When controversial talent agent Rey dela Cruz discovered her, Myrna Castillo’s family was reportedly so poor that Myrna was sleeping in a chicken coop in Tondo. Her hardworking mother was a widow, doing her best to support her children in the squalid conditions they lived in. Dela Cruz, an optometrist by vocation, was also a film talent scout -a self-proclaimed “star builder” because of his success at turning impoverished, pretty young girls into movie celebrities.
Born May 1, 1966, Myrna was fifteen when dela Cruz found her in 1980. In a story that made tabloid and newspaper headlines, she went from living in squalor and selling bananas after school, to staring in her first film, Ito and Babae, in 1980. She was nicknamed the “Cinderella of Tondo.” Like many of dela Cruz’s actresses, she starred in numerous bold films, such as Brown Emmanuelle (1982), Virgin People (1984), and When Good Girls Go Wrong (1987). Many cut, explicit “Pene” clips of her exist.
There was even a censored lesbian scene from Hudas (1987). Here is the scene as it appeared in the theater:
And here are stills from the cut footage:
She disappeared from the silver screen following three movie roles in 1997. Recently, she returned to acting, appearing in the TV series MyrnaMyrna Dimapilis (2023-2024) and the films Batang Quiapo (2023) and La Viuda (2025). She has forty credits as an actress and two as a producer.
Last updated 4/2026