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What Jodi Sta. Maria Learned From Her Character in “Ganito, Ganyan, Ganoon”

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In the Netflix film Ganito, Ganyan, Ganoon, Jodi Sta. Maria plays Joanne, a daughter whom her mother, Paz (Agot Isidro), abandoned for 27 years. As the streaming platform&#x27;s biggest Filipino comedy-drama film for 2026, Ganito, Ganyan, Ganoon tells the story of a dysfunctional family trying to rebuild their relationship amid a shocking revelation: Paz has cancer, and she came home to die. <div> </div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1787173857536ganito ganyan ganoon jodi sta maria agot isidro 1.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Photo courtesy of Netflix</div><div> </div>Describing her character, Jodi shared, &quot;Si Jo ay isang writer. Mataas ang pangarap niya sa buhay. She&#x27;s hyper independent. She knows na marami siyang kailangang mga bagay na i-heal sa sarili niya. So meron siyang isang therapist na tumulong sa kanya. And just when she thought she had it all together, she had it figured out—’yung plans niya, &#x27;yung dreams niya, biglang dumating ang isang storm sa buhay niya sa katauhan ni Paz.” That&#x27;s when a new chapter in her life unfolds as she is confronted by the presence of the woman who, as Jodi puts it, “kilala niya bilang ina pero para sa kanya, hindi naman nagpaka-ina.”Family stories are universal, and despite differences in circumstances, often, viewers resonate with them in light of their own situations. Ganito, Ganyan, Ganoon, for one, speaks the truth for so many Filipino families and how they deal and cope with issues within the home. Even the comedic approach is very Filipino: smiling through the pain. And that&#x27;s why this film is entertaining from beginning to end: it tackles a serious topic, but it doesn&#x27;t take itself too seriously. <div> </div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1787174024357NetflixGanitoGanyanGanoonMagicLiwanag-196.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Agot Isidro, director Cholo Laurel, and Jodi Sta. Maria | Photo courtesy of Netflix</div><div> </div>“For drama to be effective, it has to be humorous. It has to be funny. There&#x27;s got to be a balance to it,” director Cholo Laurel said during the film&#x27;s press conference. “So ’yung point na gusto mong ibigay sa audience, maibibigay ’pag hindi mo masyado binigatan. Kasi ’pag masyado mabigat na ’yung ibibigay mo sa audience mo, parang magsasara sila. Hindi nila ma-take. Ang bigat na nga ng buhay natin, pabibigatin pa natin nang maraming sigawan? Hindi. Lagyan natin ng kaunting humor para ma-realize natin na walang absolutes sa buhay na ito.” Depending on where you&#x27;re coming from in life, there are a lot of lessons to be learned from Netflix&#x27;s Ganito, Ganyan, Ganoon. <div> </div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1787174145937Netflix-GGG-21.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Photo courtesy of Netflix</div><div> </div>For Jodi, it&#x27;s acceptance and finding one&#x27;s voice through the noise. She opened up in an exclusive interview with Metro.Style, saying, “For us to be able to heal, there has to be acceptance, na unang-una, may mga bagay sa buhay natin na hindi na natin maibabalik. Ang important thing is ano ’yung pwede nating gawin to become better as human beings. But I guess really it&#x27;s the importance of acknowledgement, the importance of acceptance, and the importance of really communicating what you truly feel instead of just like keeping it all in.“Karaniwan na ’yun talaga ’yung ating nakakasanayan because we wanted to keep peace within the family. So tayo ’yung, &#x27;Sige na. Okay na. ’Di bale na.’ Or may mga bagay tayo na sometimes hindi popular na gawin because nanay mo ’yan, tatay mo ’yan, may nakatatanda. So somewhere along the way, we lose our voice. So it&#x27;s also important for us to find that voice.”<div> </div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1787174291836NetflixGanitoGanyanGanoonMagicLiwanag-131.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Photo courtesy of Netflix</div><div> </div>Jodi, who also recently graced the book launch of Moment to Moment: Living Intentionally by licensed brain health trainer and life coach Pia Acevedo, is no stranger to a healing journey. When she&#x27;s not in front of the camera, Jodi is so invested in learning about how the brain works. She&#x27;s so fascinated by it that she took up a Master of Arts in Psychology with Specialization in Family Life Development. This is part of the reason why Ganito, Ganyan, Ganoon resonated with Jodi. We asked her why, at this point in her career, it&#x27;s important for her to contribute to telling stories like their film. She shared, “Every film naman is a reflection of what&#x27;s going on, for example, sa pamilya, sa komunidad, sa ating society. And hindi kadalasan na nagkakaroon ng mga pelikulang ganito. But somehow, isa ito sa sumasalamin, sa sabihin nating typical na Filipino family na pagdating sa hierarchy talaga, mayroong mga naka-set na mga beliefs ng mga nakatatanda. And ’pag mga nakatatanda, kailangan sila ’yung masusunod.<div> </div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1787174438436image (14).jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Photo courtesy of Netflix</div><div> </div>“And syempre ’yun ’yung kailangan gawin because if not, we will be frowned upon by our neighbors, by our society. But I believe also na we can be assertive without being disrespectful. And though I know it&#x27;s very hard to be able to somehow verbalize and communicate what we truly feel, pero I guess that&#x27;s truly the only way, e, if we really want to be able to solve something or to somehow clarify things.“Kasi if we don&#x27;t clarify, what usually happens is meron tayong sariling version ng story sa utak natin. But the question is, is it the truth? Without listening doon sa version ng other party. For example, with what happened to Jo and to Paz, si Jo has never really asked her mom what happened. So she has her own story. May narrative siya sa head niya. And that contributed to how she was behaving, how she was feeling until there came a point na wala na ibang choice but to really confront and to communicate kung ano ’yung nararamdaman nila para sa isa&#x27;t-isa. And I truly believe na ’dun ’yung nagsimula din nung healing journey nila.” <div> </div>Photos courtesy of Netflix

We chatted with multifaceted, multiawarded actress Jodi Sta. Maria about the lessons she took home from the set of the Netflix film "Ganito, Ganyan, Ganoon," and her answers serve as great reminders for us today and every day.

We chatted with multifaceted, multiawarded actress Jodi Sta. Maria about the lessons she took home from the set of the Netflix film "Ganito, Ganyan, Ganoon," and her answers serve as great reminders for us today and every day.

What Jodi Sta. Maria Learned From Her Character in Netflix's 'Ganito, Ganyan, Ganoon'

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What Jodi Sta. Maria Learned From Her Character in Netflix's 'Ganito, Ganyan, Ganoon'

Grace Libero

Published August 19, 2026 10:30 PM PHT

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Updated August 20, 2026 05:28 AM PHT

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