From grueling combat training to Japan’s brutal winter, Kaila Estrada transforms pain into power for her biggest role yet
When Kaila Estrada speaks, her voice is low and soft. She articulates intentionally, pausing to think. She is polite, well-mannered, and subtle—starkly different from the fiery roles she has played.
From the irate stepsister Raven recklessly driving her sister Rica (Charlie Dizon) in “Viral Scandal” (2021) to being yet another tempestuous older sister to Caroline (Belle Mariano) in “Can’t Buy Me Love” (2023), and even in her recent major role in “Incognito” (2025) as the stoic, calculating, and complex ex-military operative Max Alvero, Estrada has proven her remarkable range.
View this post on Instagram
“It’s really fun to portray characters that are so different from how I am in real life, and also I feel like I’m able to tap into certain emotions that I didn’t know I could tap into,” she says. “I didn’t know that I could be angry in an explosive way and I got to experience that with some of my characters.”
“A similar pattern with the characters that I’ve portrayed so far is how they turn pain into power. And I think that is also something that I personally do.”
While Estrada has constantly been cast in strong-willed roles, off-screen, she is nothing like the aggressive characters she portrays.
This personality contrast doesn’t just exemplify her acting chops, it also suggests Estrada’s deep pools of inner strength swirling underneath—both in her craft and character as a real, multi-layered human being.
As Estrada recounts her early days as a model and influencer, her demanding training for an ongoing action role, and her vulnerable insights into the finer points of dramatic techniques, the 29-year-old actress demonstrates how she powers through with the determination and discipline needed to survive in show business.
Forging her own path
Many may know Kaila Estrada as the daughter of superstars John Estrada and Janice de Belen. But, of course, like many young stars thrust into the spotlight, Estrada was determined to carve her own path.
Before stepping into the limelight as an actress, Estrada was steadily building her career in modeling and content creation. But it wasn’t until late 2019 that she found herself at a crossroads.
“I decided I wanted to try something new and evolve in terms of what I wanted to do,” she reveals. “So either I was going to try acting or go back to school to study culinary arts. Those were my two options.”
Despite coming from a showbiz family, Estrada chose not to leverage her family connections. “I didn’t really want to involve any of my parents in the process. I wanted it to be something I would achieve on my own,” she says.
Just a week before the pandemic lockdowns began in March 2020, Estrada attended a casting at Star Magic—the timing of which could have been disastrous but ultimately worked in her favor.
“I feel like there was kind of a turnover in the older batch of artistas entering a different era of their lives, which I think gave me a chance to go after roles they would have done. I feel like it was divine timing. It worked out.”
Despite rejection after rejection in Zoom audition after Zoom audition, Estrada soldiered on, and eventually got her first role as a supporting actress and antagonist in “Viral Scandal” (2021) as Raven Ramones. She recounts the many early-morning and late-night tapings, made more difficult by navigating the COVID-19 restrictions at the time.
“A similar pattern with the characters that I’ve portrayed so far is how they turn pain into power. And I think that is also something that I personally do.”
“What I realized about being an actress in the industry, there’s this common misconception that it’s easy work—it’s really not,” she states. “I had so much more respect for my parents when I started in the industry because it’s very mentally and emotionally taxing to do it, and depending on the genre, it can also be very physically taxing.”
And in terms of physically taxing roles, perhaps it shows most starkly in Estrada’s most recent work in the highly popular action series, “Incognito.”
Kaila Estrada’s rigorous action training
Breaking new ground in “Incognito,” Estrada takes on her first action series as Max Alvero. She recalls the intense preparations and the real challenges of filming, aspects viewers often forget when watching a fast-paced, action-packed show.
Fans of the series may recall Estrada as Max taking a phone call on their mission in Italy, when a group of dirty old men outside a restaurant began harassing her. Viewers held their breath as the actress fended off the group of men practically by herself, until her teammates arrived to assist her. And through it all, her perfect bangs remained in place, her outfit with barely a crumple. What’s most impressive is that every swift, precise move was done by Estrada herself. No stunt doubles in that scene.
“I’ve done most things myself, except for maybe riding the motorcycle… Other than that, I’ve done pretty much everything.”
READ: Controversy aside, ‘Incognito’ is legit
Martial arts training took four months in the ABS-CBN gym, immersing in Muay Thai training as well as Pekiti-Tirsia Kali, a sports-focused Filipino fighting style founded in 1897. But the training wasn’t simply about combat moves.
“It was comprehensive preparation for portraying tactical operatives convincingly. Because ‘Incognito’ was a tactical ops show, we also did a lot of tactical training. We did boot camp training, firearms handling, and then training for when you’re in a group and going to infiltrate a certain area.”
Besides rigorous martial arts training, one of the most challenging aspects of filming “Incognito” was dealing with extreme weather conditions—from monsoon rains in El Nido during the pilot shoot to the bitter cold of Japanese winter (a spoiler for the succeeding episodes to come).
“Shooting in cold weather is just a different beast altogether, because when it’s really cold, it gets to a point where your hands go numb or your face, and it’s hard to talk.”
“It was comprehensive preparation for portraying tactical operatives convincingly.”
The unpredictable weather also added another layer of difficulty. “Every now and then there would be snowfall, and the snowfall comes with a lot of wind. So it gets even colder. I feel like that was really the biggest challenge for me—to power through the cold.”
Turning pain into power
For the young actress, one of the most meaningful aspects of “Incognito” is its portrayal of capable female characters who stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their male counterparts.
“What I love about ‘Incognito’ is the female characters here are very strong characters that are equally as skilled as the male characters,” she says. “I think that’s so important, especially for the action genre here in the Philippines—for it to showcase strong female characters who are very skilled, and not just damsels in distress.”
This representation matters deeply to Estrada, who sees her work as part of a larger movement to change perceptions about women’s abilities, particularly in the action genre traditionally dominated by men.
“I feel like I’m very fortunate to be cast in very strong female characters,” she acknowledges. “I also feel a sense of responsibility to take care of these characters, and to be mindful of how the character is portrayed on-screen because there are people that watch the show and they’ll think, ‘Oh, I can be like that.’ Or they get inspired by these characters to stand up for themselves and be more assertive.”
As the actress talks about her characters, she takes me by surprise when she suddenly lets her voice break. “The characters that I’ve portrayed have very complex lives. I feel like they have a lot of pain.”
“A similar pattern with the characters that I’ve portrayed so far is how they turn pain into power. And I think that is also something that I personally do—how do I take my pain and turn it into something that can be powerful, that can be beautiful, and that could benefit me or inspire others?”
“What I love about ‘Incognito’ is the female characters here are very strong characters that are equally as skilled as the male characters. I think that’s so important, especially for the action genre.”
“I really think there is beauty in that—to have that resilience and hopefully inspire young girls to have that. Just because you’ve experienced pain or have been heartbroken in life doesn’t mean that you have to stay broken. There’s something that you can do about it. You can use that.”
In her self-awareness, she extends advice to young women who look up to her: “Stay authentically yourself and don’t compare yourself to anyone because you have your own unique journey, so enjoy it. What is for you won’t pass you.”
Photos by JT Fernandez
Styling by Bea Constantino, assisted by Than Supresencia
Makeup by Gelo Dumlao
Hair by Bryan Eusebio
Videos by Mikey Yabut, Claire Salonga, and Jaime Morados
Edited by Eric Salta
Shoot assistance and cover art by Angela Chen
Produced and written by Lala Singian
Shot at Bando. Special thanks to Anton Yalung and Robert Laguardia
Kaila Estrada stars in Incognito, available on Netflix and the Kapamilya channel
