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Meet the Powerhouse Cast of “Saving Grace”

'Saving Grace' is the Philippine adaptation of the hit Japanese drama 'Mother.' Julia Montes is headlining the series alongside Philippine showbiz’s biggest stars

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Janelle Roa Cabrera-Paraiso

<div><br/></div><div class="youtube-iframe"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xlUqzmbgds0?si=b8yl4in9Eb5C0vWx" title="YouTube video player" frameBorder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><br/><p><strong><a href="https://metro.style/people/digital-covers/julia-montes-cover-five-break-ups-and-a-romance/36465" target="_blank">Julia Montes</a></strong> is making a big comeback to primetime as she takes on a riveting role in the Philippine adaptation of the much-lauded 2010 Japanese series <strong><em>Mother</em></strong>. Titled <em><strong>Saving Grace</strong></em>, <strong><a href="https://metro.style/culture/film-and-tv/deo-endrinal-tribute-top-dreamscape-tv-series/37483" target="_blank">Dreamscape</a></strong>-produced <em>teleserye</em> will star the finest talents in local entertainment.</p><div><br/></div><p>Working alongside Julia in the highly anticipated television show are powerhouse actors no less than Megastar <strong>Sharon Cuneta</strong>, <strong>Janice de Belen</strong>, <strong>Sam Milby</strong>, <strong>Jennica Garcia</strong>, and <strong>Christian Bables</strong>.</p><div style="text-align:center"><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/C9fHaooT6WX/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 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style="padding-top:8px"> <div style="color:#3897f0;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:550;line-height:18px">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding:12.5% 0"><br/></div> <div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;margin-bottom:14px;align-items:center"><div> <div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;height:12.5px;width:12.5px;transform:translateX(0px) translateY(7px)"><br/></div> <div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;height:12.5px;transform:rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px);width:12.5px;flex-grow:0;margin-right:14px;margin-left:2px"><br/></div> <div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;height:12.5px;width:12.5px;transform:translateX(9px) translateY(-18px)"><br/></div></div><div style="margin-left:8px"> <div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:20px;width:20px"><br/></div> <div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:2px solid transparent;border-left:6px solid #f4f4f4;border-bottom:2px solid transparent;transform:translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"><br/></div></div><div style="margin-left:auto"> <div style="width:0px;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-right:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(16px)"><br/></div> <div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;flex-grow:0;height:12px;width:16px;transform:translateY(-4px)"><br/></div> <div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-left:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(-4px) translateX(8px)"><br/></div></div></div> <div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center;margin-bottom:24px"> <div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:224px"><br/></div> <div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:144px"><br/></div></div></a><div style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C9fHaooT6WX/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by Jennica (@jennicagarciaph)</a></div></div></blockquote> </div><div><br/></div><p>Based on the original tale, <em>Saving Grace</em> follows the story of an elementary school teacher (Julia) who happened to learn that one of her students, Grace, is being abused by her mother. Having known this, she then decided to take the child under her wing.</p><div><br/></div><p>Jennica, meanwhile, portrays the character of the abusive parent, while Christian acts as the former’s lover. Sharon embodies Julia’s character’s adoptive mother, while Janice initially shows up as one of the protagonist’s allies.</p><div><br/></div><p>In an exclusive interview with <strong><a href="https://metro.style/people/celebrities/abs-cbn-ball-2023-live-updates-red-carpet/36314" target="_blank">ABS-CBN</a></strong>, Julia revealed why she accepted the project. “Special <em>talaga sa akin ’yung</em> project <em>kasi ’yun ang huling usap namin ni</em> Sir Deo [Endrinal]. ’<em>Yung</em> plan for <em>Saving Grace</em> is really big,” she began.</p><div style="text-align:center"><br/></div><div class="youtube-iframe"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zNx8JkgrXlY?si=jn_B7K2LHd2ATt7H" title="YouTube video player" frameBorder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerPolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><br/><p>Dreamscape’s founder <strong><a href="https://metro.style/people/society-personalities/deo-endrinal-death-tributes-from-celebrities/37438" target="_blank">Deo Endrinal</a></strong>, whom Julia considers as a true mentor, passed away last February 2024. He was known for shepherding the careers of many Kapamilya celebrities, including Julia’s. </p><div><br/></div><p>“Special <em>siya sa’kin kasi sinave ako ni</em> Sir Deo. In many ways—personal, career. And I felt <em>na</em> ever since, <em>isa si</em> Sir Deo <em>na naniwala na kaya ko</em>,” Julia shared. “<em>Siya ang laging nagpapaalala na kaya ko</em>. So <em>ngayon</em>, <em>siyempre</em>, <em>iba na</em>.”