Solenn Heussaff is no stranger to a booked and busy life. 

As an actress and model, Solenn often found herself diving into scripts, taping for movie scenes, and going from one shoot to the next. This was what life looked like for her for over a decade — until she decided in 2020 that she wanted to focus on motherhood. 

Solenn is a mother to two girls, Thylane and Maelys, with her husband Nico Bolzico. She had momentarily traded the chaos of being under the showbiz spotlight for a focus on other self-fulfilling pursuits, shifting to doing content collaborations, fashion appearances, and art exhibitions where she would tell stories on the canvas. 

Since 2016, Solenn has played the diwata Cassiopea in the long-running fanta-serye Encantandia — yet it had been four years since she last appeared in a film. The last time fans saw her on screen was during her portrayal of Anna in the 2021 movie The Fabulous Filipino Brothers. 

Solenn is back, making her long-awaited return in the Jeffrey Jeturian-directed UnMarry as Maya, a career-oriented woman going through the process of annulment amidst the country’s straight-laced attitude toward matrimony. 

And for the 40-year-old star, this role couldn’t have come at a better time. 

Right place, right time

Solenn is equipped with years of experience in the showbiz scene — having made her debut in 2010. Her decision to shift her focus to family and married life gave her a newfound sense of wisdom in portraying Maya that perhaps her past acting stints alone could not. 

“I think since I’m a married woman now and I’ve matured more, this was a project that I could understand. If I were to do this project in my 20s, I wouldn’t have been able to know how important marriage is or how marriage can also break sometimes,” Solenn told Rappler.

The Filipino romance-drama UnMarry delves into the sensitive and often taboo subject of annulment in the Philippines, intertwining the stories of Celine (Angelica Panginiban) and Ivan (Zanjoe Marudo) as they navigate the emotional and legal complexities of dissolving their marriages while fighting custody battles.

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In the film, Maya is Ivan’s wife. 

UnMarry — which won 2nd Best Picture at the 2025 Metro Manila Film Festival Gabi ng Parangal — tackles real-life experiences that call for a different approach to acting on screen.

Unlike Cassiopea, whom she knew by heart, in which its fantasy element became a great advantage since it’s not based on a real person, Maya is a character Solenn learned to handle with more compassion and care — all because of her lifelike struggles. 

“With UnMarry, you don’t want to overdo it because it’s a real topic and people actually go through these things. So it’s really about knowing how to attack or approach a certain scene, but being sensitive and being compassionate about the person and the things you’re saying. So it’s very, very difficult,” Solenn shared, adding that in preparing for the role, she had done character research, read up on the processes of divorce, and talked to her friends who have gone through the same thing. 

A persistent struggle for Solenn has always been the language barrier. Filipino is not her first language — and UnMarry had her confront that head-on.

“It’s always been like a back and forth of: can I do this? Can I not? And then not knowing how I’m going to get into the scene because I’m not fully confident about certain things. But I’ve always loved it [acting], so I want to do it.”

In hindsight, Solenn’s awareness of the parts she can and cannot do has made her feel more at ease and comfortable with herself. It’s why taking the role of Maya was such an easy decision for her — because struggles aside, it was the script that really drew her in. 

More than one thing

Women have always played more than one role in society, yet still fully know what they want to achieve in life. In today’s landscape of modern love, personal freedom is an essential component that all women must embody to truly know themselves outside their roles, and to finally attain their heart’s desires.

This is what being on the set of UnMarry taught Solenn. 

“I’ve always been about whether you’re happy or not in a relationship, you should be able to decide for yourself. And if you want to move on, you should be able to move on. Put yourself first, because if you don’t, and if you don’t love yourself or respect yourself, then you’re never gonna really be happy,” she attested. 

Just take Maya’s story for example. She’s a woman who knows how she wants her life to be and is fully aware of what she wants to do — a go-getter at its finest. 

While Solenn finds Maya’s career-orientedness relatable, she also thinks that to achieve those goals while mending a relationship, partners should communicate while having empathy at the forefront.

“Instead of judging, [start] listening, putting your ear out there and understanding also that in order for families to heal, people need to really move on. So if there’s something that’s holding you back, you should be able to step away from it,” she emphasized.

Moving forward, Solenn has her “fingers crossed” for a more active return in the film industry with the condition that it’s a nice project that “touches me, and something that I understand.”

Now, more than being a loving mother to Thylane and Maelys and a wife to Nico Bolzico, Solenn vows that she will say yes to any project worth her time away from her daughters.

“I’m very present with my kids, and I love being with them. [But], of course, this is my time to also be happy with myself because I don’t want to just be a mom, as much as I love it. I want to be a painter. I want to be an actress. I want to evolve in my craft,” Solenn expressed. – with reports from Claire Masbad/Rappler.com

Claire Masbad is a Rappler intern studying AB Communication Arts at De La Salle University.