Julia Barretto started fairly young in the show business industry, rising to fame with ABS-CBN’s Kokey in 2007. With a beautiful face and a famous last name that is often associated with some of the industry’s biggest stars, it was only expected that she follow in the same footsteps. But after years of hard work, she has proven to us her natural capabilities as an actress.
Related:#MakingMEGA Cover Girl Spotlight: Julia Barretto
The stunning Julia Barretto wears an embellished gown critically-acclaimed Dubai-based design house AMATO by Furne One. With its luxurous designs, AMATO has been the choice of many A-list Hollywood stars, making it the first ever global brand from the UAE to dress international celebrities.
“I guess being chosen to be a part of Making Mega in South Africa alongside really successful women says something,” Barretto says as she reminisces about her 2014 shoot with Erich Gonzales, Maja Salvador and Kathryn Bernardo, which she says was a highlight in her career. “I was so flattered. In an industry where people are always trying to put you down or say something about you, the experience helped me boost my belief in myself.”
The star continues to share her insight since then, saying that she had learned to focus on herself and her own goals, and not on the timeline of other celebrities her age: “You should simply work hard. You will never achieve anything from comparing your pace to that of others because timing is different for everyone.”
Barretto is a dreamer, and she learned not to let anything get in the way of that. “It took me a while to be able to achieve a couple of goals when I was starting out,” she starts, “But the more you achieve the goals you set for yourself, the longer your list gets because these are dreams you never thought you would reach. It means you can do more.”
When asked about the other goals she has set for herself career-wise, she shares that she simply wants to continue pushing herself as an actress. “I really love making films. It’s so powerful to be able to touch the lives of other people by sending a message out there through the characters you play.”
Her 2017 film Love You to the Stars and Back, which co-stars her on- and off-screen love Joshua Garcia and centers on a young couple in love but stricken with the tragedy that is cancer, is another recent achievement that she is proud of. “It was a risk because it tackled a lot of issues. But at the same time, people embraced the message of the film. It made me realize the power of the platform that is film. I want to continue doing that,” she tells us with bright eyes. With her sheer determination and effortless talent in front of the camera, one can tell that Barretto was made for this.
