Janella Maxine Desiderio Salvador is a Filipina actress and singer. After appearing on stage, she debuted in the hit family series Be Careful with My Heart and starred in Oh My G!, So Connected, Born for You and The Killer Bride.
Early life
Salvador was born in Cebu and raised in San Juan City. Her parents are Rage Band frontman/Awit Award-winning songwriter Juan Miguel Salvador of the Salvador clan and West End's Miss Saigon musical actress Jenine Desiderio. She has a half-brother and two step siblings.
Career
Early career
Like her parents, she has interest in performing arts at a young age. Salvador appeared on stage and was scouted during a guesting on Eat Bulaga's Sa Pula, Sa Puti. Management directors Manny Valera and Star Magic's Johnny Manahan signed her a contract as their talent. Between 2008 and 2009, she represented the Philippines in a worldtrade fair in Seoul, Korea and was part of Meralco Theater production, the school musical Paul! Paul! Her screen debut came in 2012 in the family drama, Be Careful with My Heart. Airing until 2014, it rated as one of the most successful dramas of ABS-CBN with Salvador's character as middle daughter Nikki Grace Lim widely known for her Coño catchphrases. Salvador won a FAMAS Award German Moreno Youth Achievement and became one of the youngest faces of Garnier skin care. Her first music project Mahal Kita Pero was released on August 31, 2014 as part of Himig Handog P-Pop Love Songs. Salvador and writer Melchora were announced 3rd Best Song. Salvador signed film contracts with Regal Entertainment and Star Cinema, both in 2014; although she has yet to top-bill in a Star Cinema film. The same month of Be Careful's last episode, Salvador was nominated Best Appearance in a Music Video after playing the love interest in Enchong Dee's Chinito Problems which was released November 7, 2014 on Myx.
Lead roles and music
in 2015 cast Salvador in her first leading role in Oh My G! as Sophie, an orphan teenager who blames God for the loss of her loved ones, until He appears to her in different forms to enlighten her. On July 1, 2015, Salvador released her debut album under Star Music. Salvador won New Artist awards and PARI certified the album platinum after physical copies sold over 15,000 units. After featuring in a theme song for Hong Kong Disneyland, her film debut Haunted Mansion released at the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival to mixed reviews yet earned in top-bracket via ticket sales. Salvador was cast in the 2016 music dramaBorn For You, which had sub-par television ratings. For the drama soundtrack, she covered local songs including their Japanese versions, 夢ダカダ and アナタ Anata. Following her Disney in Concert, Kia Theatre performance, Salvador and various Southeast Asian singers adapted Moana's How Far I'll Go.2017 came her first solo concert, Super Janella, and the ensemble cast film, Topel Lee's Bloody Crayons, which had mixed reviews. Her interpretation for a song by Karlo Zabala, "Wow Na Feelings" for Himig Handog, won 4th Best Song and TFC's Global Choice Award. In 2018, Salvador returned to starring roles. After portraying a singing mermaid in My Fairy Tail Love Story, she garnered praise from critics for her role as a love-struck waitress in So Connected. In 2019, she came back to television with horror drama, The Killer Bride. She played Emma, the mysterious girl who suddenly appears in the cursed town, Las Espadas, after a freak killing, claiming she is possessed. For the role, she received an honorary title, Princess of Philippine Television, at the Box Office Entertainment Awards. That same year, she also co-starred with Maricel Soriano in The Heiress which was based on the Philippine barang folklore.
Personal life
2017 phishing scandal
Salvador filed an NBI police report for worth of suspicious bank transactions on March 14, 2017, which was later confirmed to be an Anonymous hacker linked to stealing sensitive information of various female victims.
