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“Third time’s the charm” is how the saying goes, but that doesn’t seem to be the case for rookie actress, Pat Tingjuy, who clinched the prestigious “Cinemalaya Best Actress” award on her first try.

As unexpected as her rise in the film scene may seem, Pat’s venture into acting started with her passion for volleyball, which led to a gig in a bank TV commercial in 2022. Less than a year later, she snagged her debut film role in “Rookie” — an LGBTQIA+ coming-of-age sports film about an awkward teenager who joins a volleyball team and falls for the team’s captain. The film starred Aya Fernandez and Agot Isidro and delves into themes of gender inequality and the objectification of women. This film is what gave Pat her big break, as well as her first major industry award.

Pat Tingjuy is also a volleyball coach and licensed architect, having earned her degree from the University of Santo Tomas in 2018. Previously, she worked in corporate environments until 2022, which was when she began dipping her toes into modeling and acting gigs.

The Beat Manila got to chat with the newbie actress slash senior architect about her foray into film, the role practicality plays in her overall career, and the beauty of balancing multiple passions at a time.

Right Place, Right Time

Contrary to popular belief, Pat’s venture into acting didn’t come out of the blue. She started auditioning for roles in 2019 but reasoned that location had always been an issue. She would also often get cold feet whenever she would see her fellow actors at auditions.

“There’s always so many people, so I would always think I might not get it. I’m not going to get it because I see how they look and how they act; they're so confident, so pretty,” she shared. “But around September 2022, I saw my friend post a story of himself in a commercial. I actually always see some acquaintances’ posts about them getting into commercials, but I'm too shy to ask. But at that time, it was a close friend of mine, so I was like, 'I have to ask him.'”

Pat’s friend introduced her to his agent and from there she began sending out audition materials, which led her to be cast in some commercials. Pat also mentioned joining several Facebook groups where she could be on the lookout for casting calls from agents.

The role for “Rookie” didn’t come from these groups, however, as the actress mentioned the casting call for the role was first sent to her via a Volleyball chat group she was a member of.

“I have a Volleyball weekly play and someone from our group chat sent a photo of the call for auditions. That time, I was actively looking for gigs and saw the picture and thought, 'Oh, that's nice. They're looking for a volleyball player, someone who's tall, and someone with an acting background.' That's the one I don't have. *laughs* But I thought 'Okay, I'll prepare for it soon.'”

Pat didn’t have that much confidence in pursuing the role, having felt she didn’t have enough acting background for it until she was sent the same post by another friend who also happens to be a producer.

“She sent me the exact photo, but she sent me the post from Project 8 projects saying ‘Go mo ‘to (Go for it).' As simple as that. I felt the urgency to audition for it compared to the first time I saw the photo.”

In the end, she made the right decision to go for it. In January 2023, Pat got the news that she landed her first film role.

Acting as an Art and a Sport

Pat played Ace Asuncion, a teen who loved to play basketball. In the film, she transferred to an all-girls school which sadly didn’t have a basketball team. They did, however, have a volleyball team. The school’s varsity coach (Agot Isidro) recruited Ace into the team, which forced her to learn a new sport, all the while trying to keep her feelings in check for their star player and team captain, Jana Ramos (Aya Fernandez).

Being passionate about the sport and having been a former volleyball coach herself, Pat found the volleyball scenes easy. When asked if she had to undergo any training or workshops for the film, she replied, “Since I have a volleyball background, I don't know how to play basketball, so they enrolled me to train in basketball. Thankfully it was my friend who trained me, so it was more comfortable, and I learned fast. I'm athletic, so I got to convince people that I can actually play. *laughs* There were some roles that I played before in TV commercials where I had to play basketball, and I got to use that training for this one.”

As for how she prepared to act, Pat admitted that she didn’t have much experience in the field, nor did she join any theatre clubs back in her school days. She underwent acting workshops for the role, doing one-on-ones with acting coaches and practicing with her co-star Aya Fernandez. The process went on for about two to three weeks.

