Lilia Cuntapay, Best Actress

You may not know Lilia Cuntapay by name, but that's quite alright. Because after more than thirty years in showbiz, the reality is that most people don't. But if you're at all fond of horror films from the Philippines, you would know her familiar face.

As a bit player in many iconic horror movies, we took her for granted as the token lola in the background, the aswang, or the evil yaya.

Cuntapay has, for decades now, been the go-to face that local directors call on when they need a witch or a ghost for a quality shock. And now she gets her very first lead role in a film that's all about ... her.



The movie follows the life of a "popular" bit player nominated for the first time in her 30-year showbiz career. Wanting to deliver the perfect thank you speech, she writes, re-writes, erases and re-writes again as her everyday encounters, pre-Awards Night jitters and too many unsolicited advice overwhelm her mind.

Though the awards featured in director Antoinette Jadone's moc-doc are fake, Cuntapay is every inch the real thing and, clearly, she has a fabulous sense of humor to play along like this.

In the indie film Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay  is described as a bittersweet fictional account on Cuntapay's life as a Philippine showbiz extra. It was an entry to the 2011 Cinema One Originals -- directed by Antoinette H. Jadaone.

The film won six awards, including a Best Actress award for Cuntapay. The film was an inspiring story underneath all the cool pop culture references, the impressive celebrity cameos, and wonderful acting, this funny, touching, and fictionalized documentary on her tragicomic life.

Lilia Cuntapay is a Filipina actress. She is most likely known for her debut role in the Filipino horror film series Shake Rattle and Roll.

Cuntapay appeared as an albularyo in the ABS-CBN afternoon TV series Precious Hearts Romances Presents: Bud Brothers. She was featured in the Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho 2009 Halloween Special. She appeared as Rosanna, a role which she shared with Maricar Reyes, in the Midnight DJ "Kwentas ng Mangkukulam" episode. Cuntapay was also cast as Miley Cyrus in Lokomoko High's spoof of the Party in the USA music video. At the end of the year, she had a minor role in the film Nobody, Nobody But... Juan -- an entry to the 2009 Metro Manila Film Festival.

In 2010, she played an old lady in The Last Prince and a fairy disguised as an old lady in the "Inday Bote" episode of Wansapanataym.

She played Upeng in the mini-series Sa Ngalan ng Ina, the first offering under TV5's TV5 Miniserye series.