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H.E.R Reveals The Big Part Her Family Plays In Her Identity

In a cover by Vogue PH, Gabriela Sarmiento Wilson shares how her family helped her find the courage to make her own H.E.R. story.

In a cover by Vogue PH, the enigmatic H.E.R. humbly shares her roots as a Filipino-American. Born under the name Gabriela Sarmiento Wilson, we often see her sharing the limelight with her heritage. Her apron, when she played Belle in Beauty and the Beast, had Baybayin characters reading ‘Belle’ stitched onto its edges. But what started it all was a fateful trip in 2019. “I got to see the house where my mom went as a child, where my grandparents lived, and the market she went to. She’s from Nueva Ecija, Cabanatuan City, the tricycle capital of the world,” she says. “It was a humbling experience, too, just to see. Since that trip, I felt even more connected to my roots.”

Her mom never failed to remind her of her roots.

H.E.R grew up recognizing the stark contrast between American culture with Filipino culture with the help of her mom, Agnes, who shares how she always told stories regarding her own family. “In America, it’s kind of different, the lifestyle. They’re too busy working and they don’t really get together as much as we did. I always tell her how different the Philippine culture and American culture are. She grew up knowing that what’s important to us is family.”

It’s why during the more recent years, according to Vogue PH, that she’s actively revealed more about her family’s struggles. She talks about the gratitude she has for her mom for making sure she always stayed connected. “One thing someone told me a long time ago was, you can’t understand today without understanding yesterday,” says Wilson. “I feel so connected to myself and so much more connected to my mom, knowing what she sacrificed, what her life looked like before she came to America, and the connection that she had with family and the importance of family.”

“That,” she says, “is the foundation of everything I do.” 

A Journey On Opening Up

In the middle of productions, premieres, and celebrations, Gabriela Sarmiento Wilson also admitted on that trying to learn about her family offered her the same challenge she has in going beyond her H.E.R. persona. “You start to understand yourself when you understand the roots of your family,” she admits after she discovered how some of her older relatives weren’t too keen to dredge up the past. “Good and bad things.”

But she adds those experiences allowed her to come up with a dream for her own family. “Sometimes they’re like secrets; you’ll have to pull it out of them. And it’s interesting, a lot of those family secrets, a lot of the trials and tribulations of the family, you start to learn those things. And I think it gives me the tools, how to break generational curses, how to want to operate differently, make certain decisions as a family, what I want my family to look like one day.”

Read more of H.E.R Story on Vogue PH.

More Filipino-Americans who’ve made it big?

Why Miss Universe 2022 R’Bonney Gabriel is Proud of Her Filipino Roots
Keeping Traditions Alive: How This Fil-American Family Celebrates Thanksgiving
Jon Jon Briones Joins the Cast of ABC’s Beauty and the Beast

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