Julia Montes to make teleserye comeback with ‘Saving Grace’

Julia Montes will finally make her much-awaited teleserye comeback with “Saving Grace,” the Filipino adaptation of the Japanese drama “Mother.”

Montes’ new project was announced on ABS-CBN Entertainment’s YouTube channel on Monday, July 15, where the actress is set to take the lead role. Details about her co-stars, storyline, and premiere date are yet to be disclosed.

This marks the actress’ first lead role in a teleserye in four years since “24/7.” She previously appeared on “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano” in a guest role in 2021.

“Special talaga sa akin ’yung project kasi ito ang huling usap namin ni Sir Deo [Endrinal]. The plan for ‘Saving Grace’ is really big… ang ganda ng story and ang ganda ng lesson… na gustong sabihin ng serye. Special siya sa’kin [in a sense] na ito ang pinangako ko kay Sir Deo (The project is really special for me because this is what we last discussed with Sir Deo Endrinal. The plan for “Saving Grace” is really big. The story, lesson, and what it wants to tell the audience are beautiful. This is also special for me in a sense because this is what I promised Sir Deo.),” Montes told ABS-CBN News in an interview on its YouTube channel.

Montes then became emotional while expressing her admiration for the late Dreamscape Entertainment head Deo Endrinal, saying the latter always reminded her of her abilities as an actress.

“Special siya sa ’kin kasi [parang] saving Mara (It’s special to me because it’s like saving Mara.),” she said while referring to her birth name. “Sinave ako ni Sir Deo in many ways, personal, career, and I felt na ever since isa si Sir Deo na naniwala sa kaya ko. (Sir Deo saved me in many ways: personal, career, and I felt that ever since Sir Deo was one of those who believed I could do it.)”

Touching on her “Mara Clara” days, Montes also shared that Endrinal entrusted the role of Clara to her while sharing that there were a lot of plans for the upcoming series.

“Going back sa ‘Mara Clara,’ hindi ko ineexpect na ibibigay sa’kin si Clara. But Sir Deo… Siya laging nagpapaalala na kaya ko. So ngayon, siyempre, iba na (Going back to “Mara Clara,” I didn’t expect that Clara would be given to me. But Sir Deo always reminded me that I can do it. But of course, things are different now.),” she said, referring to his death.

“Ang dami naming plano for the project. Gusto naming gumawa ng charity for the story… Malapit siya sa’kin. Maraming factors na na-touch ang puso ko (We have a lot of plans for this project. We want to make a charity for the story. The story is close to my heart. It has a lot of factors that touch my heart.),” she continued.

“Saving Grace” is based on the 2010 drama “Mother” which revolves around Suzuhara Nao (Yasuko Matsuyuki), an elementary school teacher. Suzuhara soon discovers that one of her students, Michiki Rena, has been abused by her mother, which draws them closer to one another.

Aside from the Philippines, the drama has been adapted in China, South Korea, Thailand, and Spain, to name a few.