Pat revealed where her interest in acting came from: “I guess I would say it was kind of a secret dream. It started when I was younger; I'd see these children on TV looking like they're having fun, and I wanted to be like them.”

“I wanted to be them!” She emphasized. “I wanted to dance with the Stik-O guy or Jollibee or whatever. The thing was, I just didn't know where to go and who to go to. So, I just put that dream aside and thought that I should pursue a 'professional' career, which was architecture.”

Her dream of becoming an actress became a reality in “Rookie” but it added a bonus with the award she won. When we asked her about what went through her head when her name was called, the actress humbly expressed her joy and disbelief.

“It felt like…'What? Totoo ba ‘to (Is this real)?' Like I did not expect it at all! It was a surprise. I was thinking while they were talking about the spiel, okay. We knew it was from ‘Rookie’ and I was like, oh, it's going to be Aya. I never thought it was going to be me.”

Pat also told us a funny story of how she had forgotten there was even a Best Actress award in the first place, having been so focused on another award.

“Because while we were shooting and while we were doing all the promotions for the film, I would always hang out with Natts Jadaone, our writer, and then she would say, ‘Oh, nice sana manalo tayo ng (I hope we win the) Audience Choice Award.' So, I forgot about it! When I won it, I was in shock. I could not believe it. I think that was the first time I got to hug Direk Sam. It was overwhelming, and a nice surprise.”

Being an actress means having the confidence to step into the spotlight and perform in front of a camera. Pat described herself as a shy and awkward person, which was what she thought made her perfect for the role of Ace. She admitted that the biggest challenge for her throughout the entire experience wasn’t the acting workshops or the hours spent performing on set, but something more internal.

“I would feel anxious. I was feeling shy, and I think I was overthinking too much. Since this was my first film, I felt like I should not be a burden to everyone on set, especially our director and our producers.”

These were all valid feelings for someone who just got into entertainment, an industry known to put immense pressure on even the most veteran actors. Despite this, Pat pulled through, which she said was also thanks to the supportive team that surrounded her.

A Balancing Act

Her foray into acting doesn’t mean that she’s left behind her architecture job or volleyball altogether. The rookie actress pointed out that her other passions aided her in preparing for the role.

Being an architect meant she had great attention to detail which helped her reach the “almost perfect” results she was striving for. “I got to be very critical with how I want to do things. I really made an effort to study. I broke the script down to understand it better. How she [Ace] is, who she was, even before all the scenes were there on the script.”

Being a volleyball coach also reinforced her will to succeed. Pat told us about how coaches would always push their players to the best of their ability, which was how she managed to also push herself to do her best for the role.

It’s notable how Pat is juggling multiple interests and passions being an architect, a volleyball player, and now an actress, which makes us wonder how she manages to make time for them all.

“It’s very hard, *laughs* but we all know that work-life balance is a trial and error [process]. Everyone is good at a lot of things, and they also want to pursue their passions outside their work, but I guess I remind myself what I should prioritize. Know what sparks joy.”

Alongside being an architect for a company and pursuing acting gigs, Pat still volunteers as a coach for the junior volleyball team at a school, emphasizing that playing sports is something she loves and does for leisure and to de-stress. She also mentioned that she considers arts and crafts a much-needed hobby she can do on the side, which she explained was important to prevent burnout and is a way to express her creativity.

Having mastered skills in the arts and sports, Pat has truly come out as a “Jack of all Trades,” showing us the benefits of having multiple interests. Pat also emphasized the importance of adding variety to our lives by picking up new hobbies and interests.

“I think it's great that people embrace multiple passions and for people to also develop mastery in a certain skill. But for me, I'd always go down to practicality.” She also said that being a Jack of all trades may lead to connections with people of the same interests who could become business partners in the future, “As people we get burnt out so it's also nice to have another passion that you can pursue to take a break from that [your other] passion. So, you don't hate it at the end of the day.”

Get to know more about Pat and watch out for her upcoming projects by following her on Instagram and TikTok.

Enjoyed this article? Check out our previous Up-and-Coming articles here.