Paolo Ballesteros as Trisha in 'Die Beautiful.' Photo from the film's Facebook page

MANILA - Paolo Ballesteros' portrayal of a transgender woman whose dying wish is to be dressed as Katy Perry for her funeral in "Die Beautiful" won him the Best Actor award at the 2016 Tokyo International Film Festival.

Competition, Award for Best Actor goes to Paolo Ballesteros in "Die Beautiful" directed by Jun Robles Lana. #TIFFJP pic.twitter.com/yGa4SM76wA — 東京国際映画祭 TIFFJP (@tiff_site) November 3, 2016

Ballesteros appeared to be one of the favorites to win after Jun Robles Lana's transgender drama picked up the Audience Choice award. The awarding ceremony was held at the Toho Cinemas in Roppongi Hills in Japan Thursday morning.

The jury was headed by French director Jean-Jacques Beineix, and included Hong Kong director Mabel Cheung, U.S. producer Nicole Rocklin, Italian actor Valerio Mastandrea and Japanese director Hideyuki Hirayama.

A total of 16 films, with "Die Beautiful" being the only one from the Philippines, were in competition.

Moments after the announcement, Ballesteros, who earlier turned heads after dressing up as Hollywood star Angelina Jolie for the festival red carpet, took to Instagram to share his excitement. "THANK YOU," he wrote.

TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL BEST ACTOR! Thank you!!! #DIEbeautiful #TIFFJP #orActress #JuliaRoberts A photo posted by Paolo Ballesteros (@pochoy_29) on Nov 3, 2016 at 12:03am PDT