Sue Ramirez had a very public coming-of-age, growing up on set and in front of the cameras. She tells Rolling Stone Philippines that the hardest part of that was growing out of being the youngest on set. “I still feel like that girl who just started out,” she says.
In her 15 years in the show business, she’s done 18 films and at least 30 shows, all of them a good mix of indie and mainstream. In 2024, she also played the female lead Audrey in The Sandbox Collective’s staging of Little Shop of Horrors. Despite that, she believes she hasn’t really made it in the industry, and that she has much to learn from those who’ve been in the game for decades, like Vic Sotto and Ronnie Lazaro.
Ramirez is the star of the latest film, Flower Girl, an irreverent, fantastical rom-com written and directed by Fatrick Tabada. The screenplay writer has also had his fair share of indie and mainstream projects, such as co-writing 2016’s Patay Na Si Hesus and the 2018 Vice Ganda-starred Fantastica, and co-directing the 2017 Cinema One Originals entry Si Chedeng at Si Apple. For Ramirez, the project is a dream come true, or more accurately, “manifested.”
In the film, which premiers on June 18, we follow Ena (Ramirez), a sanitary napkin endorser who mysteriously loses her vagina after offending a trans-fairy (KaladKaren) and is tasked to find love before the last petal falls off a dying flower. The project also sees Ramirez with actor-drag queen Maxie Andreison, Donna Cariaga, Mae Paner, Martin del Rosario, and Jameson Blake, with whom she previously worked on 2018’s Ang Babaeng Allergic sa WiFi.
In this interview, Ramirez talks about what it’s like to grow up in showbiz, what she loves about doing both indie and mainstream projects, and why she said yes to playing Ena.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
I saw on Instagram that you’ve just returned from Pangasinan. How was your trip?
Yes! We were working in Pangasinan. Doing a TV series, pero hindi pa ina-announce. But yeah, excited to be back on TV with friends! Masaya ‘tong show na ‘to na bago. We stayed in Pangasinan for two nights, for our lock-in. And we’re going to go back there.
What was the food like?
The food was so good. We were just looking randomly on TikTok, where to eat in Pangasinan. So, we saw this restaurant called Tio Berto’s. They had kansi, that was very good. Of course, we ordered bangus, very Pangasinan. The food was good and the restaurant was nice. Medyo Antonio’s ‘yong vibe.
You’ve been in showbiz for over a decade now, starting with the 2011 remake of Mula sa Puso. When you started out, what was your criteria for success?
Wala. I started when I was 13. I was literally just playing around. I didn’t think of it as a long-term thing. Sabi ko, “Ngayon, I’m being given these projects, but in the future, wala nang magbibigay sa akin.” So I was just really enjoying what I had at that moment. And eventually, habang tumatagal na ‘yong panahon na I was in showbiz, parang, “Wow, ‘di ako nawawalan ng work.” So doon ko naisip na baka ito talaga ang path for me.
I really just tried out acting. Eventually, I got TV projects. So for the rest of my life, 15 years later, I’m still active and still working.
Was there a point in your career when you thought you needed to be successful?
Another motivation for joining showbiz was that I wanted to help my mom, because my dad was sick. He was paralyzed, and my mom had to bring up five kids. So I thought, why can’t I help out?
Hindi naman ganoon kabigat sa akin, kasi bata pa ako noon. I was just really enjoying the money I was saving from taping. I don’t really need it. I’m 13, what do I need? It was also to help with my dad’s finances. But when I was 17, my dad passed away. At that point, I was thinking, “What am I still doing at work? Maybe I should just go back to school.” Tapos na-realize ko, why do I have to quit?
Of course, I was sad. My dad was one of the reasons why I started [in showbiz] in the first place. But parang siguro, dito talaga ako nilagay ni Lord. True enough, tumagal din naman ako at tumanda na sa industriya.
When I choose a project, I want to make something that gets people talking, that starts a conversation that doesn’t end in the cinema. You talk about it in the car ride home, you talk about it before you go to sleep. Something that will really make people think and rethink.
Was there ever a project that made you feel like you’d made it in the industry?
No. I felt like I made it in the industry the first time I saw myself on TV. ‘Yon na ‘yong confirmation for me.
But ever since I started, wala akong ine-expect na roles. Kung ano lang ‘yong ibibigay sa akin. Maganda ‘yong upbringing ko. Hindi ako na-insecure kung hindi napunta sa akin ‘yong role. Focused lang talaga ako sa ginagawa ko.
Sabi mo nga, lumaki ka na sa showbiz. How did growing up in the industry affect the projects you took on, especially as a girl and as a woman?
There should be a line between bata pa ‘yong roles na ginagawa mo, teenage years ka pa, and the roles where may asawa ka na.
Mas nahirapan akong mag-switch sa environment. Kasi growing up, I was always the youngest on set. So noong tumatanda ako, parang alanganin na nagpapa-baby pa ako. But I still feel like that girl who just started out [in the industry].
Hindi rin ako marunong mag-handle ng finances kasi ang bata kong nagsimula. ‘Yon ‘yong mga problems ko. Pero sa trabaho, wala.
In terms of the roles you took on, how intentional was the transition into the more serious and more mature characters?
