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With one of the prettiest faces in Philippine showbiz, Kyline Alcantara’s star is rising at age 16. But behind the youth and the perky smile is a gritty resolve that drives her hard-won success.
APRIL 11, 2019
Words: Chuck D. Smith | Photos: Borgy Angeles | Styling: Ash Aquino | Makeup: Nikki Duque | Producer: Lou Albano | Shot on location at Star City
APRIL IS THE CRUELEST MONTH, the poet T.S. Eliot once wrote. But that does not seem to apply to Kyline Alcantara, who is having the time of her life.
And that is saying something, because she is only 16 years old.
What we’re saying is: Kyline, after toiling for years doing numerous supporting roles and receiving almost soul-shattering rejections, is finally a star.
Some may scoff at the claim, but a look at what she has done as a Kapuso actress can only inspire admiration, even among the most jaded fans and hardened showbiz denizens.
Kyline is currently headlining the afternoon drama Inagaw na Bituin, after proving her mettle as an actress in the primetime series Kambal, Karibal. She is a mainstay in two hit Sunday shows: Sunday PinaSaya and Studio 7. She has won a number of accolades, including a Best Drama Supporting Actress award from the 38th PMPC Star Awards for Television and being recognized as a Philippine national winner for Best Actress in Supporting Role by the 1st Asian Academy Creative Awards. She has even recorded an album.
Just recently, it was announced that Kyline will topbill the movie Black Lipstick, a millennial remake of the 1980s Snooky Serna classic Blusang Itim.
A string of projects is one thing, but her rabid following is another. Kyline calls her fans her “sunflowers” — because, just like her favorite flower, her fans brighten up her day — and they’re the reason why her social media following has already reached millions.
All these, in a span of less than two years, since she transferred from a rival TV station to GMA.
AT THE STAR CITY AMUSEMENT PARK, Kyline enters the conference room — our makeshift dressing room for the shoot — with an assured stride and a disarming smile.
“How are you?” we ask her after she introduces herself to the GMA News Online team.
“I’m still cute pa rin po,” Kyline quips. It is a playful and polite greeting, one you will surely remember. The greeting can seem rehearsed, but Kyline is far from boastful. She is simply having fun.
“I’m so happy now,” she tells us.
We are at an amusement park, after all. With her busy schedule (“Maganda yung career ko ngayon. And sana magtuloy-tuloy. Please, God!” she prays), it’ll probably be a while before she can go to an amusement park — or anywhere else beyond work locations, for that matter.
Do I get to try the rides later? she asks us, excited at the prospect of a day out. She thinks of the carousel, the roller coaster, the ferris wheel.
Kyline is all of 16, living her hard-won dreams. She is a girl having her fun.
THE YOUNGEST in a brood of three, Kyline is the daughter of Salvador Manga and Rowena Alcantara.
“I grew in Camarines Sur, in Bicol po,” she says, proudly. “Of course, hinayaan ako ng mga magulang ko maglaro sa labas. Naranasan ko yung buhay sa probinsya and I am so happy na naranasan ko siya because naa-apply ko pa rin siya until now.”
But when she was four years old, her life took a soap opera-esque turn.
Her parents separated and the whole family had to split up in order to make ends meet. Kyline’s brothers lived with their paternal and maternal grandparents, separately. Meanwhile, she lived with her mother in Manila.
Her father maintained contact with her. Back then, even though they were not together, “kapag birthday tumatawag siya, pinadadalhan niya ako ng pambili ng regalo,” Kyline shares.
She admits her father wasn’t a major figure in her life growing up, and because of this, Kyline describes herself as a young girl “with an old soul.”
“Typical teleserye na kabataan,” she says of growing up without her dad around. She felt as if something were missing. “Kapag nasa school, ramdam ko na may iba sa akin, na may kulang sa akin na nakikita ko sa ibang kabataan,” she says.
Her mother worked hard to make sure she felt whole and normal.
“Even though kasi wala si Papa noong time na yun, hindi po pinaramdam ni mama, hindi pinaramdam ng grandparents ko na may something na missing,” Kyline says.
It was also her mother who would eventually encourage her to try her luck in show business.
AT FIRST, Kyline did not dream of becoming an actress. What did she want to be when she grew up? A soldier.
But as a child, Kyline would act out scenes, alone, in front of the mirror. She was also very active and sociable in school. “Bida-bida ako doon,” Kyline says.
So her mother thought: Maybe Kyline has a passion for acting?
Kyline felt insecure about the idea. “I’m scared to fail,” she says. But she trusted her mom.
Her TV debut came in a reality talent show looking child stars. She was the first girl contestant eliminated from the show.
