EXCLUSIVE: Nicole Omillo steps into spotlight with long overdue lead role

Underrated actress finally gets her breakout moment in “Our Yesterday’s Escape” after years of scene-stealing performances.

It’s time Nicole Omillo became a household name.

Nicole Omillo has spent nearly a decade proving that she can sing, dance, act onstage, carry a film, and disappear completely into a character.

She has won awards, played iconic musical theater roles, appeared in acclaimed films and streaming series, and delivered performances convincing enough to make audiences love—or hate—the people she portrays. Yet despite an impressive body of work, Omillo remains one of the country’s most underrated performers.

That may finally change with “Our Yesterday’s Escape,” where she steps into her first major leading role in a feature film.

It is a moment that feels long overdue.

From singer to storyteller

Omillo didn’t enter acting because someone convinced her to. She simply fell in love with it.

After landing her first acting project, “Class 3C” on Sari Sari Channel, she realized how much she enjoyed becoming someone else.

“I just genuinely enjoyed it,” she told radar.ph in an exclusive interview . “The moment I got the chance to try it and was given my first project, ‘Class 3C,’ I realized how much I loved portraying someone else.”

That excitement naturally turned into discipline. The more she acted, the more she wanted to improve.

But the first time she truly felt she belonged in show business didn’t happen after landing a role or receiving an award.

It happened after an early performance at the ABS-CBN Christmas Bazaar at the World Trade Center, when a young girl approached her with her mother to ask for a photo.

“My daughter really loves your voice,” the mother told her. “She says she wants to be like you someday.”

At the time, Omillo was still in high school.

“Hearing that made me realize that what I loved doing could actually inspire other people, especially kids, to chase their own dreams,” she recalled. “That was probably the moment I felt like I truly belonged here.”

Letting the work speak for itself

Omillo first entered entertainment as a member of the all-female sing-and-dance group Sugar ’N Spice before signing with Viva Artists Agency in 2016.

Since then, she has quietly built one of the most diverse resumes among young Filipino performers.

She has appeared in films such as “Indak,” “More Than Blue,” “What If,” “Ikaw Pa Rin Ang Pipiliin Ko,” “Lilim,” and the award-winning “Boys at the Back.” On television and streaming, she has become a familiar face through projects including “The Rain in España,” “Safe Skies, Archer,” “Avenues of the Diamond,” and “Golden Scenery of Tomorrow.”

She has also excelled onstage, winning the Gawad Buhay Award for Female Lead Performance in a Musical for playing Basha in PETA’s “One More Chance: The Musical.”

Her performance in “Boys at the Back” likewise earned her the Best Supporting Actress award at the inaugural Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival.

For many actors, awards are the goal. For Omillo, they were simply unexpected validation.

“I never told myself, ‘I have to do well so I can win an award.’ That’s never been my mindset,” she said.

“What matters most to me is giving every role the respect and dedication it deserves.”

Receiving awards only confirmed that she was on the right path.

“It made me realize that I’m actually doing something right—that this isn’t just something I enjoy doing, but something I’m truly meant to do.”

More than her characters

Many viewers associate Omillo with strong, intimidating, or even villainous roles.

Because of that, people often assume she is just as intimidating in real life.

“I think one of the biggest misconceptions about me is that I’m mataray or maarte,” she admitted.

In reality, she says she’s simply soft-spoken.

“Once people get to know me, they realize I’m actually very different.”

The irony is that audiences mistake her for the characters she plays precisely because she plays them so convincingly.

The lead role she’s ready for

Omillo doesn’t see her years in supporting roles as time spent waiting.

Instead, those experiences taught her that every character matters.

“Supporting roles taught me just how important every character is in telling a story,” she said. “People sometimes underestimate how much supporting characters contribute, but they really add depth and meaning to every film or series.”

Now leading “Our Yesterday’s Escape,” she says she appreciates the entire cast even more because she understands how every role shapes the lead’s journey.

The transition also taught her something personal.

“One thing I’ve also learned—and maybe even had to unlearn—is that you can’t please everyone,” she said.

“As your audience grows, you’re grateful for all the support, but you also realize that not everyone will like what you do, and that’s okay.”

A different side of Nicole

In “Our Yesterday’s Escape,” Omillo plays Kierra, a woman unlike many of the fierce characters she has portrayed before.

Kierra is vulnerable. She doesn’t always fight back.

“There were scenes where I kept thinking, ‘No, she can’t just stay quiet,’” Omillo admitted. “But that’s who Ke is in those moments, and I had to trust her journey.”

The film also required her to shoot a one-night stand scene, something she never imagined herself doing.

“Mentally, it was very challenging,” she said. “But I understood how important it was to the story, and I trusted the project enough to do it.”

She now believes audiences will see a side of both Kierra—and herself—that they haven’t seen before.

The work people don’t see

Despite nearly a decade in the industry, Omillo still has moments of self-doubt.

Her biggest insecurity isn’t her talent. It’s whether people recognize the work behind it.

“Sometimes people think everything came easily for me, but I’ve worked really hard to get where I am,” she said.

“I think that’s one of my biggest insecurities—that people don’t always see the work, the preparation, and the sacrifices behind what I do.”

Instead of talking about the effort, she prefers to let the finished performance speak.

“I usually just let my work speak for itself.”

Perhaps that’s why Nicole Omillo has quietly become one of the industry’s best-kept secrets.

She has the voice of a recording artist, the instincts of a seasoned actress, the discipline of a theater performer, and now, the opportunity to lead a film.

The talent has never been in question.

What’s missing is the recognition.

And if “Our Yesterday’s Escape” is any indication, it’s time Nicole Omillo became a household name.

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