This is an excerpt from the June 2026 Special Issue. Subscribe to MEGA Digital All-Access to read the full story.
Gina Alajar needs no introduction. Her name alone carries decades of Philippine cinema’s most critically acclaimed films, with a career spanning from the late 1960s to the present. Awards and nominations have been bestowed upon her in abundance, all of which she remembers fondly. Yet, there is little vanity in the way she looks back on her journey.
RELATED: Jodi Sta. Maria Believes Truth Is the Heart of Acting
“When I was younger, I would always say I want to be remembered as a great actress,” she shares. Time, however, has changed the way she defines fulfillment: “I just thank God that I was given an opportunity to showcase my God-given talent, and I hope that I was able to use it to the fullest.”
What moves Alajar most today is seeing many of her works continue to live far beyond their original release. Films she made in her twenties and thirties are still screened in classrooms and studied by younger generations. Evidently, she is drawn to stories that endure, which also explains why she remains deeply invested in how women are represented onscreen.
Contrary to assumptions that contemporary storytelling is inherently more progressive, she believes many older Filipino films portrayed women with greater complexity. She points to works such as Manila by Night (1980), Brutal (1980), Salome (1981), and Moral (1982) as films willing to confront uncomfortable truths about sexuality, labor, identity, and survival—all while examining the circumstances that push women toward difficult decisions.
Her criticism of many present-day narratives is not rooted in bitterness toward younger filmmakers, nor disdain for romance itself. What concerns her is repetition. Too many stories, she argues, continue to reduce women to cycles of betrayal, marriage problems, and love triangles. “Marriage is just a part of a woman’s life,” she states. A woman’s existence cannot revolve solely around romance while every other dimension of her humanity fades into the background.
Even with decades of experience behind her, Alajar still speaks about acting as a craft that demands constant growth. “An actor is only as good as his last performance,” she shares, as she believes that one must strive to surpass their previous role. Above all, what matters to her most is a sincerity strong enough to reach an audience.
Now, she searches for something worthwhile in every story she takes on. “I just want to find wisdom,” the veteran actress admits. Be it comedy, drama, or tragedy, there must be something human left behind for viewers to carry with them. And when asked whether she wishes to be remembered as a woman of substance, Alajar pauses briefly.
“Maganda sana ‘yun,” she laughs. “Pero ngayon…I just want to be remembered as a good daughter of God.”
Photographed by JERICK SANCHEZ. Creative Direction by PATRICK TY. Art Direction by CLARE MAGNO and BRIE VENTURA. Beauty Direction by AGOO AZCUNA-BENGZON assisted by MARA GO. Sittings Editor PEEWEE REYES-ISIDRO and TREISHA ROVERO. Produced by THESSMAR LECTURA. Image Retouching by JONES PALTENG. Hair by JOBEN DINGLASAN. Makeup by GERY PENASO. Styled by STEVEN CORALDE, LEANNE LEDESMA, CHARLOTTE SOMBILLO, and NIÑA CUYANA of QURATOR INC. Production Design by ARJ MADARANG of JAGGER STUDIOS. Photography Assistants KARL RIMANDO, BUDDY REYES, DAVE ORPILLA, and RYAN ALBANO
Frequently Asked Questions
Alajar points to films like Manila by Night, Brutal, Salome, and Moral as examples of Filipino cinema willing to depict women with full psychological and social complexity — confronting sexuality, labor, identity, and survival rather than reducing female characters to romantic storylines.
She argues that too many contemporary narratives confine women to cycles of betrayal, marriage conflict, and love triangles. Her position is that romance is only one part of a woman’s life, and stories that treat it as the whole diminish the full range of female experience.
Earlier in her career, Alajar was motivated by the desire to be recognized as a great actress. Over time, her focus shifted from achievement to sincerity — she now measures success by whether a performance carries enough human truth to genuinely reach an audience.
She looks for stories that carry wisdom — content that leaves something meaningful with viewers regardless of genre. Whether comedy, drama, or tragedy, her criterion is that the work must have a human dimension worth carrying beyond the screen.
Alajar is one of the most awarded actresses in Philippine film history, with a career spanning from the late 1960s to the present. Several of her films from the 1970s and 1980s are still screened in academic settings, studied for their treatment of women, social realism, and Filipino identity.
