janine added.

She also gave a playful shoutout to Dune's production team, saying, “hello Dune 3. I'm available. hello Timmy.”

Janine expressed her appreciation for action director Sonny Sison, who helped her further develop her skills.

“he also pointed me in the direction of @sonny.808pride, who i spent Tuesdays and Thursdays with for about a month, teaching me the basics of FMA from zero and i mean ZEROOOO. thank you, sonny!!!!! you're the best!” she expressed.

Janine also thanked the Lavender Fields stunt team, highlighting their expertise in fight choreography.

“our amazing stunt team of Lavender Fields, @mac.stunts.ph, who really taught us everything about fight scenes and helped us with everything on set. sobrang galing niyo! thank you for everything you taught us. salamat sa pasensya at alaga!! so much more to learn from you! thank you, sa uulitin! huhusayan pa,” she remarked.

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In her role as Iris Buenavidez, Janine faced the challenge of performing intense action scenes. This included gun handling, as Iris’ character was an expert shooter.

“also, I'm really afraid of guns,” Janine admitted. “but knowing Iris was great at shooting, i forced myself (and my friends) to go to the shooting range just to get over my fear and learn the basics of gun handling. so thank you to my besties hahaha ily.”

Janine ended her message with a lot of gratitude for the journey of personal growth that pushed her beyond her perceived limitations. 

“what a journey and we hope you had fun with our fights!! suntukan & martial arts over sampalan was such a great fun crazy challenge,” she said.

She also thanked her co-star Jodi Sta. Maria with whom she shared many of the fight scenes.

“so thank you to the best kasuntukan, ofcourse, my ate @jodistamaria!!!! i love you!! thank you ❤️,” Janine continued.

Lavender Fields recently concluded its 100th episode, wrapping up the intense storyline of Jasmine Flores (Jodi Sta. Maria) seeking revenge against Iris (Janine) and her family.

In an interview released by Dreamscape Entertainment on the series’ finale, Janine revealed that she initially had doubts about taking on the role of Iris, as it was a departure from the characters she had played before. 

However, she later felt fulfilled by the experience, knowing she had delivered on the directors’ vision and that the audience appreciated the show.

"Sobrang saya na mapabilang sa cast ng ‘Lavender Fields’ kasi sobrang husay ng lahat ng artista at sobrang ganda ng kwento at nabigyan kami ng oras ng lahat ng manonood. Fulfilling, kapag nagawa mo ‘yung mga bilin ng mga director and lalong mas fulfilling if nagustuhan ng mga Kapamilya o ‘yung mga nanonood,” she expressed.

Janine also hoped her portrayal of Iris was able to convey a message of redemption.

“Sana maiparating niya ang isang message of hope na it's not too late na magbagong-buhay, humingi ng tawad sa mga pagkakamali mo. Sana kahit papaano malaman niya (Iris) na worthy siya ng love,” said Janine.