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The Gospel of Vice Ganda
Reeling from the success of "And the Breadwinner Is...", the comedienne gets candid on why she's not resting on her laurels.
by Em Enriquez
Published Jan 10, 2025
The Filipino people's "meme" Vice seeks a higher purpose as she continually ascends to the top.
A Tesla Cybertruck was stationed in front of our studio in Sta. Mesa, Manila. Emerging from the stainless steel vehicle was Vice Ganda, who came straight to her Preview cover shoot after hosting It’s Showtime that day. Upon exchanging hellos with everyone, she disappeared behind the curtains of the dressing room with her glam team, only resurfacing once she was all glammed up and ready to smize in front of BJ Pascual’s lens.
She was on battery saving mode, displaying her best angles and following poses thrown at her. From time to time, she would crack a joke, poking a little fun at the outfits or props she was given. “Magsipila na ang mga magpapagamot sa akin!” she declared before the last lay-out, channeling an almighty diwata in diaphanous whites. Once the camera started clicking, she retreated back to a more serious disposition.
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Vice Ganda for Preview January 2025
Seeing an expressionless Vice Ganda would be jarring for those who’ve gotten used to her daily noontime show antics. But meme Vice—calculated in her motions, yet genuine in her words—was there to work. As she exhibited, switching from meme to model is one of the skills it takes to become the “Unkabogable Phenomenal Box Office Superstar” she is today. The nation may know her as a top-grade comic, but Vice is also a true professional—one who regards her craft with the utmost solemnity.
The Winner Takes It All
This “serious side” manifested through her role as Bambi in And the Breadwinner Is.... An entry to the 50th edition of the Metro Manila Film Festival, Vice took in a more introspective tone as she portrayed a breadwinner coming home to a dysfunctional family setup. The ensemble cast was composed of drama heavyweights such as Gladys Reyes and Eugene Domingo, with Jun Robles Lana taking the helm as their director.
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Tidbits of Vice’s comedic prowess were sprinkled throughout the two-hour film. Jocular dialogue and slapstick humor offered spaces to breathe (and giggle) in between the story’s pivotal tear-jerking moments. Things hit a crescendo in a 15-minute confrontation between Bambi and her siblings, which Vice says was impressively shot in one take.
“We rehearsed that scene the whole day,” she narrates. “Kasi ‘pag may nagkamali ng dialogue or ng blocking, magka-cut. Back to zero. Eh, ang gagaling ng lahat ng ka-eksena ko, kaya isang take lang siya.”
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Such an emotionally volatile encounter is somewhat of a staple in Filipino family dramas. Voices were raised, revelations were made, and tears were shed. With only a singular camera panning between them, Vice anchored the sequence as Bambi exhumed every ounce of exhaustion in her body. From an audience member’s perspective, witnessing her crash felt like eavesdropping on a family affair more than watching something on a big screen.
“It wasn’t hard for me to internalize [for it] because it really happened in my own family,” Vice candidly says, illustrating that emotional clashes are common in Filipino households such as hers. She grew up along Tambunting St. in Manuguit, Manila, where homes were only separated by thin walls. “Lahat ng nangyayari sa pamilya, nararamdaman at nalalaman ang bawat isa. Ganun talaga yung nangyayari,” she adds.
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Frankly speaking, the Filipino viewing public is not used to seeing Vice Ganda cry. Prior to And the Breadwinner Is..., she was known for animated roles that had a spring in each of their steps. Whereas Praybeyt Benjamin or Girlie Jackstone would flick their wrists, Bambi would embrace herself in a perpetual state of fatigue.
This departure from her past characterizations proved to be a challenge for Vice, albeit one she willingly took on. “Ito yung pelikula na binigyan ako ng pagkakataon magpakita ng iba. Kinailangan ko siyang aralin, paghusayan, at galingan. Nag-require siya ng maraming kakayahan sa akin. It challenged me physically, mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually,” she recalls.
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Vice deduces that this was the path the late direk Wenn Deramas wanted for her. The two had a mother-daughter bond rooted in their experiences as queer people, and direk Wenn believed that Vice was meant to do more than just elicit a quick chuckle. “Hinulma [ako ni direk Wenn] at inihanda niya ako para sa rutang mas maganda, mas malalim, at mas makabuluhan,” she expresses. “Si direk Jun naman yung nagturo sa akin patungo sa rutang iyon.”
Even before the film premiered, Vice already regarded it as her best work to date. “Ito yung pinangarap ni direk Wenn para sa akin,” she shares sentimentally.
Worth Her Salt
Vice began her ascent to box office stardom with The Unkabogable Praybeyt Benjamin, her first lead role that had direk Wenn in the director’s seat. The 2011 flick was the first-ever Filipino film to break the P300 million mark, a record that was only topped by her own succeeding projects.
