Ashtine Olviga pushes past doubt in new Viva One anthology
Anyone who has had to push through self-doubt knows how quickly it can take over, especially in moments that require you to be at your best at all times. That feeling is something Ashtine Olviga is all familiar with, especially when she was just starting out in acting.
At the press conference for her upcoming series, Viva One Originals: ASHTINE, held on Feb. 24, Ashtine shared that, back then, she would often get overtaken by fear and anxiety just before the cameras rolled for a take.
“I used to feel like I couldn’t work properly, like there were voices in my head asking, ‘Can I do this? Can I pull this off?’” said Ashtine.
That pattern, she said, has not completely gone away, but her response to it has changed, learning to work through the doubt rather than dwell on it.
“But now, when I’m already there, I just jump into it and ignore the pressure,” she continued.
That shift in mindset comes as she leads the four-part anthology series set to stream on Viva One beginning March 13. Each episode places her in a different story and genre, from comedy and romance to horror and family drama, requiring her to reset quickly from one character to another.
The format leaves little room for overthinking, pushing her to rely more on instinct than preparation. With only about two days to shoot each episode, Olviga said she had to work more decisively within the limited time, while staying open to direction.
“It’s challenging because when I take on new characters, there are usually many taping days, so I get to feel them out during the first few days. But here, we only have about two taping days per episode. I really have to keep asking the directors if what I’m doing is right, if it aligns with their vision for the character,” Ashtine explained..
Instead of constructing each role from the ground up, she leans on what is already in front of her—the script. She pays close attention to how each character speaks, using that as a reference point to separate one role from another.
“I base my performance on what I read in the script. I focus on how I deliver the lines and the emphasis of each one so it feels different from what I’ve done before,” the actress said.
Off camera, Ashtine has also learned to manage the pressure that comes with leading a project on her own. She makes a distinction between expectations from others and the standards she sets for herself, choosing not to dwell on the former.
“The pressure coming from other people, I don’t really entertain it. I don’t pay much attention to it because I already put pressure on myself. The way I handle that pressure is really through prayer,” she added.
She also reframed how she views downtime, especially in an industry where people are expected to keep working nonstop. For her, breaks have become part of the process rather than something to avoid.
“It’s not a bad thing if you don’t have much work at the moment, because I see it as an opportunity to do what I want and spend more time with my friends and family. When you keep going nonstop, you really get drained. Sometimes you need to step back and realize that you actually love what you’re doing,” the “Ang Mutya ng Section E” star shared.
That reset, she said, allows her to return to set with more focus and energy, something she now sees as essential rather than optional.
She said the change is most noticeable when dealing with heavier scenes, which she now approaches with more excitement than fear.
“When it comes to projects or heavy scenes, I used to be scared and full of doubts. But now, I get more excited, and I challenge myself to see how much more I can show,” she stated.
