Angela Muji and Rabin Angeles open up about facing online bashing and how they transformed criticism into creative fuel for their performances in “A Werewolf Boy,” a Philippine adaptation of the beloved Korean film.
Online bashing has become an unavoidable reality for many young artists. For Angela Muji and Rabin Angeles, it was an emotional journey they never expected to shape their craft.
During a media conference for the Philippine adaptation of “A Werewolf Boy,” the two stars candidly shared how harsh online criticism affected their mental health and how they ultimately transformed that negativity into inspiration.
Angela Muji: “You’re not always going to be someone’s cup of tea”
Angela recalled that the hate did not come all at once. “Noong early 2025 po, I didn’t get a lot of hate comments. Sobrang bihira lang.”
As the year went on, however, the volume and intensity of the comments increased. “And then, in the middle of the year, they started coming in, and nanibago po ako. Hindi po ako sanay na nakakita ng hate comments so nagre-reply po ako, nagre-react ako. This really affected me deeply and also [affected] my mental health.”
Adjusting to that reality took time. By the latter part of the year, Angela said she slowly learned acceptance.
“Towards the end of 2025, I kind of learned how to accept it and take it as it is kasi not everyone will like you. You’re not always going to be someone’s cup of tea.”
The two-hour breakdown
The most difficult moment came while she was already working on the film. Fighting back tears, Angela admitted how deeply the comments cut while she was on set.
“I was bashed a lot,” she recalled.
Angela shared how reading the comments became almost impossible to resist. “Parang ayaw tumigil ng brain ko. I wanted to read. I wanted to know what they were saying about me.”
Overwhelmed, she broke down in private. “And I was in the dressing room… I was just crying for two hours straight while reading all those hate comments. [They] really got to me.”
Turning pain into performance
Yet in the midst of that pain, Angela found an unexpected release. Instead of letting the negativity consume her, she allowed those emotions to surface in her acting. “After that, it was time for us to shoot again. And then, I realized that it helped kasi noong eksena na po namin, lumabas na lang siya.”
She also reflected on how normalized online hate has become. “I think that’s the only positive thing I can take from that because those hate comments are everywhere today. They’re so normalized.”
Angela pointed out how anonymity fuels cruelty online. “[Because] people can easily hide behind fake profiles and dummy accounts, they can’t really be held accountable for the things they say online. It’s hard to track them now, so they feel free to throw out whatever words they want.”
Ending on a note of quiet resolve, she added: “And what I can say about that is, even though we don’t see your faces and you’re hiding behind those pictures, just know that God is always watching you, and lahat may balik.”
Rabin Angeles: choosing silence over sarcasm
Meanwhile, Rabin shared that he went through a similar struggle. At first, the criticism weighed heavily on him.
“Ako po, no. Noong una, sobrang naapektuhan po ako sa hate comments kasi binabasa ko sila palagi.”
Eventually, he realized that stepping back was healthier. “Pero noong bandang huli po, natutunan ko na parang mas healthy na huwag na lang basahin.”
Rather than allowing the negativity to break them, Rabin and Angela made a conscious decision to transform it into motivation especially for” A Werewolf Boy.”
The anonymity of hate
“Dito po sa movie, parang pinag-usapan namin ni Angela na gagawin namin yung best namin. Ginawa namin inspirasyon ang mga haters talaga namin. That’s true.”
Their response to hate is now firm and deliberate. “Parang kahit ano pong sabihin nila sa amin paulit-ulit, wala po akong ibang gagawin. Hindi po kami mababawi or anything. Hindi kami magre-reply.”
Instead, they let their work speak for itself. “Ginalingan na lang po namin sa pelikula. Binigay po namin yung best namin.”
In “A Werewolf Boy,” Angela and Rabin prove that even the harshest words can be transformed into strength—turning pain into purpose, and bashing into a powerful source of inspiration.
[Because] people can easily hide behind fake profiles and dummy accounts, they can’t really be held accountable for the things they say online. It’s hard to track them now, so they feel free to throw out whatever words they want.
Angela Muji
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