Jodi Sta. Maria

Jodi Chrissie Garcia Santamaria (born June 16, 1982), better known by her screen name Jodi Sta. Maria, is a Filipina actress.
Personal life.
Sta. Maria is the youngest that has a child. She and her brother were raised by their single mother. She attended the Philippine Pasay Chung Hua Academy and was an honor student. In school, Sta. Maria was active in her school's extra-curricular activities, particularly the volleyball varsity team and the debating team.
Sta. Maria was married to Panfilo "Pampi" Lacson Jr., the son of Senator Panfilo Lacson, from whom she is now separated. The two met during a taping of "Tabing Ilog" and married at the age of 22. The marriage lasted for five years. They have a son born in 2005 named Panfilo "Thirdy" Lacson III. In a 2016 interview, Sta. Maria revealed that she was greatly affected by her separation from Lacson, which resulted in alcoholism and drug use. She quit smoking, alcohol, and drugs after the intervention of actress Coney Reyes and became a Born again Christian. The success of her TV series "Be Careful With My Heart" in 2012 also helped her recover from her addictions.
Sta. Maria attended De La Salle University-Dasmariñas and studied Medical Biology as her prerequisite to studying Medicine. She left college after a year due to the sudden success of her series "Be Careful With My Heart", which was extended from its intended run of 3 months to 2 and 1/2 years. Sta. Maria will be finishing her degree in Psychology at Southville International School and Colleges in 2020. She was a Dean's Lister during her last semester in 2019.
She has been a WHO Ambassador since 2011.
Career.
A talent scout approached Sta. Maria and her friends to audition for commercials while at a fast-food chain. After numerous auditions and no offers, they gave up. A few weeks later, the talent scout approached Sta. María once again and encouraged her to audition for Star Magic. At 15, she was one of the youngest in their batch.
After starring and appearing in teen-oriented shows and movies such as "Gimik", "Flames", and "Jologs", Sta. Maria landed a role in "Tabing Ilog" as the sassy tomboyish Georgina. The show was successful and ran for almost five years. She also became a host of Star Circle Quest alongside Luis Manzano.
She starred in the original version of "Pangako Sa 'Yo" (2000) as Lia Buenavista and the 2015 remake as Amor Powers.
After playing teen roles, she played villainous characters in primetime shows such as "Walang Kapalit" and "Kampanerang Kuba". She transitioned to star in numerous independent films, which have been screened internationally. She has since received 2 Gawad Urian Award nominations.
In 2010, she starred in "Noah" alongside Piolo Pascual, who has called her a 'thinking actress'. In 2011, she played Sophia in the critically acclaimed "100 Days to Heaven". In 2012, Jodi became her special participation as Young Olivia La Peña in the daytime drama series "Mundo Man ay Magunaw" until she rose up when she top-billed the sleeper hit "Be Careful With My Heart" as Maya dela Rosa along with Richard Yap who played her love interest, Richard Lim. The show became a success worldwide, spawning albums, worldwide tours, and concerts.
In 2020, she comes back as an titular protagonist/antagonist role in "Ang sa Iyo ay Akin", opposite Iza Calzado.