Finding her voice

Bianca Gonzalez-Intal on representation, responsibility, and creating spaces where women feel seen

- JANE KINGSU-CHENG

At 17, while still a college freshman dreaming of becoming a filmmaker, Bianca Gonzalez-Intal stepped into the public eye through a television commercial. "It felt like a dream come true of a dream I didn't know I had," she tells Manila Bulletin Lifestyle. "But it also felt like a one-in-a-lifetime chance. I didn't think it would open door after door after door for me.

At the time, the media landscape looked very different. "Ask any model from my batch, and they would agree that fair-skinned or mestiza Filipinas dominated the TV and commercial roles," she says. But representation was slowly shifting. She remembers seeing someone who looked like her on screen. "Angel Aquino, a beautiful, proudly morena Filipina I looked up to, had already starred in previous commercials. It opened my eyes to morena beauty being celebrated."

Confidence in her identity started at home. "Growing up comfortable and proud of my morena skin, because my older sister Aissa is morena and beautiful—I had her to look up to. Our family never made us feel ashamed of our dark skin." Still, rejection was part of the process. "I didn't feel pressure to 'fit' a mold, but I did feel the frustration of getting rejection after rejection in videotape recordings and go-sees."