Considered as a Filipino cultural icon, Darna, is the most celebrated comic book superhero in the Philippines. And as such Darna has appeared in many films and several Television series through the decade, played by several leading ladies.
Actresses who have portrayed Darna in motion pictures and TV series over the years include Jane De Leon, Rosa del Rosario, Liza Moreno, Eva Montes, Gina Pareño, Vilma Santos, Lorna Tolentino, Rio Locsin, Sharon Cuneta, Nanette Medved, Anjanette Abayari, Regine Velasquez, Angel Locsin, and Marian Rivera.
In its latest rendition of Darna under the guidance of filmmaker and director Jerrold Tarog, shooting started officially on 20 January 2020. Tarog officially became part of “Darna” in October 2018. He replaced original director Erik Matti, who departed from the project due to “creative differences” with producer Star Cinema.
On Instagram on Sunday, Tarog shared a photo of a Darna Funko Pop with a camera the background. He simply captioned it with “Day 1.”
The Superstar who will play the Superhero
Being an empowered female superhero, much focus is put on the lead actor and had to be carefully cast from the selected candidates. Expectations were much high and after much controversy occurring after the departure of director Erik Matti, the film got a second round of negative publicity after Liza Soberano dropped out of the project due to an injury in 2019. This again put the project on a halt but things took a turn for the best when Star Magic talent Jane De Leon was cast.
Actress Jane de Leon will be playing the titular role, and Tarog had described her as an “instinctive actress.”
Jane may be taking on the biggest movie role in her career but she’s no stranger to acting. She appeared in the movies Walwal and The Debutante, and TV shows such as “Ipaglaban Mo”, “La Luna Sangre” and most recently Halik, where she played Jericho Rosales’s sister Maggie Bartolome.
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Jane has also been taking tips from her predecessors to ensure she will do the role justice.
“Actually, I saw the interview from Ms. Sharon Cuneta and Ms. Regine Velasquez, and they gave me some advice. It was just really touching. Because I didn’t expect that they would give me advice,” she said.
A New Leading Man
Paulo Avelino is confirmed to play the leading man of Jane de Leon in Star Cinema’s adaptation of Darna.
At one point, it was even rumored that Tony Labrusca will play Liza’s leading man after he was seen in a meeting with Darna’s former director, Erik Matti.
This was announced by Avelino’s manager Leo Dominguez in an Instagram post last week.
He, however, did not reveal what the actor’s role would be.
“#PauloAvelino joins #darna,” he simply wrote in the caption.
Tarog recently announced that they are already in the seventh shooting day of Darna, according to his post on Instagram last February 7.
When asked if the film will begin production anytime soon, de Leon, responded, “Next year”.
