After Liza Soberano stepped down from her role as the new Darna due to a finger injury, netizens have called on for several female celebrities (e.g. Nadine Lustre and Maja Salvador) to take up the helm. But after 300 celebrity auditions, ABS-CBN Films managing director Olivia Lamasan announced they’ve found the one: 20-year-old actress Jane De Leon.
According to Darna director Jerrold Tarog, he first took notice of Jane when he saw her in Halik. “There’s something about her,” he said.
Jerrold later presented the audition tapes to ABS-CBN and ultimately chose Jane as the new Darna. Olivia said it was “a unanimous decision.”
Aside from starring as Jericho Rosales’ younger sister in Halik, Jane is also known for her roles in Walwal and The Debutantes. She’s also a regular It’s Showtime! performer as part of Girltrends.
She also has a YouTube channel that’s currently not active, but has over 11,000 subscribers. Perhaps she can update this to post Darna BTS in the future?
During the final deliberation, the management asked the actress how committed she is to play the Pinay superhero. She said, “I will do everything and anything for the role because I believe in her, I believe in what Darna stands for.”
According to Olivia, the main plot of Darna will be a “genesis” and “coming of age” story, explaining that Jane has the attributes of someone “with an air of innocence but at the same time [have] a strength of character.”
We can’t wait to see how Jane De Leon will pull off this iconic role. How about you?
[ABS-CBN News]
Photo courtesy of Jane De Leon’s Instagram account
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