Solenn Heussaff isn’t any stranger to a booked and busy life.
As an actress and mannequin, Solenn typically discovered herself diving into scripts, taping for film scenes, and going from one shoot to the following. This was what life appeared like for her for over a decade — till she determined in 2020 that she needed to concentrate on motherhood.
Solenn is a mom to 2 ladies, Thylane and Maelys, together with her husband Nico Bolzico. She had momentarily traded the chaos of being below the showbiz highlight for a concentrate on different self-fulfilling pursuits, shifting to doing content material collaborations, trend appearances, and artwork exhibitions the place she would inform tales on the canvas.
Since 2016, Solenn has performed the diwata Cassiopea within the long-running fanta-serye Encantandia — but it had been 4 years since she final appeared in a movie. The final time followers noticed her on display screen was throughout her portrayal of Anna within the 2021 film The Fabulous Filipino Brothers.
Solenn is again, making her long-awaited return within the Jeffrey Jeturian-directed UnMarry as Maya, a career-oriented lady going by means of the method of annulment amidst the nation’s straight-laced perspective towards matrimony.
And for the 40-year-old star, this position couldn’t have come at a greater time.
Proper place, proper time
Solenn is provided with years of expertise within the showbiz scene — having made her debut in 2010. Her determination to shift her focus to household and married life gave her a newfound sense of knowledge in portraying Maya that maybe her previous performing stints alone couldn’t.
“I feel since I’m a married lady now and I’ve matured extra, this was a venture that I might perceive. If I have been to do that venture in my 20s, I wouldn’t have been in a position to know the way necessary marriage is or how marriage may break typically,” Solenn informed Rappler.
The Filipino romance-drama UnMarry delves into the delicate and infrequently taboo topic of annulment within the Philippines, intertwining the tales of Celine (Angelica Panginiban) and Ivan (Zanjoe Marudo) as they navigate the emotional and authorized complexities of dissolving their marriages whereas preventing custody battles.
Within the movie, Maya is Ivan’s spouse.
UnMarry — which received 2nd Greatest Image on the 2025 Metro Manila Movie Competition Gabi ng Parangal — tackles real-life experiences that decision for a distinct method to performing on display screen.
In contrast to Cassiopea, whom she knew by coronary heart, wherein its fantasy aspect grew to become a fantastic benefit because it’s not based mostly on an actual particular person, Maya is a personality Solenn realized to deal with with extra compassion and care — all due to her lifelike struggles.
“With UnMarry, you don’t need to overdo it as a result of it’s an actual matter and folks truly undergo this stuff. So it’s actually about figuring out tips on how to assault or method a sure scene, however being delicate and being compassionate in regards to the particular person and the stuff you’re saying. So it’s very, very troublesome,” Solenn shared, including that in getting ready for the position, she had executed character analysis, learn up on the processes of divorce, and talked to her associates who’ve gone by means of the identical factor.
A persistent wrestle for Solenn has all the time been the language barrier. Filipino is just not her first language — and UnMarry had her confront that head-on.
“It’s all the time been like a forwards and backwards of: can I do that? Can I not? After which not figuring out how I’m going to get into the scene as a result of I’m not totally assured about sure issues. However I’ve all the time cherished it [acting], so I need to do it.”
In hindsight, Solenn’s consciousness of the elements she will and can’t do has made her really feel extra relaxed and cozy with herself. It’s why taking the position of Maya was such a simple determination for her — as a result of struggles apart, it was the script that basically drew her in.
Multiple factor
Girls have all the time performed a couple of position in society, but nonetheless totally know what they need to obtain in life. In immediately’s panorama of contemporary love, private freedom is a vital part that every one ladies should embody to really know themselves exterior their roles, and to lastly attain their coronary heart’s needs.
That is what being on the set of UnMarry taught Solenn.
“I’ve all the time been about whether or not you’re blissful or not in a relationship, it’s best to be capable of determine for your self. And if you wish to transfer on, it’s best to be capable of transfer on. Put your self first, as a result of when you don’t, and when you don’t love your self or respect your self, you then’re by no means gonna actually be blissful,” she attested.
Simply take Maya’s story for instance. She’s a girl who is aware of how she needs her life to be and is totally conscious of what she needs to do — a go-getter at its best.
Whereas Solenn finds Maya’s career-orientedness relatable, she additionally thinks that to attain these objectives whereas mending a relationship, companions ought to talk whereas having empathy on the forefront.
“As an alternative of judging, [start] listening, placing your ear on the market and understanding additionally that to ensure that households to heal, folks want to actually transfer on. So if there’s one thing that’s holding you again, it’s best to be capable of step away from it,” she emphasised.
Shifting ahead, Solenn has her “fingers crossed” for a extra energetic return within the movie trade with the situation that it’s a pleasant venture that “touches me, and one thing that I perceive.”
Now, greater than being a loving mom to Thylane and Maelys and a spouse to Nico Bolzico, Solenn vows that she is going to say sure to any venture price her time away from her daughters.
“I’m very current with my youngsters, and I like being with them. [But], in fact, that is my time to even be pleased with myself as a result of I don’t need to simply be a mother, as a lot as I adore it. I need to be a painter. I need to be an actress. I need to evolve in my craft,” Solenn expressed. – with studies from Claire Masbad/Rappler.com
Claire Masbad is a Rappler intern learning AB Communication Arts at De La Salle College.
