The question was simple, almost disarming in its phrasing: What does it take to be a megastar today? The one and only Megastar Sharon Cuneta answered in her breathy, tender voice. It was less an answer than a reflection, a monologue from someone who has carried crown and cross, and knows the cost of keeping them both.
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“I have no idea,” she began, as though the most candid response to such a grand question was to step away from self-mythology. “It’s hard work, dedication, love for the people that follow you—your fans—it’s gratitude. Stars of my generation, we didn’t have social media helping us.
In retrospect, she admits, it feels almost absurd. Looking back now, the long nights, endless rehearsals, and relentless grind blur together. “Oh my god, that seems like it was all manual labor,” she says with a half-laugh, as if surprised at her own stamina then. Compared to that, she muses, today’s stars appear to have it easy—everything served at the touch of a finger, a screen acting as shortcut where she had to carve the path by hand.
It’s a statement that recasts the golden age of stardom as something closer to carpentry than magic. “Manual labor” may not be the glamorous term, but Cuneta holds it with honesty and humor.
Back then, stardom was sweat equity: tapings that stretched into the night, concerts that demanded vocal cords of steel, movies shot under scorching sun and impossible deadlines. Stardom was persistence that no algorithm could hack.
Now, she observes, fame has been democratized. Anyone with a phone can reach millions, sometimes overnight. A blessing, but virality and longevity are two very different beasts. Cuneta knows this distinction intimately. She’s not merely a trending topic, but a cultural constant.
Yet, even as she reflects on the tougher road she once walked, Cuneta resists the urge to gatekeep. There’s no bitterness in her words—only the soft acknowledgment of time passing, eras shifting. “There will always be big, big stars—and I wish them well,” she says, almost like a blessing passed from one generation to the next.
That’s the magic of her answer: she doesn’t define “mega stardom” because she is the definition. Her career refuses to be distilled into tips or formulas, because it isn’t repeatable. Her stardom was forged at a time when charisma couldn’t be edited, when audience love couldn’t be quantified with likes. What she offers instead is wisdom: the grounding principles of hard work, gratitude, and commitment, with a knowing smile that those words may sound quaint in an age of instant stardom.
A true Mega star doesn’t need to claim the title. She lives it, questions it, even doubts it—and in doing so, shows why it still belongs to Sharon Cuneta.
Photographed by ALEXIS DAVE CO. Creative direction by PATRICK TY. Creative deck by CLARE MAGNO and TROY NONATO. Art direction by JONES PALTENG. Fashion direction and styling by ROKO ARCEO. Makeup by THAZZIA FALEK. Hair by DALE MALLARI. Sittings Editor and Beauty Direction AGOO AZCUNA-BENGZON Assisted by MARA GO. Production STEF JUAN and THESSMAR LECTURA. Nails LUZ FORTUNO of TRIPLE LUCK BROW & NAIL SALON. Photography Assistants OMAR BARROGA, CEDIE BARRAMEDA, JOHN DWIGHT SUNGA, and JR PANCHO. Makeup Assistants DELVI FLORES and JOBERT NAGRE. Hairstylist Assistant JOHN DAVE VILLALINO. Stylist Assistants KRISSIE TERUEL and WILMA SOLANO. Shot on location at OKADA MANILA.Special thanks to NANCY and ANGEL YANG, and NIZA FORSCHLER of OKADA MANILA