“Ang daming negative reactions from everybody,” she recalls. “‘Sabi sa ‘yo hindi ka talaga pang-artista kaya ‘wag mo na ituloy ‘yan.’ ‘Mag-aral ka na lang.’”
Kyline continues: “Kumbaga, na-sad ako because of those negative reactions and negative thoughts na binigay nila sa akin.” It was as if the naysayers thought Kyline was crazy for even believing she could be a star.
But it was, again, her mother who encouraged her to persevere. “Andun ‘yung mom ko para gabayan ako to make me understand things.”
Kyline put the defeat aside and continued to hone her craft. She joined a children’s theater group and studied stage acting and singing. She consciously took on a new dream. She didn’t want to be a soldier anymore. She was going the become a star.
AS A KAPUSO, Kyline says her biggest achievement so far is the trust given to her by the network. After all, she has been given one major role after another despite being the literal new kid on the block.
“Trust is important for me, ‘yung binibigyan nila ako ng blessings. Ito po ‘yung inaantay ko ever since pagkabata ko,” she says.
As a young actress at another network, Kyline received steady, if unremarkable, work. Kyline understood she had to start from the bottom. Yet, there were moments when showbiz seemed to try its best to break her resolve.
“Itatanong mo sa sarili mo, bakit hindi ako binibigyan ng projects? Ano meron sa akin? Ano ang kulang sa akin na hindi ko mabigay sa kanila? Bakit hindi ko makuha ‘yung tiwala nila? Nakaka-depress as an artist and as a person na gusto mo ‘yung ginagawa mo pero walang dumarating,” she says.
Kyline still remembers a director telling her during an audition that she did not deserve to be there. “I can’t remember who. Basta naalala ko lang ‘yung voice niya sa head ko. But I can’t remember the face. Sabi pa niya sa akin, ‘Hindi ka naman artista. Wala ka namang star quality. Bakit ka ba andito? Hindi ka naman magaling. Bakit ka ba andito?’”
But the people in charge were not the only people who would put her down.
“‘Yung mga mom ng mga kasama ko na nag-audition, sinasabihan din ako na, ‘Wala ka namang star quality, bakit ka ba andito? Broken family ka. Hindi ‘yan maganda for your image as an artist.’ Marami agad na negative reaction. Maraming tao na sinubukan akong i-drown sa negativity,” she says.
Kyline felt defeated, though she didn’t tell her mother this time. “Hindi ako nag-open up sa mom ko kasi alam ko na mahirap maging mother and father. And nakikita ko ‘yung hirap niya so hindi ko na pinapasa ‘yung sadness ko. ‘Yung responsibility pa lang of being a single parent is already a big responsibility, a heavy responsibility. So kapag may naririnig ako na ganun, I tried to keep it to myself.”
All of these made her want to just quit showbiz, Kyline admits now.
And yet, she didn’t. Kyline couldn’t say why; she thinks it’s because she doesn’t like doing things half-heartedly.
“No matter how hard this is, I will still try to achieve my dreams kasi ito talaga ‘yung gusto ko.”
KYLINE FELT, perhaps, that she was on the cusp of something bigger than she ever dreamed of.
Her breakthrough in showbiz was, without a doubt, her role as the antagonist Cheska in Kambal, Karibal, a role she got shortly after joining GMA-7.
But the decision to move wasn’t easy. She is a loyal person, and for Kyline, the thought of transferring made her feel guilty. There’s also the thought — that lingering hope — that she would finally get her big break.
In the end, Kyline says she moved because she wanted to explore, just like a child moving from one playground to another.
“Gusto kong makatrabaho ‘yung mga artist dito. And of course, I want to experience the industry sa GMA,” she says.
Contrary to rumors, Kyline says she moved to GMA-7 without a guaranteed project. “Ako po talaga ‘yung nag-decide. Pinaghirapan ko pa rin talaga ‘yung paglipat ko. Pumila po ako sa Artist Center. Pumila po ako para magkaroon ng role sa Kambal, Karibal.”
Kyline had to audition against other artists for the coveted role in Kambal, Karibal.
After all the rejections she had received in her young career at that point, she came into the audition not expecting anything.
Days after her audition, Kyline’s mother gets a call from her manager, saying she got the role of Cheska.
“Seryoso ba yan?” she recalls asking her mom. “Baka isa lang ako sa mga napupusuan na maging si Cheska.”
But she really got the role. At first, Kyline did not want to savor it, not wanting to believe that something big is finally happening to her showbiz career.
Nowadays, Kyline has shaken off the doubts. Why shouldn’t she, when everything is coming up roses. Or rather — everything’s coming up sunflowers.
