Watch Julia Barretto in her very first dramatic role in MMK

Showbiz royalty and one of Star Magic's newest and rising talents, Julia Barretto, will be seen doing a dramatic role for the very first time in ABS-CBN's longest-running drama anthology, "Maalaala Mo Kaya." She wil give life to Alex, a daughter in conflict who grew up in a complete and happy family. Her life reaches a turning point when her mother leaves them for another man because of her father's drug addiction. Before her family gets even more broken, Alex eventually decides to forgive her father. She works hard to prove to her mother that their family will still be happy without her. Will she be able to find peace in her heart by rendering forgiveness to her mother? According to Julia, the big word here was "forgiveness" and giving second chance. And she believes she had given her best in this episode and the final scene with her father (James) is really something to watch out to. 

During Julia's MMK (Maalaala Mo Kaya) blog conference with us, she'd talked about direk Dado Lumibao, their director for this episode, " For this MMK episode, super great, parang I felt like, parang nawala 'yung pressure, parang he made me feel like okay lang to make mistakes and in this experience you will learn talaga a lot, especially na bago pa lang ako, right? And he was there naman to guide me especially sa mga scenes na talagang heavy, he would talk to me, s'yempre we have the E.P. who helped me sa mga crying scenes, they were all very easy on me naman." 

Julia also related her feelings about this MMK episode on Saturday, she said, "I'm really scared nga on Saturday, 'coz that's when... parang judgement day (she laughs), like that's when all lahat ng feedback, lahat ng opinions, parang lahat dun mangyayari, so I'm very nervous pero I hope everyone will like it. 

What is Julia Barretto like in real life? "Actually wala ngang medyo difference on Julia on cam and off cam. Kaya nga palagi akong sinasabihan na ang "girly-girly" ko daw, ang arte-arte ko, kasi off cam, I am but I have a very "boyish" side also na siguro hindi pa nakikita and may pagka-weird din ako (haha), I can joke around also... wala, wala masyado pinagkaiba. I think whoever I am on cam, I'm also like that off cam, parang I'm like the "be yourself" type kasi, I don't wanna pretend. I think that's what's gonna make you unique and different from the rest. Kasi if you're just gonna be yourself, bawal 'yung on cam you're like everybody else, parang hindi ka magsastand-out di'ba? That's the last thing you wanna be... be like that," she said.

Threading the life of a typical Pinoy teener, Julia admits not having a night life, her mom told her that it's still not proper for her to be seen in bars or clubs, but she perfectly understands her mom's words, she affirms, it's not the right time for her yet. Since a lot of suitors and admirers propagating around the very wholesome and lovely young lass, Julia was so kind enough and open to say that Julian Estrada, her co-talent in Star Magic and son of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and Precy Vitug is the closest to her so far. She loves to munch on classic cheese pizza and she likes to visit fans' and followers' twitter pages whenever she has time and sometimes she replies on DMs (Direct Messages) and was able to meet up some of her fans just recently. 

What type of sister is Julia Barretto to her siblings? "Feeling ko ako 'yung pinakamalambing. Pinaka-vocal na 'I love them,' kinukulit ko sila especially kapag di ko sila masyado nakikita, I'm very malambing. Close ako sa lahat eh and pwede akong kakuwentuhan, pero pag may boyfriend- boyfriend na, like my little sister, that's when I'm strict na parang, 'wala munang boyfriend,' she's too young. S'yempre takot ako for her to have a boyfriend. Pero fun sister ako," she said. Julia also told us that her whole family, especially her mom, were super excited already to watch her on MMK, they were also crying from the episode's teaser. She was so happy that her whole family were very supportive in promoting her MMK episode tonight and they're all looking forward to watching it altogether in their home with some invited close friends of the family; it would be like a sort of "special screening," according to her. 

Julia's lovely face and attributes is a mixture of the prettiest faces here in our showbiz, she got it from her mom, Marjorie Barretto, her aunt Gretchen and from her youngest aunt, Claudine. Seeing her and talking to her personally had really confirmed a lot of things in my mind about her. She got her pleasant voice from Claudine, but a bit softer and "malambing." Her laugh echoed like that of Gretchen's, and she giggles like her mom. I took shots of her in different angles, one could evidently see her mom's and two aunts' beautiful images in her. So could you imagine being a Julia Barretto? She also told us that aside from acting, she loves dancing and with regards to singing, she's willing to practice more. :)) She hopes to do serious and dramatic portrayals in the future like that of her aunt Claudine's role in "Anak." 

In her tender age, I find Julia strong-willed, patient, grounded, brave and very much determined to really make a great impression and prove her worth more than anyone else in the local scene. Julia had started her showbiz journey when she was just a little kid, now that she's back, she wanted to fulfill her dreams and according to her, "When you believe in your dreams, or when you really pray, parang God will give you more than what you imagined or prayed for pa, and I've learned na, in this journey, there will always be bad people (haha, I sound like a kid), but you have to stay strong and you have to know when the negative comments are useful and when negative comments are something na you have to block." 'Atta girl! 

So this June 15, tonight, in "Maalaala Mo Kaya," after "Wansapanatym," we could all witness Julia, she's not the cute girl that we've known before, but today, she'll be recognized as a lovely, 16 year-old very promising teenstar, out to make it on her own and aspires to be successful in this field. Let's all find out how would this pretty and youngest member of the Barretto clan spread her wings and turn into a beautiful butterfly. Joining her in this very touching episode were prime actors like Ara Mina, James Blanco, Jacob Dionisio, Tommy Abuel, Manuel Chua, Kristoff Meneses, Marikit Morales, and Yda Yaneza. This episode was researched by Akeep Jordan del Rosario, written by Mark Angos, at direksyon ni Dado Lumibao.

The Many FACES of JULIA BARRETTO click HERE!