Maja Salvador is on fire

MANILA, Philippines - Smoky eyes.

Red lips.

Wet-look hair.

A little red dress that screams, “Vamp coming through!”

The guards at the shoot location are pretending to watch TV, but their eyes are unfocused, roving, surreptitiously stealing glances at our cover girl, whose skin is glistening with body oil and droplets of water. Even without massive Kate Upton cleavage, there’s no denying it: Maja Salvador is hot.

But unlike other “hot” girls who tend to intimidate and even alienate, Maja has innate warmth, the kind you can’t pick up from personality workshops; the kind you either have or don’t. “Halika, ki-kilayan kita,” she declares as the interview begins, and proceeds to expertly fill the sparse areas of this writer’s brows. She’s using the same eyebrow pencil, that just moments ago, touched her face. It’s a no-big-deal move, until you consider the fact that that face represents some of the biggest brands out there. It’s sweet and mind-blowing how the girl who gets paid millions to endorse a gamut of products is not averse to sharing makeup. With a no-name reporter. The gesture feels unstudied, spontaneous, and authentic. Three words that perfectly describe this small-town girl who dreamed big.

Kindle

If you’ve never heard of Maja’s from-Aparri-to-ABS CBN story, here’s the gist: She entered the biz when she was 15, wowing critics, veteran actors, and the public with her subtle but soulful brand of acting (Revisit horror flick Sukob for throwback reference). On the dance floor, Maja was (and still is) a monster. Hip hop, jazz, ballet, interpretative — whatever: Give her a beat and she’ll own it. She’s not called Dance Princess Maja for nothing.

 Now 25 years old, Maja says she’s pretty happy with the way life’s been treating her. At an age where most people are grappling with uncertainty and quarter-life crisis, Miss Salvador has everything going for her: Her career? On point. Her relationship with actor Gerald Anderson? Strong and steady. Her family life? Drama-free. Plus there’s that fact that she’s made peace with ex-BFF, ex-nemesis Kim Chiu. The cherry on top? Her stint on top-rating soap The Legal Wife has helped her transition from “medyo tweetums” to full-on actress. 

Fan

Playing Nicole Esquivel, TV’s most recent kabit du jour, was a big risk, Maja admits; one that paid off big time when The Legal Wife became a nightly trending topic both online and in real life conversations. “Stress maging mistress,” Maja says, explaining the difficulty of portraying one of Filipino society’s most hated archetypes. On top of taping days that never seemed to end and getting slapped, punched, pushed, kicked, and screamed at by co-star Angel Locsin who played the titular role, she was tasked with the job of making her character likeable.  “Hindi lang siya basta malandi,” Maja stresses. “Kailangan nila maintindihan kung saan nanggagaling si Nicole. Pero dapat maisip pa rin nila, ‘nakaka-awa, pero hindi. Mali pa rin talaga siya eh.’” We ask if she could ever pull a Nicole, and Maja, visibly horrified, violently shakes her head. “Hindi ko kayang manira ng pamilya,” she says, impassioned.  “Ang love grabe mangbiktima, walang pinipili. Kaya sa bawat desisyon na gagawin mo, dahan-dahan lang.” See what she did there?

Burn

Two weeks ago, her album Believe went gold, and Maja is both proud and incredulous about this latest win. “Dati, niloloko-loko ko lang yung pagkanta,” she recalls. “Sinong mag aakala na mangyayari yun?” Adding singer to her CV was unplanned, a happy accident, so to speak. Last year, she thought of going on tour around the Philippines to perform live for her fans, as her way of thanking them for 10 years of solid support. By some stroke of luck, Ivory Music & Videos producer Jonathan Daza caught one of her performances and was so impressed, the company offered her a recording contract. Maja admits she’s not the best singer out there, but she took voice lessons to hone her new craft: “Kahit hindi ka magaling sa isang bagay, kung pag-aaralan mo at pagsisikapan mo talaga para mag-improve ka, mangyayari at the right time.”

She’s currently preparing for her first-ever concert cheekily named Maja: The Legal Performer, happening in July. Her body peg for this show is Britney crica 2002, and she says fans can expect song and dance numbers in the style of J.Lo and Brit-Brit. “Audition ko to eh, na kaya kong maging performer,” she laughs.

Her watchful handler sidles up to her and signals our time is up. Maja asks for one more minute, puts the finishing touches on my brows, and gives a satisfied nod. As she walks away, ready to slip into the vampy role she’s assuming for this shoot, it hits me: No matter how slowly she goes, Maja Salavador will see things to the very end. And that is why her star will burn bright long after others have dimmed.

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