Kathryn Bernardo: From box office queen to best actress of her generation

There’s nothing sweeter than a well-deserved and much-awaited victory. Such was the case for KathNiel fans when phenomenal box office queen Kathryn Bernardo finally bagged her first ever Movie Actress of the Year trophy from the recent PMPC Star Awards for Movies.

Kathryn’s leading lady status was cemented by her powerful and perceptive performance as the devoted pre-med student George in the highest grossing Filipino film The Hows of Ustogether with her reel and real-life partner Daniel Padilla.

The actress, who was also one of the esteemed hosts of this year’s award’s night, accepted the trophy herself with an inspiring acceptance speech that talked about doubts, dreams, and direction. 

“I had a lot of ‘whys’ last year before we shot The Hows of Us. And then ‘yung pinakabaon na natutunan ko siguro while making this film and ‘yung [itinuro] sa akin ng universe, is that life is not perfect. It doesn’t always go the way we want it to be. This award...this is a validation that true dedication really does pay off,” she said.

She underscored how failures are part of “the journey” and how important it is to continuously try despite facing huge stumbling blocks along the way.

In the end, she shared the trophy to the dreamers and reminded them that “it’s okay to dream big, there’s no problem with that, what’s important is you try, and try again kahit na mag-fail ka. Just try again. Always remember that you will always have a shot at making that dream come true.”

Kathryn and Daniel were also hailed as the Movie Loveteam of the Year, thanks to their commendable performance on their record-breaking film.

Their romance-comedy film The Hows of Us has been noted for its phenomenal feat of earning almost P1 billion pesos, which catapulted it to the top spot as the highest earning film of all time. 

Kathryn, along with Daniel, received the Camera Obscura award from the Film Development Council of the Philippines this year for their film’s astonishing box office performance. Apart from that they also bagged the Golden Jury Award for the Highest Grossing Film of All Time and the 2019 Phenomenal Stars of Philippine Cinema award from the recently-concluded Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Scholarship Foundation for their performance in The Hows of Us. 

The year 2019 has been a year of firsts and feats for Kathryn as she likewise earned her first Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards Favorite Trending Pinoy win early this year, following her Favorite Personality nomination in the same international youth award-giving body back in 2016.

What sets Kathryn apart are her bold career moves including accepting projects that involve her shining on her own. Starting off with her 2018 film Three Words to Forever together with seasoned actors Sharon Cuneta and Richard Gomez, Kathryn also stretches her acting prowess further this year with a new leading man in the upcoming Cathy Garcia-Molina OFW drama film Hello Love Goodbye, which premieres in cinemas this July.