Why Sofia Andres will not do another teleserye just yet

MANILA -- If you’re a first-time mom of a terrible two, you can hardly cope with a busy schedule and the baby will undoubtedly get in the way.

Fortunately, for young actress Sofia Andres, her two-year-old daughter, Zoe, is simply a manageable baby.

“From the time I gave birth, hindi siya iyakin,” Andres told ABS-CBN News. “I’m very lucky. But I really have to watch her, because lahat ng ginagawa namin, ginagawa na niya.”

No wonder, Andres can shuttle between home and her other appointments with hardly any worries. However, her priority since she gave birth in November 2019 has always been Zoe.

“I love being a mom,” Andres said. “Hindi ko ma-trade sa taping and TV work si Zoe. I can’t see myself taping and my kid is just with the yaya. Ayoko siyang lumaki with just the yaya.”

Andres shares her parenting duties with the baby’s father, Daniel Miranda. The two have not been seriously thinking about tying the knot and instead, said taking care of Zoe is their priority at the moment.

Since she gave birth more two years ago in Sydney, Australia, Andres tried going back to showbiz. She was cast in the primetime soap, “La Vida Lena,” that started airing late in 2020 until 2021.

“I tried,” Andres admitted. “Two months lock-in for ‘La Vida Lena.’ While taping, I got anxiety attacks thinking about my daughter. I wanted to go home. I wanted to see my daughter.”

Andres did finish the teleserye. “Grateful naman that I completed my taping and finished it,” she said. “Maybe in time, the next teleserye will have to wait.”

She realized she simply had to wait when taping schedules will return to normal and she didn’t have to be away from her baby for a long time.

“Now pa lang nag-imagine na ako living without my daughter, I get stressed right away,” Andres said. “Separation anxiety. With the lock-in, I go crazy.”

She’s busy being a mom and with her alcohol business, Zoe Essential, named after Zoe. “I just want to make sure I have something to get busy with,” the actress explained. “During pandemic when I started my alcohol business I started calling up people.

“Sa packaging, ako lahat. In the future, I plan to expand to include scents and candles maybe.”

This pandemic, Andres also started to paint. “Just at home,” she proudly said about her breakthrough. “I used to draw and simply explored. Now, I have students na. Very creative and all on the business side.”

So far, Andres has finished close to 20 paintings and has sold nine of her works. “Expressing myself in painting makes me proud of myself,” she said.

She simply paints any subject, from how she feels at the moment to flowers, faces, planets. “I just imagine how I feel, whenever I’m in the mood to paint. Sometimes, wala namang lumalabas no matter how hard I tried,” she lamented.

Andres has plans of holding a one-woman show most likely next year, when she has completed enough works. “Compared to other painters, I just have to practice more,” she humbly admitted.

A bronzed and visibly glowing Andres sauntered into the function room in an Alabang hotel, where her product endorsement, Sooper Beaute, was unveiled.

The mestiza Andres admitted she likes sporting her tan color. “I’m always on the beach,” she said. “In Batangas, Cebu. Before, takot ako sa araw. My mom noticed maganda naman ang tan ko ngayon. So I decided to maintain it.”

Sooper Beaute was Andres’ first beauty endorsement when she was only 16. “Now that I’m turning 23 [on August 24], they asked me to be their muse again. They’re the ones who really trusted me.”

Jessica Palma, CEO of Sooper Beaute, decided to transition to a minimalist and chic theme for the relaunch of the beauty products, which started in 2013.

Sooper Beaute is no stranger to the wrath of COVID-19. They had to close their brick and mortar stores, pivoted to the new challenge and focused on online selling.

This pandemic, Andres realized the importance of spending more time with her family.

“It’s very, very important,” she asserted. “I realized it’s really precious. Now that I have a kid, I have to really spend time with her especially during the pandemic. She couldn’t really go out and be with the other kids.

“I’ve seen all that. It was very stressful for me. Wala siyang ka-interaction. I also had COVID, to be honest. It was really sad for us. At the end of the day, I still see that my family is complete. I have my family. I’m healthy. That’s enough for me.”

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