</p><div style="text-align:center"><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/C9bhkd4ScN5/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:16px"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C9bhkd4ScN5/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="background:#FFFFFF;line-height:0;padding:0 0;text-align:center;text-decoration:none;width:100%" target="_blank"> <div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;align-items:center"> <div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:40px;margin-right:14px;width:40px"><br/></div> <div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center"> <div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:100px"><br/></div> <div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:60px"><br/></div></div></div><div style="padding:19% 0"><br/></div> <div style="display:block;height:50px;margin:0 auto 12px;width:50px"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 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519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top:8px"> <div style="color:#3897f0;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:550;line-height:18px">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding:12.5% 0"><br/></div> <div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;margin-bottom:14px;align-items:center"><div> <div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;height:12.5px;width:12.5px;transform:translateX(0px) translateY(7px)"><br/></div> <div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;height:12.5px;transform:rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px);width:12.5px;flex-grow:0;margin-right:14px;margin-left:2px"><br/></div> <div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;height:12.5px;width:12.5px;transform:translateX(9px) translateY(-18px)"><br/></div></div><div style="margin-left:8px"> <div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:20px;width:20px"><br/></div> <div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:2px solid transparent;border-left:6px solid #f4f4f4;border-bottom:2px solid transparent;transform:translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"><br/></div></div><div style="margin-left:auto"> <div style="width:0px;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-right:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(16px)"><br/></div> <div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;flex-grow:0;height:12px;width:16px;transform:translateY(-4px)"><br/></div> <div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-left:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(-4px) translateX(8px)"><br/></div></div></div> <div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center;margin-bottom:24px"> <div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:224px"><br/></div> <div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:144px"><br/></div></div></a><div style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C9bhkd4ScN5/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by Dreamscape Entertainment (@dreamscapeph)</a></div></div></blockquote> </div><div><br/></div><p>Despite feeling nervous when the series was initially pitched to her, Julia kept her positive mindset. According to her, she would always go back to Sir Deo’s pieces of advice and reminders.</p><div><br/></div><p>“<em>Lahat naman po ng binibigay sa’kin</em>, <em>napapaisip ako</em>, ‘K<em>aya ko ba</em>?’ ’<em>Yun ang lagi kong</em> question,” Julia stated. “<em>Pero nu’ng nakausap ko nga si</em> Sir Deo, <em>sabi niya</em>, ‘<em>Gawin mo ’to. </em>It’s for you.’ <em>Na</em>-<em>kampante na ako kasi siya ’yung</em> [<em>nagsabi</em>]. <em>Nandiyan naman siya lagi</em>.”</p><div><br/></div><p>Julia’s last appearance on TV came in the form of <strong><em><a href="https://metro.style/people/celebrities/coco-martin-fpj-ang-probinsyano-leading-ladies/33533" target="_blank">FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano</a></em></strong>, but her last full <em>teleserye</em> was via <strong><em>Asintado</em></strong> in 2018. In 2020, she also took part in the series <strong><em>24/7</em></strong>, which ended earlier than expected due to the pandemic. She, too, was in the filming phase of the action-serye <em><strong>Burado</strong></em> until the global lockdown was declared.</p><div><br/></div><p>Lead photos courtesy of <strong>ABS-CBN News</strong> and <strong>Dreamscape Entertainment</strong></p><div><strong>Related Story: </strong><a href="/people/celebrities/julia-montes-saving-grace-ph-adaptation-mother/38566" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Julia Montes Stars in the PH Adaptation of Hit Japanese Drama &#x27;Mother&#x27;</a></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>