Until now, the 2022 Metro Manila Film Festival top grosser Deleter   starring Nadine Luster is still showing in theaters nationwide .

Besides being No. 1 at the box office among the eight MMFF entries, it even won many awards during the MMFF Awards Night, including Nadine being Best Actress, which is why Viva Films had a Thanksgiving presscon for the cast and director of Deleter.

The victory party cum press conference was held at Greyhound Thai Restaurant, the newest “baby” of Viva Foods located in Rockwell in Makati.

Nadine’s aura was obviously positive and happy when she arrived at Greyhound. Its beauty is glowing.

“We’re very happy of course with the result of Deleter, we’re just very grateful,” he said with a smile when he was immediately greeted by the press.

“Pure gratitude,” he added. ” I feel like I’m a broken plate just thanking you, but we’re really all very grateful.”

Due to the success of Deleter, is she really the new Box-Office Queen? 

“The new Box-Office Queen is great,” he said with a laugh. “But like I’ve said earlier, the Deleter team is very, very happy. I don’t know what else to say, we’re just very thankful that Deleter had a very good reception.”

There is talk now that Deleter will have a Part 2 and it is possible that it will be released at the next Metro Manila Film Festival just in case. But according to Nadine, nothing has been laid out to her about this yet.

“I don’t know, I’m not informed,” he answered with a laugh. “I have no idea.”

Meanwhile, apart from the title of new Box-Office Queen, Nadine has also been given the title of Horror Queen, which was once the title of Kris Aquino .

But Nadine seems to be uncomfortable with this matter, especially since she repeatedly says that she doesn’t want to be boxed in just one genre of film after she got out of the loveteam phase of her career. 

“It’s terrible,” he said evasively. “I don’t want to be the Horror Queen yet because it’s just one [ horror thing I’ve done ] . Maybe if it’s a bit too much, I can accept that.”

Nadine ended 2022 well and good things spilled over into 2023 so she welcomed the year with a positive mindset.

“I am very happy because many good things have happened. Actually earlier, I had a time when I was just sitting, I was listening to music, I thought that the school year of 2023 was going to be bad for me. 

“It seems like a lot of good things are happening. Even 2022. So, I’m looking forward to what will happen this year,” he promised with mixed thoughts.

Because of this, he seems to have promised himself to work hard this year. He said, it’s a waste of momentum if he lets go.

“What I really want for myself this year is to really grind and get back to circulation and get the momentum. So, I want to work more. 

“It’s a shame if you’ve broken the ice, then stop. That can be lost.  So, while that’s at it, keep going.

“Me, I’m very excited to work for this year. Hopefully more out-of-the-box [projects] .”

Meanwhile, no one is more proud of Nadine now than her family. Due to the success of his son, his Daddy Ulysses recently posted on social media praises for his son with a little twist.

“Congratulations Ate! With real talents, hardwork and determination, you have proven that ‘Love Teams can be……… Deleted,” ani Daddy Ulysses sa Facebook.

But the road to solo success was not easy. It can be remembered that they had a falling out of his home studio Viva in 2020 which was only resolved in December 2021.

When her former loveteam and ex-boyfriend James Reid decided not to renew ties with Viva in 2019, Nadine’s career seemed to be in limbo. He was left in Viva because unlike James, his contract is not over yet.

In 2020, Nadine tried to get out of her contract with Viva and declared herself self-managed. But later they and Viva resolved the issue and agreed that Nadine and Viva will “…continue their professional relationship on an exclusive basis until December 31, 2029 with Nadine retaining her rights to decide on matters in connection with her branding and image.”

But during the lull that Nadine was not seen in any screen projects, she admitted that she lost her desire to act. He said he wondered if what he was doing was still worth it.

“Personally, there are times when I lose my passion for what I do because burnout is also real ,” he admitted to the press during the Deleter victory party.

“The one when you’re so tired and you keep doing what you’re doing over and over again? That’s really like…especially if you’re getting sick? That’s really hard, huh. That’s when you really think like, ‘Do I still like what I’m doing?’ Like, ‘ Is it still worth it ?’ I reached the point one time when I said to myself, ‘I don’t want what I’m doing anymore.’ Because I’m so tired.”

But she willed herself to continue because she still has many dreams.

“But I guess definitely one of the reasons why I continued it when I continued it is because I also have something I want to do in life. I have goals in life. I have something I want to achieve, my dreams …that’s also one of the things that motivates me even though there are times when I feel like I’m lax.”

He said that once he felt that he was losing his passion, he just went back in his mind to the things he still wanted to do to get inspired again.

“When I feel like I’m saying to myself, ‘That’s okay, that can be done,’…I always go back to the things I want to do to inspire me again. It’s like I know at least I’m okay. ‘Alright, I want this project, let’s do it, let’s do our best , let’s do our 110 percent effort .’

“I guess right now, I’m very lucky because at this point in my career I can now choose the things I want to do. I can also say no to the things I don’t want to do. Because before I was a little new, ‘Okay, let’s just do it.’ But now I guess I ‘m learning. If you do too much, your health will also suffer . So, I guess I ‘m very lucky to be able to do what I want . I can say no if I don’t want to.”     

He started his dream out-of-the-box role in the movie Greed by Yam Laranas in March 2022 where his character is deglamorized and has a hidden flip. It was followed by the successful Deleter.

Today, a happy Nadine is always facing the press. He proved that he can succeed without a love team.

She is said to be at a point in her life now that she has realized she’s born to be an actress. If he had any doubt before that acting was for him, it is gone now.

“Maybe it’s me, my realization is , I’m really for this,” he promised confidently.

” Because, there are times when I don’t want to act,” he looked back again. “I don’t want to act anymore.  I just want to do business or outside of showbiz. 

“So, I guess, this is the only thing that made me realize that this is what I’m really for.  And now I realize more that I want to do him more. Because before,  it was like, ‘Okay, okay, let’s do the project…’   Now, I’m more passionate than before.

“I lost him a bit but I’m really happy that I found my passion again .”