Daniela Stranner reminisces about life before showbiz, how acting career started | ABS-CBN

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Daniela Stranner reminisces about life before showbiz, how acting career started

Daniela Stranner reminisces about life before showbiz, how acting career started

Mary Ann Bardinas

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Even though she’s still considered a neophyte, Daniela Stranner has already captivated many with her promising acting chops through her remarkable stints in the past years that she has been in the local entertainment scene, with her compelling portrayal of the antagonist Zyra “Z” Guerrero in the controversial series Senior High being the latest and the most talked about.

As we look forward to seeing her again in the upcoming teleserye Pamilya Sagrado, PUSH recently caught up with her in this episode of PUSH Bets.

With how their tapings and promos for Senior High back then had made them all completely busy and preoccupied, Daniela divulged that she and her castmates actually didn’t have the chance to watch the scenes they did. They only got updates from the posts and comments shared by fans on social media, expressing how impressed they were of her performances and how effective she is as an actress, which flattered her so much.

Since she did a really great job as Z, she would inevitably encounter people who were carried away by what they’d seen on the show. In fact, Daniela recalled that there were instances when a few avid viewers approached her while she was at a mall and asked her about the involvement of her character in the mysterious tragic death of Luna, played by Andrea Brillantes.

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Now that she’s at the cusp of stardom, she has certainly read or received a variety of opinions, mostly regarding her acting chops. And when it comes to dealing with other people’s remarks, the 20-year-old actress stated, “Siguro ‘yong mga bad comments na hindi naman necessary i-comment, dedma. Pero if there are criticisms, siyempre I take it as a lesson. I keep it in mind naman po. Now naman po, all I see is good e.”

To those who are wondering how her showbiz career started, Daniela was actually 17 years old when she became part of ABS-CBN Films’ training and management subsidiary Rise Artists Studio. However, she confessed that neither showbiz nor modeling was ever part of her plans.

“I was in eighth grade, I was walking in the mall and then a scout from Star Magic saw me sa mall. Tapos a month later, they invited me dito sa [ABS-CBN] and that was my first-ever audition sa life ko. And no’ng day na ‘yon, Mr. M saw me and he gave me an artist contract that day. So, I took the opportunity lang, I studied this work, and then I fell in love with it po,” she recounted.

It may not be her ambition, but the promising actress still gave acting a shot initially because not everyone is granted the same opportunity she got. She made her acting debut in the Kapamilya series Make It With You topbilled by Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano, then starred in her first-ever movie “Love At First Stream” in 2021 which was helmed by Direk Cathy Garcia-Molina. She fell in love with acting and saw it as a long-time work, so she pushed through with it.

When asked where she thought she would probably be if ever she’s not in showbiz, Daniela admitted that she actually didn’t have any idea since she was going with the flow.

“I don’t know. Honestly, I was just going with the flow kasi I was young at the time. I was a student-athlete, I was just enjoying my life. I was pretty chill kasi at the back of my head during that time is no matter what happens, alam kong may matatakbuhan kasi ako. Na parang if everything doesn’t work out with whatever I went with the flow during that time, I could go to a different country, I could work with my dad and do something else. I feel like I had a lot of options at that time, so I don’t really know,” she related.

She then talked about how supportive her family are here in the Philippines and in Germany with her career, as they fervently watch her projects. In fact, her German uncle even joined the group chat of her fans despite barely speaking English.

Unbeknown to many, the Senior High star actually came from a huge family, for she has five siblings on the maternal side and two on the paternal side. Among them, she’s the closest with her maternal siblings since she has been living with her mom. Although her parents are divorced, she’s still able to establish a close relationship with her dad as she would visit him there every summer. Besides, her parents did a great job of raising her as if they were still together, so she didn’t have a hard time growing up.

Amidst the success that she’s been reaping at present, she still aims to go back to studying. She is supposedly in college, but she has not yet figured out what she wants to do nor decided what course she wants to take up. At the same time, she also wishes to buy a condominium unit.

“Right now kasi, when it comes to doing things, I’m really happy with where I am right now. I don’t really wanna explore. Right now, acting and experiencing different characters, ‘yon ang goal ko sa work,” she remarked, disclosing that her main career goals are to portray a variety of roles and to work with different people.

When quizzed about which actors she wishes to work with in the future, Daniela said that she wants to be surprised, just like what happened in Senior High and Pamilya Sagrado. But she yearns to work again with her fellow Rise Artists Studio talent and first onscreen partner Anthony Jennings, who was there during the interview.

“I wanna work with him again kasi nagsimula ako sa showbiz, siya na ‘yong nakasama ko. And now that sabay kaming, we’re working with different people, nakikilala sa craft namin, nae-excite ako na once bumalik kami to work together, what it would be like. I’m really curious. So, I wanna work with him again,” she explained.

And now that he’s growing popular because of his impressive portrayal of Snoop and team-up with Maris Racal in Can’t Buy Me Love, she has nothing but pride for her good friend, who she regards as her idol. She told him, “Alam ko namang hindi lalaki ang ulo mo kasi mabuti kang tao. I know you’ll go far and sana nandiyan ako once nando’n ka na. Sana kasama mo ako do’n.”

Lastly, she envisions herself becoming a wealthy young woman who owns a big house and a sports car five years from now.

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