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Such feats prove how the movie-going masses just can’t get enough of Vice Ganda. It’s practically become a routine for many to catch a film of hers come Christmastime. Days before 2025 rolled in, she paid a visit to a mall in Tarlac that was screening And the Breadwinner Is.... “Maraming nagtatanong kung bakit maraming pumipila sa mga pelikula ko lalo na tuwing Pasko. Ito po ang sagot. Dahil po ako at ang masa ay may ugnayan,” she wrote on X, sharing a video of thousands of people roaring her name as she roamed cinemas.
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“I think nanggagaling siya sa relationship na na-develop namin through the years. Nagkaroon ako ng affinity to the masses,” she tells Preview. Her stints on It’s Showtime virtually made her a member of several households. This familial connection is a big reason why she consistently dominates the box office. “Family first,” she puts it.
But like any family member you can trust, she gets real and acknowledges why Filipinos have an aching need to sit down to a comedy. “The Philippines is a very poor country,” she states matter-of-factly, “Sinasabi nila na masayahin ang mga Pilipino, pero mukha lang yun ng resiliency. Sa totoong buhay, ang lungkot-lungkot ng maraming Pilipino dahil sa kahirapan.”
“Kailangan nilang manood ng pelikulang nakakatawa in order to escape for at least two hours. Maraming problema ang hindi na nila masosolusyonan. [Kailangan nila] makatakas kahit ng panandalian lang,” she went on. The intonation in Vice’s voice sounds indicative of someone speaking from lived experience, and not merely making observations from a bird’s-eye view.
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As it turns out, even one of the country’s most successful entertainers has her own peaks and valleys. The very genre that paved the way for her breakthrough is the same genre that leads naysayers to criticize her.
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Her Special Jury Citation from the 50th MMFF Gabi ng Parangal stands as a symbol of both her triumphs and upsets. Vice was bewildered when she was handed the trophy that evening. In true Vice Ganda fashion, she threw out a couple of quips as she expressed gratitude for the shiny statue. “My God, hahabaan ko na kasi baka itong award na ‘to, ibig sabihin hindi ako magbe-Best Actor,” she said on stage, prompting the audience to break into laughter.
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In her speech, Vice pointed out how this was the first time she was ever recognized as an actor, after years and years of participating in the film festival, raking in millions of pesos and attracting patrons from demographics only she has access to.
“Bakit kailangan kong lumabas sa comedy just to be seen?” she pondered. “Binigyan nila ako ng citation kasi nag-drama ako. So kung hindi ako nag-drama, hindi talaga nila ako mapapansin. I was seen because I did something else aside from comedy.”
It was a huge reality check. Meme says that as much as drama actors totally deserve the praise they get, both drama and comedy require similar levels of tact and seriousness to properly convey. More often than not, comediennes are treated as mere jesters rather than actors.
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“For the longest time, I felt like comedy was being disregarded as a legit genre. ‘Pag sinabing comedy, feeling nila na ang babaw. Hindi ina-appreciate yung kagandahan ng comedy at ang kahalagahan niya as a genre of cinema,” Vice firmly explains. “Nasasaktan ako ‘pag sinasabi nila na basura ang comedy [kasi] hindi madali gumawa ng comedy.”
There arises a palpable pressure for someone like Vice Ganda to always win. Her career has skyrocketed from being a bit player to one of the prime faces of Philippine show business. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, especially when being the “Unkabogable Phenomenal Box Office Superstar” precedes your name. In her early days, it was a chip on Vice’s shoulder to always be unkabogable, especially when it came to breaking box office records.
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“And then one day I realized, you can't win all the time. ‘Di ba?” she said before pausing.
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ON VICE: Yapos Dress, custom JOB DACON, Instagram/jobdacon. Alfajor Skeleton Long Necklace, ADAM PEREYRA X OSLOG, adampereyra.com, Lanai Powerplant Mall.
“Five years ago, it was the first time na hindi ako nag-number one sa MMFF. And imbis na maiyak ako, sabi ko, ‘Ay! Wala na akong kailangan i-maintain next year. Wala na akong kailangan ipaglaban, wala na akong kailangan panindigan.’ It was so liberating,” she recalls of her 2019 foray to the festival.
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“Sometimes you will have to lose in order to win. Sometimes you have to experience embarrassment in order to have pride,” meme states in reflection. In hindsight, being second place taught her things that she wouldn’t have picked up if she had just stayed on top. It granted her a renewed perspective. “Depende kasi kung paano mo siya titignan,” she says.
She may not be an MMFF Best Actor, but she did get married to the love of her life Ion Perez, a colleague she met on It’s Showtime. A movie of hers may not be the highest-grossing Filipino film in history anymore, but she still has multiple starring titles in the top 10. “Even if you lose, you can still turn it into a win,” she expresses, “and for me, I am still unkabogable because no one can do the things that I do. Because only I can do the things that I can do.”
