MANILA – Hailing from a showbiz clan has its ups and downs for Janine Gutierrez.

In an interview with “I Feel U” on Sunday, Gutierrez confessed that she sometimes finds it hard to get out of her family’s shadow because they are accomplished actors, actresses and performers in the entertainment industry.

“Of course they are many. It has its good side and the slightly pressure side, ”she said.

“It helps because I have a lot of acquaintances in the industry because my parents and family have already worked. And then it also puts pressure because you carry their name so you don’t want to embarrass them, that you are not as good as them or things like that, ”she added.

Gutierrez is the daughter of actors Lotlot de Leon and Ramon Christopher Gutierrez.

Her paternal grandparents are music icon Pilita Corrales and actor Eddie Gutierrez, while her maternal grandparents, de Leon’s adoptive parents, are screen superstar Nora Aunor and actor Christopher de Leon.

She is also the niece of her father’s half siblings, Tonton, Ruffa, Richard and Raymond Gutierrez.

Even if she is already a “showbiz royalty,” Gutierrez said she is determined to work hard and carve a path of her own.

Asked when she discovered her passion to become an actress, Gutierrez said it was during a time when she barely had any projects for a year.

“I first thought of him when I was in college but just to try it out because there is an opportunity. But what I really felt was the passion maybe when I didn’t have a job. There was one time when I felt like I had no teleserye or movie for one year, ”she said.

“That’s when I felt that my heart was longing for him. It was there that I realized that I really wanted to learn, study and perform well in TV and movies. That’s when I felt this hunger is really what I want to do so I need to learn how to do it well. ”

At 31, Gutierrez is certain that this is really what she wants to do in life.

“I think in recent years, I am really sure that this is really what I want to do. More so, recently in my last film, she won awards, ‘Women and Guns.’ This is also my first time to have an award for acting. ”

“For critics, directors, to recognize you, the big thing. It’s like confirmation that the path you are treading is right. Maybe that ‘s really the final’ It’s really okay, ‘” she said.