‘Nocebo’ star Chai Fonacier shares her artistic journey

Fonacier’s first passion project was a play she wrote about five friends who time-travelled through a magical door. “I had myself cast as a witch because I thought being a villain was interesting,” the actress shares. She adds that even at the time, comments about her skin tone still affected her. “In hindsight, I also put myself in that role because of what people said about me—if I can’t be a princess because of my skin colour, then perhaps I could be a witch.”

Now wiser and more confident, Fonacier admits that the challenges posed by her colour are still difficult to avoid. “I am not the person people want to see on screen. I do not have Eurocentric features,” she bares. “I was hired for badly-written roles. What that meant to me was ‘we’re hiring you because we think you’re ugly and it’s funny’.”

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The artist is more than a filler character. What so many talent agencies opted to ignore is a girl brimming with creativity. When she’s not onstage and in front of the camera, Fonacier writes, cooks, brews pillow mists and makes music. She says these hobbies stemmed from the need to make the most of her life. “God knows how many people died without honouring the creative parts of themselves. I do not want to be one of them,” she explains.

For Fonacier, creativity is innate in humans. “To think that creativity and the human mind are separate entities is a misconception,” she argues. “We are all creative people. How did humans discover fire again? How did we come up with houses, communities, and planting grains? Creativity gave birth to all these innovations.”

Finally, in 2022, Fonacier garnered the attention she so rightfully deserves. In Finnegan’s Nocebo, she brushed shoulders with international stars like Eva Green (Christine) and Mark Strong (Felix). 

The artist looks back at the time she auditioned for the role in 2020. “My partner and one of my best friends stayed up all night with me while I recorded my audition videos,” she discloses. For the most part, Fonacier says she was nervous, especially after she learnt about the actors who will be in the film with her. “I wish they did not tell me Eva would play Christine because that made me anxious. I wanted to nail it [my performance].”

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At the time, the Philippines’ independent artists were plagued by the lack of opportunities and resources; Fonacier says she would have plunged further into depression had she failed to get the role. “I barely had any projects. There were bills I needed to pay, incurring debts, et cetera. I was only eating non-nutritious food, and a virus threatened us all.”

Fonacier’s Visayan accent on Nocebo sparked an online debate—some audiences say it perpetuates the “dangerous Filipino stereotypes in Western media”. The actress maintains, however, that English accents worldwide are based on the speakers’ respective mother tongues. She also asserts that there are other factors to consider: educational, socioeconomic, and cultural backgrounds.

“I think many people forget we are a country with more than 100 languages influencing our accents. Diana is Bisaya. She did not finish school and was exploited for her otherworldly skill. She did not have the same pop culture influences people her age had. The use of a ‘better’ English would have made her character less believable,” says the actress.

“As a Bisaya myself, I can say that I have multiple English accents, which I shift in and out of depending on the situation,” she adds. 

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, most of the country’s household population classified themselves as Cebuano (31.8 per cent). The rest were either Bisaya or Binisaya (23.4 per cent), Boholano (11.9 per cent), Hiligaynon/Ilonggo (7.7 per cent) or belonging to other ethnic groups (18 per cent).

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Fonacier shares one encounter she had with a Filipina whose mother was Visayan. “She approached me after the screening in Sitges Film Festival and told me how wonderful it was to hear her Visayan mother’s accent on screen,” Fonacier shares. “So with the question about ‘do accents set dangerous stereotypes in Western media?’ Only when the intention is to punch us down, to exoticise us, and put us in a box,” she adds. 

For the artist, there are bigger problems that need to be addressed. “When we believe the story we are shown about a particular group is the only thing true about them, anything else is impossible.” She states that even in local mainstream media, Bisaya people have been stereotyped to be ridiculed. “There is a thin line between good comedy and ridicule,” Fonacier explains.

“Mainstream stories have told the regional story on a one-way street: them telling us who we are, while our true stories barely get told.”

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It is safe to presume that Fonacier’s name has reached the Philippines’ largest media outlets. As of this post, she has one best actress accolade (from the 2015 Cinema One Originals) and even appeared in Zig Dulay’s hit TV show Maria Clara at Ibarra. 

When asked whether she feels accomplished, the actress says, “I am grateful”. “Awards are certainly great for résumés. But I echo what Ms Dolly de Leon said. While they are great to have, they are not the end-all-and-be-all of acting careers. As artists, we should always be improving ourselves.” 

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Fonacier, who is among the few local talents who have been making a mark in the international entertainment scene, believes that there is still a huge leap to make proper representation.

“We have to ask—how do we look at ourselves? Before we can be represented properly out there, we have to know how we truly present ourselves. We have to tell our own stories and truths. Decolonisation,” she shares. 

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Fonacier says that institutions need to strengthen their support for struggling artists in terms of funding and lobbying for their rights.

She mentions a bill filed in the lower house by House Deputy Speaker Camille Villar. “I hope legislators understand that it’s not just about funding. We need to support the rights of our own film and TV workers. When we do that, we can tell our stories better and even get an Oscar if that’s what they want.”

The artist says that to foster Philippine cinema, there must be further discussions about the plight of many film creatives. “Let’s not count our chickens before they hatch, and let’s not count our eggs when they have yet to be fed,” she asserts. “We must not discuss basic workers’ rights only when someone dies or achieves something noteworthy.”

The name’s Chai Fonacier. Today she is an actress, a singer, an advocate, and who knows who she could be tomorrow.

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