“I’m so happy now,” she says.
OF COURSE, with showbiz success comes the intrigue.
Kyline is often pitted against her co-stars. Perhaps it is because she is a newbie in the Kapuso block and viewers cannot fathom why someone so young and new is getting the good breaks in the network.
The press, during the lead-up to the premiere of Inagaw na Bituin, concocted a rivalry between her and her co-star Therese Malvar.
Working with Therese is perhaps destiny for Kyline. In 2013, she got the lead role in a small independent film titled Ang Huling Cha-Cha Ni Anita. But she had to let the job go because of a prior work commitment — and because the role required her to cut her hair short and to kiss Angel Aquino. Her conservative mother did not allow her to take on the role.
The role went to Therese, who won several acting awards because of the movie. It turned Therese from an unknown child actress to an acclaimed thespian overnight.
Kyline has no regrets. She has even talked to Therese about Ang Huling Cha-Cha Ni Anita.
“It’s part of showbiz,” she says of the intrigues. “Sumali ako, lumaki na ako dito, and naiintindihan ko na it’s part of being an artista — na magkaroon ka ng showbiz issues. Even ‘yung personal life, dinadamay na nila.”
She adds: “For me, you have to learn the art of dedma. May ibato man sila sa akin na negative thing, kailangan ko i-turn it into something positive.”
As for all the good breaks she is getting, Kyline isn’t sure how to explain it either. Bashers — and the young actress would admit she has bashers — maliciously surmised it is because of favoritism.
Kyline shrugs off the intrigues. She takes a few guesses as to why she has finally gotten lucky.
“Siguro it’s that I have the bravery to show who I really am sa kanilang lahat and yun ‘yung nagugustuhan ng mga fans ko, ng management. Kung sino, yun ‘yung pinapakita ko sa kanila — walang walls,” she says.
Maybe it’s also because of all the hardships she endured in the past.
“That made me even stronger, ‘yung mga nangyayari sa akin, ‘yung mga negative na sinasabi nila sa akin, ‘yung mga masasamang reactions nila sa akin,” Kyline says.
“Totoo na it takes a village para magkaroon ng magandang buhay.”
KYLINE has many reasons to feel like a victor after a very long war. She is finally a lead star with acting awards, an album, a solid fanbase.
We ask her: If you were to face those who belittled you when you were young — maybe the director who said you had no talent or the mothers who said you won’t succeed for being in a broken family — what would you tell them?
I will thank them, Kyline says.
You don’t feel vindicated?
“Feeling ko kasi hindi ako ganu’ng tao,” she answers. “So parang, salamat na lang sa mga sinabi n’yo sa akin. Salamat dahil isa ‘yan sa mga nagpatatag sa akin as a person, as an artista. And even now, sa mga nagba-bash sa akin, thank you to all of them. But of course, mas malaki ‘yung pasasalamat ko sa mga sumusuporta sa akin.”
Indeed. Why focus on the negative when there is so much to be thankful for?
“Nabuo na ‘yung pamilya,” she says. She now lives with her mother and her brothers, and she has a good relationship with her father. “Maganda ‘yung career ko ngayon. And sana magtuloy-tuloy. We’re happy right now. Lahat ng blessings na dumarating sa amin, we’re thanking God.”
There is still more work to be done, more dreams to fulfill.
“I want to encounter much more challenging roles. And sana with stunts. With Kambal, Karibal, na-in love ako sa mga stunts namin doon. So gusto ko magkaroon ng role with stunts,” she says.
“I just want to be successful sa lahat ng bagay.”
At the end of it all, Kyline acknowledges that while she is a young girl who has worked hard to accomplish her big dreams, she is still very much that — a young girl.
“As much as possible, ginagawa ko pa rin ‘yung dapat ginagawa ng isang teen,” she says. She hangs out with her barkada — mostly non-showbiz — and bonds with her glam team, who she considers friends.
She goes to the gym. She watches true crime documentaries and mystery-thriller TV shows (her current binge watch: How To Get Away With Murder). She surrounds herself with positive people. “Feeling ko, nakadepende rin kasi sa mga nakapaligid sa’yo kung sino ka as a person.”
She wants to travel — maybe to France or Switzerland or Greece, or somewhere romantic and exotic. She goes to the beach because that is where she feels most true, most in tune with herself.
“Kailangan ko lang ng break time to go to the beach because nagiging humble ako when I’m at the beach kasi doon ko nare-realize na I’m this one little girl sa napakalaking mundo na ito,” Kyline says.
A girl who has done a lot to accomplish her dreams and will certainly, in the future, do so much more.
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