Barbie Forteza and the scent of horror
Scents and smells are deceptively potent sensory triggers. A single whiff can stir emotions, set the mood, and unlock deep-seated memories. For Barbie Forteza, spraying on perfume isn’t only about smelling good or being courteous to her co-workers on set—it helps her get into character.
“Scent is a big thing for me and makes a big difference in my creative process,” she tells Lifestyle Inquirer.
Transitioning through scents
While filming the psychological thriller “P77,” Forteza wore Eclat d’Arpège by Lanvin, whose notes unwittingly reflected the emotional beats of her character, Luna. Similar to how the perfume’s fruity and floral zest gives way to a subtle woody base, Luna—a cruise ship maid who quits her job to take care of her sick brother—starts out fragile and vulnerable, before a series of events (both real and supernatural) brings out a kind of strength unbeknown to her.
“The smell alerts my senses,” she says. “I do that intentionally, as my way of telling myself, ‘I’m here. Now, I’m Luna.’”
This practice comes in especially handy when she’s juggling two projects at once, like that time last year when she had to shuttle between “P77” and the war drama series “Pulang Araw.” Or when she takes on a character so far removed from her own, like in the 2023 soap opera “Maging Sino Ka Man,” where she played an heiress who disguises herself as a boy.
“That’s when it all started, actually. I was playing someone tough and boyish, and I kept getting put off by the sweet, fresh perfume I was wearing at the time. Parang, teka, sandali lang, ang hirap!” she recalls, laughing. “So that had me exploring and wearing scents for men. Suddenly, there was more angas in the way I moved.”
But more than just a character-development tool, scent also immerses Forteza into her surroundings. Take for instance, the bare, ominous-looking tree that stands in the middle of Penthouse 77—an opulent residential unit at a luxury high-rise, where Luna eventually works as a caretaker. Turns out, the place was once a morgue. And there, she comes face to face with all the pain and trauma she has been desperately trying to run away from.
Wood, musk, and the in-betweens
As such, Forteza instinctively associated the scent of wood with fear and horror. “The smell of the tree was something I found memorable. It really helped me prepare for the role,” she says. “For me, wood and musk evoke a sense of mystery. There’s so much character to those scents.”
And sometimes, after a particularly stressful or emotionally draining take, she also relies on scents for quick relief. “I love those little inhalers from Thailand!” she says, laughing.
Of course, beneath this sensory approach still lies the usual foundation of character analysis—script reading, research, and internalization.
Because she often arrived on the set of “P77,” fresh from shooting “Pulang Araw,” Forteza made sure to reread the whole script every time she could—not just the scenes being shot that day—to give her mind a reset. The 27-year-old star also watched and studied Björk’s performance in the Lars von Trier film “Dancer in the Dark,” where the singer-actress played a role similarly wired to Luna.
Forteza is one of the finest and most accomplished actresses of her generation, having won—among many others—the 2014 Cinemalaya Best Supporting Actress trophy for “Mariquina” and the 2016 Fantasporto International Film Festival Best Actress award for “Laut.” But while she’s known for her natural ability to effectively adapt and deliver across genres—from comedy to drama—horror remains the most challenging for her, simply because it’s the one she has done the least. In fact, the last proper horror flick she starred in was “The Road,” way back in 2011.
Joy and loneliness are emotions most of us are more or less accustomed to. Visceral fear? Maybe not as much. And that makes the portrayal of fear all the more difficult. “It’s one of the things we actively avoid. We do everything in our power not to be afraid, so forcing that feeling every time takes a lot,” points out Forteza, who also bears the weight of starring in her first solo lead role in a mainstream film.
She also had to soften her usual television style-acting—bigger movements and expressions—to suit the big screen, which offers a bigger real estate for more nuanced and subdued performances. “Nakakahilo naman kung animated pa rin!” she jests. “Movement is minimal because there are lots of quiet scenes where there’s nothing but you and your own thoughts.”
Layers of fear
That’s exactly the kind of experience director Derick Cabrido hopes to give viewers when the film opens today, July 30, in cinemas. And true to the core of its producers, GMA Pictures and GMA Public Affairs, “P77” presents horror—not just as a personal response to the unexplainable, but also as a mirror to what’s happening within the family unit and society.
Peel away the superficial layer of the supernatural, and you reveal the psychological torment of post-traumatic stress disorder. Dig away at that second layer, and you unearth a deeper social narrative at play: the glaring disparity between life in the slums and the glitz and excess hundreds of feet above; the way the poor are compelled to enter a world alien to them to make ends meet.
“What’s scary about real-life social issues is that you can’t simply walk away from them—you have to face those realities every day,” she says. “Poverty leads to hopelessness, and that’s a frightening feeling. There’s fear in having so many people depend on you—when you know you can only do and give so much.”
It’s a feeling Forteza is no stranger to. Sure, she has an irrational fear of clowns and rag dolls, and there was a time she experienced sleep paralysis during taping. But there’s nothing quite as nerve-wracking as monthly electricity and credit card bills, she says with a laugh.
Seriously, though, the anxiety and uncertainty that came with being the family breadwinner—especially when she was just starting out—were very real. But now that life is more comfortable, her worries have shifted to something she knows is inevitable: the slow decline of her loved ones’ health. Twice, her father was rushed to the hospital for different reasons while she was at work. And while she did everything she could to be there for him, she couldn’t help but still feel a pang of guilt.
And that—more than haunted house jumpscares, extreme heights, or sleep demons—is Forteza’s greatest fear. Sometimes, fear smells like wood. And sometimes, like regret and the idea of falling short.
“I’m scared about not being there for the people I love when they need me,” she says. “Losing a loved one may just be the most painful and horrifying thing anyone can ever experience.”
