Liza Soberano has revealed her soul in an emotional interview for the series “Can I Come In?”
Liza sat down with Australian-Palestinian director Sarah Bahbah and shared stories of childhood abuse, neglect and survival. She began at the beginning. “So I was born in Santa Clara, California, January 4th, 1998… My mom was 18 at the time and my dad was 22… they just… they literally didn’t know what to do.”
She shared how her early life was surrounded by addiction and violence. Her mother was addicted to crystal meth; her father, a chemist, was jailed before being deported. She remembered being just two years old when her mother’s partner turned violent.
“He told me to hit my baby brother’s head with my car seat… and then he hit me in the head with the bottom of a gun.”
The trauma led to foster care — but the abuse continued.
“They called me the family dog,” Liza said, tearfully. “I had to sit in a cardboard box behind the sofa during family movie nights.”
She recalled being starved, choked, punished for asking for food, and once forced to lick carpet after a dog had defecated on it.
Her paternal grandparents later took her and her brother in. That was the first time Liza experienced stability. “My grandparents took very good care of us… We were living actually a very lavish lifestyle.”
But her emotional attachment to her mother never faded. “I was obsessed with my mom… I craved and longed to be with her.”
At age 10, she was sent to the Philippines to live with her estranged father. The reunion was cold and confusing.
“Out of nowhere this guy comes up to me and kisses me on the cheek… I was disgusted. He said, ‘It’s Daddy.’ I said, ‘John, nice to meet you.’”
“He demanded so much from me as a daughter that I feel was unmerited because he wasn’t around.”
Acting became her way out. She began working at 12 and found validation in the spotlight. “I think the first time that I felt truly worthy of love was when I started gaining fans… and through my love team partner, Enrique.”
Their romance started before their love team pairing — but stayed private for years. Liza revealed their eight-year relationship ended three years ago.
“Quen and I broke up. But yeah, we’ve been broken up for almost three years now.”
She respected Enrique’s request to keep it quiet. “Originally, the reason we haven’t said anything about it is because Enrique or Ken asked me not to… I agreed because I also didn’t want it to be real.”
“Nothing bad happened… Our breakup was really good. It was just… we weren’t a match anymore.”
In one of the interview’s most powerful moments, Liza cut slices of cake for the people who hurt her—and one for herself.
At the end, she said she’s ready to stop seeking approval from others. “I’m done chasing approval from my family. I’m done chasing approval from my fans. I’m done chasing approval from people I quite frankly don’t care about.”
When asked what freedom looks like, Liza answered: “An open field, just full of life, full of green pastures, flowers, butterflies, birds… It feels safe.”
But when asked if she feels that now? “No, I don’t feel like I have that freedom right now.”
Still, she made herself a promise. “Hope, I promise you, I’m never going to let anyone make you feel inferior ever.”
