As a member of the Miss Teen Philippines advisory council, Jasmine stressed the importance of being a good role model.
“Being identified with my sister, I learned how to live up to people’s expectations. I think this is something these girls, especially the winners, should also keep in mind down the road,” she maintained. Although she never had a chance to compete in beauty pageants, she said she can still share her knowledge about her craft and the important lessons
she has learned so far.
One of those lessons is how to appreciate and acknowledge the attention and support given by her fans. She said that’s one of the first things she and special friend Sam Concepcion learned about the entertainment business.
“Showing respect to everyone by appreciating their presence is one of the key things in this industry. Our fans is about our same age or even younger so they’re more sensitive about being acknowledged especially online,” she told Interaksyon in a recent interview.
Jasmine said she makes an extra effort to be nice to fans even when she’s tired after a long day’s work.
“I understand that some fans still don’t grasp the concept of 24-hour tapings. I’m always afraid that people might misinterpret me sometimes when I’m tired or when I really had a long day and all I want to is some peace and quiet. It can quickly interpreted as ‘ay, hindi niya ako pinansin’ sometimes,” she noted.
And a perceived snob can lead to being bashed online or worse, being constantly stalked just like Jasmine’s fictionalized version of herself in her weekly suspense drama.
The actress revealed that she herself had a real-life encounter with more than one stalker two years ago that she recalled only after reading about the similar experiences of other celebrities.
“Someone hacked both my Facebook and my email accounts and whoever these people are, they also knew my personal phone number. They changed my Facebook password and sent emails from my account,” she recalled.
“It was only after I tweeted about what happened that somebody texted me and said, ‘We’re sorry, we were just having fun’ It scared me because the mere fact that anyone can get my number and access my social media accounts online is a cause for concern. After I changed my passwords, it ended there. Fortunately, I never encountered them in person.”
While the stalkers seemed to be only mischievous at best, Jasmine said she learned an important lesson from that episode.
“After that incident, I was more careful with who I share my phone number with. Now I’m more conscious when it comes to sharing private information,” she acknowledged.
She’s also grateful that she’s doing a TV series that serves as a constant reminder of the pitfalls of being a celebrity.
“I’m both excited and nervous at the same time because it’s such a foreign concept. We don’t know how viewers will accept it yet but so far, everyone has been very supportive of it,” she enthused. With terms like “groundbreaking,” “pushing the envelope” and “out of the box” being associated with it, Jasmine said she’s also pleased to be part of a show that is trying to do something different.
“I’m happy because everyone from direk Mark Meily to the cast and crew are willing to adjust to our show which is not your usual teleserye story. Maaring natapik na rin ng ibang shows ang ginagawa namin sa ‘Jasmine’ pero sa tingin ko hindi pa nagagawa ng ganito. I’d like to think that TV5, Ace Saatchi and Unitel are doing something innovative with our show,” she concluded.