CABRAL. Has a featured role in Park Chan-Wook’s Cannes-winning Korean drama.

AS A TEENAGER, life wasn’t perfect for Mercedes Cabral, who shot to fame in Brillante Mendoza’s “Serbis” and “Kinatay” and was recently seen in “Ganap na Babae.” Financial problems hounded her family, so the young Fine Arts student had to quit school.

She explains, “My brother and I went to UP. The tuition was OK, but we couldn’t afford everything else. I got angry, because I couldn’t understand why I had to quit school.”

To make ends meet, Cabral, the only girl among three siblings, went into modeling and posed nude for artists. She then auditioned for the role of Coco Martin’s paramour in “Serbis,” and the rest is history. “Sa ‘Serbis,’ hirap ako kasi iniisip ko, magagalit ang parents ko.”

Why did she go frontally nude? She replies, “I wanted to make some noise, and I knew direk Dante wouldn’t exploit me. After that, I was typecast as a ‘starlet.’ Puro hubaran ang offer. Masakit na ganun ang tingin ng iba sa akin, kasi may iba pa akong kayang gawin.”

In full force

During the screening of “Ganap na Babae,” her family came in full force. What does his father, Dindo, feel about her sexy roles? She confesses, “It was the first time I invited them to see my film on the big screen. Alam kong nasaktan sila sa earlier movies ko.

“My father could have told me to stop, and I would have obeyed him. But, when he saw ‘Ganap na Babae,’ he really liked it!”

What was it like being directed by Mendoza? “Nakakatakot! He’s different when we chill out to drink and when we work. We don’t know where the story leads. We just learn about it during the first screening!”

The actress recalls her excitement during the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, when she was voted in an online poll as the Most Beautiful Woman by photographers. “The paparazzi kept on calling my name. There was one guy who came to me and gave me a flower. When I returned to Cannes for ‘Kinatay,’ kilala pa rin ako ng mga photographer—nakakatuwa!”

These days, Cabral’s acting career is in full bloom. Her Cannes exposure led her to work with Korean filmmaker, Park Chan-Wook (“Old Boy”), in “Thirst,” this year’s Jury Prize winner.

Amazing mind

How does Park work with actors? She beams, “His mind is amazing! He knows how to get you involved in the story.”

After shooting “Ganap na Babae,” Cabral said she got depressed. She explains, “The role was hard emotionally. I couldn’t let go. I cried for a week! I went out with my friends to shake it off.”

Any regrets in her career choices? She firmly answers, “None. I learn from my mistakes!”