I always bank on the people who trust me. Sometimes, you can’t avoid telling yourself you might not be able to do it. But the fact that people are asking you to do these roles means they believe that you can do it.
I don’t want to say that I wing it all the time, but I do. You have to be open that it’s a way to be collaborative. There’s always going to be a say from the producer and the director. You have to be adaptive.
You’ve worked with some of the biggest names in the industry, like Vic Sotto in The Kingdom. What insights do you have from working with people like them?
Nakakahiya. Their professionalism is on another level. I don’t see them complaining about small stuff on set. Wala silang pakialam. Ikaw ‘yong mahihiya talaga. They’re never late, they know their lines when they get on set. Nakakahiya na hindi mo alam kung anong gagawin mo pag dating mo doon.
Feeling ko, sa 15 years, ang tagal ko na sa industriya. But a lot of people who make up the industry have been here longer than I have.
Hindi ko pwedeng sabihin na ako lang ‘yong may matututunan sa kanila. Of course, meron din silang pwedeng matutunan sa akin. Pero dapat ako palagi ‘yong open to learn more.
Is there anything specific you learned from working with them?
Kay Bossing [Vic Sotto], siguro ‘yong hindi nagrereklamo. Doon ko natutunan na hindi pala dapat lahat ng nakikita mo, sinasabi mo. May mga sistemang hindi natin pwedeng sirain.
You’ve balanced indie and mainstream projects throughout your career. What’s it like to do both?
Magkaiba talaga ang experience. Doing stuff like Flower Girl, it’s not the typical movie that you see in the cinema. It’s not the template, we don’t play for kilig.
Ang ganda ng balance kasi I get to do both. I get to adjust kung paano ako when I do mainstream projects at alam ko din kung ano ‘yong pwede kong ipakawala [sa indie].
Growing up, I was always the youngest on set. So noong tumatanda ako, parang alanganin na nagpapa-baby pa ako. But I still feel like that girl who just started out [in the industry].
So what do you get out of working on indie films, and what do you get out of working on mainstream?
Usually sa mga mainstream na pelikula na ginagawa ko, like The Kingdom, doon ako nagkakaroon ng chance na magkaroon ng mga katrabaho katulad ni Piolo [Pascual], o katulad ni Bossing.
When we do indie katulad ng Flower Girl, ako na si Flower Girl, wala tayong Bossing dito. Mas marami kang matutunan sa mga veteran co-actors ‘pag mainstream. Meron naman of course [sa mga indie] like si Tito Ronnie Lazaro na nakakatrabaho ko sa mga TV series. So ang dami mo talagang mapi-pick up [sa kanila] kasi tumatawid din sila between indie and mainstream productions. Kailangang mas adaptive ka.
Would you pick one over the other?
No, no. You grow more as a person when you work with different people. Kaya grateful ako sa journey ko bilang artista kasi nakaikot talaga sa iba’t ibang productions.
Speaking of Flower Girl. From what I’ve seen sa teaser may pagka-Beauty and the Beast ‘yong concept, but the premise is still very unique. What made you say yes to the project?
I worked with The IdeaFirst Company back in 2017 for Ang Babaeng Allergic sa WiFi. I know how they do it. I know the kind of projects that they do. You have Born Beautiful and Die Beautiful. You have all these beautiful projects.
When I choose a project, I want to make something that gets people talking, that starts a conversation that doesn’t end in the cinema. You talk about it in the car ride home, you talk about it before you go to sleep. Something that will really make people think and rethink. When they offered me Flower Girl, I said yes right away. They just pitched it and I said, “Okay, let’s do this.”
I look up to Fatrick Tabada, the writer and director. I’ve watched Patay Na Si Hesus so many times, kaya feeling ko na-manifest ko ‘yong Flower Girl. Sobrang galing na galing ako kay Fatrick. Napili niya ako maging Flower Girl, na isang malaking malaki na honor for me.
‘Di ako nagdalawang isip and I didn’t even have to read the script. So naloka ako noong binasa ko na. Grabe ‘yong mga eksena. Pero dahil nga alam ko na sila, kilala din nila ako at kung ano ang mga boundaries ko. I felt protected.
What’s it like working with Direk Fatrick?
He’s the best! I love him. He’s so collaborative. He never gets mad on the set. What we do is, I’ll do it first how I would think [my character] Ena would do it. If he has concerns, we’ll just tweak it a bit. Most of the time, he really lets us portray our characters.
Is comedy a genre that you’ve always been interested to work in?
I think so. Pinipilit kong maging serious actress pero komedyante pa rin ako sa mata ng mga tao. Maybe because I have this personality. I grew up watching That’s So Raven and The Amanda Show. Siguro doon talaga ako naka-pick up kung paano ako, or who I am today. My heart is happy when I do comedies.
Without spoiling anything, what did you take away from Flower Girl as an actor and as a woman?
Go for the roles that make you think. Go for the roles that scare you. Go for the roles that you want people to remember.
As Ena naman, my takeaways are respect and self-love, respect towards other people and respect for yourself. Whatever other people say, as long as you look in the mirror and you like what you see, you find yourself sexy, hindi mo kailangan ng validation ng kahit kanino. At the end of the day, it’s you who validates yourself.