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Vice and Virtue
In another universe, Vice Ganda would not have been Vice Ganda. She would’ve been Atty. Jose Marie Borja Viceral. Those who follow her know that their meme was once a college sophomore taking up political science at the Far Eastern University. Suffice to say, things didn’t end up in law school. However, if you ask her to recite the Preamble of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines, she’ll impress you with how she memorized every phrase with dignified diction.
Vice’s early years also imbued a certain sensitivity to the world around her. Being socially aware has always been one of her strengths, and it’s something she’s applied to her brand of comedy. “Nung nasa comedy bar pa ako, [naging material ko] yung mga normal na nangyayari sa paligid at sa Pilipinas. Feeling ko that set me apart from other comedians. Hanggang ngayon bitbit ko pa rin yung awareness na yun,” she shares.
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However, Vice is no longer just a stand-up talent performing for comedy bar attendees. Her audience now encompasses the majority of the Philippines, with some waiting for her to slip so they have a reason to crucify her. “I don’t just represent myself anymore,” Vice states. “I represent a show. I represent a network. I represent a company. Everything that I will do or say will not just affect me, but will, in fact, affect everything else.”
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She brings up the time when ABS-CBN was under scrutiny by the government, subsequently being withheld a franchise renewal in 2020. “Tagilid na tagilid yung ABS-CBN, and even 'yung It’s Showtime. Parang lagi kaming napag-iinitan, parang ang daming nakatutok sa amin,” she looks back.
But even with all of these prying eyes directed at her, Vice still sees the need to speak out. She’s aware that the platform she has is meant to serve more than just herself. In her words, “as you evolve as a person, nag-iiba-iba yung purpose mo, ‘di ba? Parang nasa position na ako na yung purpose ko ay hindi lang pang personal. Tumatawid na sya para sa ibang tao. Para sa komunidad at para sa mas nakararami.”
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For Vice, this higher purpose aims towards an eternal value. As one of the most prominent LGBTQIA+ personalities in the country, meme is well aware that there are still no laurels to rest on when it comes to fighting for the community. “Yung tagumpay nito, makakamit sa dulo at mararanasan ng marami in the future. Parang ang layo pa kasi ng tatakbuhin natin, pero at least nasisimulan na,” she explains. “I would have to walk so others can run.”
There’s plenty to be said about how a non-gender conforming person is one of the most influential figures in a predominantly Catholic country. While there are those who would exclude LGBTQIA+ people from certain spaces, Vice uses her knack for spreading joy as her greatest weapon. “Buti na lang din talaga at binigyan ako ng kakayahan ng Panginoon na makapagpasaya. At least sa puntong yun, number one ako sa kanila. Yun ang maaalala nila,” she ruminates.
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It’s in those moments when Vice reconciles with her inner saboteurs and realizes the good she’s done. She shrugs it off when I call her a “gay icon,” but she’s flattered by the title nonetheless. “Sa mga gano’ng sitwasyon, doon ko nasasabi na kahit papaano, may nagagawa ako para sa ibang tao,” she says. “At least may nagagawa akong tama [para matuwid yung mga] sablay ko sa buhay, ‘di ba?”
“Mayroon pa rin pala akong nagagawang tama.”
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Meme Vice may seem like an open book, but there’s a fine print embedded within her larger-than-life being. Spelled out on the side of her left hand is “phenomenal,” a word that has followed her practically throughout her whole life. Several people have christened her with it, but at the end of the day, it’s something she needs to hear from herself.
“Kailangan manggaling siya sa akin. Kailangan yung pagkilala sa hard work ko manggaling sa akin,” she shares. “Especially sa mga pagkakataon na pagod na pagod na ako, o bwisit na bwisit na ako sa mga naririnig ko, gusto ko ipaalala sa sarili ko na I am alright, I am fantastic, I am phenomenal, and I can still do so much.”
And everything meme Vice does becomes phenomenal in turn. Every endeavor she’s partaken in proves that she’s more than just her sharp wit. Her storied career showcases that she’s someone who regards what she does very, very seriously. It's as true as the gospel that there will only be one Vice Ganda in this lifetime, and she’s certainly making it known.
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Produced and Styled by the Preview Team
Photographer: BJ Pascual
Creative Director: Bacs Arcebal
Editor-in-Chief: Marj Ramos-Clemente
Production: Em Enriquez and Reg Rodriguez
Fashion: Paulina Singh, assisted by Neri Neritzkova
Beauty Direction: Isha Fojas
Makeup: Emman Concepcion
Hairstyling: Buern Rodriguez
Nails: Mi & Me Luxury Nails
Set and Production Design: Rocketsets
Video Direction: Jana Jodloman
Videographer: Teddy Garcia Jr.
BTS Photographer: James Jarin of Studio Torio
Studio: Rocketsets
Story: Em Enriquez
Special thanks to McDonald’s and Jan Bariuad
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