Precious takes on first major movie role

Lara didn't mind being the second choice for the role that was originally meant for Gretchen Barretto. She was informed by Bb. Pilipinas (for which she is under contract for 18 months since winning the Bb. Pilipinas-International crown) that there is an offer for her to do a movie with Ai Ai. She didn't know that Bong is also part of the movie, but she felt honored nonetheless to replace Gretchen.

"It's an honor for me to work with Sen. Bong," said Lara when we got to talk to her on the set last Monday. "Of course, I was kind of nervous facing the cameras for the first time. I was afraid I might mess up my lines or fail to say them at all. It's a good thing no such thing happened."

She didn't have any apprehension being Gretchen's replacement, but Lara's concern was the idea that she's playing a mother role for her very first movie. And a mom to 16-year-old at that. Playing her daughter is Inah, the 16-year-old daughter of Bong. Her other sibling is child actor Aaron Junatas.

"But I like doing the movie because it's a comedy role. I had fun on the set and Sen. Bong is fun to be with," said Lara who looks prettier in person. She's a delight to talk to as well, and doesn't have any air despite her stature as an international beauty titlist. She's very sincere, down-to-earth and exudes warmth towards a person even if you've met each other only for the first time.

"I feel I am too young to portray a mother role since I am only 23 but since I want to become an actress, I believe I should be ready to play any kind of role," shared Lara who joked that since she's playing mom to a 16-year-old, then she must have given birth to her when she was 7.

Lara has no movie acting experience. She only had an hour-long acting workshop when she played herself when her life story was featured in the TV drama "Magpakailanman" which was her first-ever acting assignment on TV.

She also denies reports that she turned down the offer to play Richard Gutierrez's leading lady in "Captain Barbell." She said she was called to audition but she didn't refuse the offer. She also joined the cast of "Encantadia" where she plays the role of the new queen.

She's also doing a digital film with Ryan Agoncillo to be produced by Harlene and Herbert Bautista to be directed by Richard Arellano. Titled "Umulan, Umaraw," the digital film is a love story and might feature a guest appearance by Judy Ann Santos, the girlfriend of Ryan.

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We also had a chance to talk to Sen. Bong Revilla on the set of his latest film and we learned from him that a number of actresses were considered for Gretchen Barretto's supposed role as his wife in the film directed by Wenn Deramas, the director of the box-office hit "D' Lucky Ones."

Also among those considered aside from Precious were Dawn Zulueta and Regine Velasquez, but Lara became the final choice because she got the most number of votes from the survey they had among the people involved in the production.

Bong also revealed that for the first time he will be dancing in the movie. He's doing a scene where he will be break-dancing. This is actually one of the surprises in the movie, but since Bong revealed it already, we have decided to go ahead and print it, lest somebody else will beat us into it.

"Para akong nandidiri sa sarili ko dahil sa ginawa kong dance number," said Bong with a laugh. "I felt funny doing the scene because I have never done anything like that in my past movies. But it's okay since this is a comedy film. And it was a funny scene." Bong hasn't done a comedy flick since the one he did with Rufa Mae Quinto a few years back.

Bong added that Imus Productions had long wanted to do "Kapag Tumibok ang Puso, Not Once But Twice" and the role was tailor-made for him and Ai Ai. But they were beaten to the draw when Star Cinema did the blockbuster movie "Ang Tanging Ina" with Ai Ai so they had to put the project on hold. Finally, after three years, Bong and Ai Ai are together in one comedy project to be directed by Deramas who also handled Ai Ai's blockbuster flick.

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Making her acting comeback anew in GMA-7's afternoon drama "Now and Forever" presents "Duyan" is award-winning actress Dawn Zulueta. She's enjoying her acting comeback immensely even if it meant leaving her son Jacobo. You see, Dawn gave birth to her firstborn sometime last year and she has yet to fully enjoy the company of her baby.

But Dawn is very glad that her husband Anton Lagdameo gave her the go signal to accept this offer from GMA-7 to do "Now and Forever" which is rating very well right on the third day on its first week of airing. The actress told us that she and the rest of the cast of the GMA afternoon was congratulated by director Mac Alejandre because of the show's strong showing in the rating.

Now on its third day of airing, "Duyan" registered a high rating of 18%. This is quite a feat for the show since it normally rates around 14% and gets 18% midway through the season, then getting as high as 22% as it winds up.

We got to talk to Dawn at the office of Marie France which has gotten her as endorser. We learned that she's planning to venture into movie production. She, however, is only willing to co-produce, adding that she doesn't have the money to go full blast as a solo movie producer. At least by going into co-production, she feels she could help in one way or another to bring the movie industry back on its feet. She has talked to Cesar Montano and Sharon Cuneta about the possibility of collaborating with them both on future film projects.

The actress is likewise elated that Marie France took her as endorser for their procedure that is a big help for women who wants to get rid of unwanted fat caused by pregnancy. In just two and a half months after undergoing the procedure, Dawn was able to cut down on her weight with very good results. From as heavy as 170 lbs., she has trimmed down to 145 lbs. But Dawn will still go on with the procedure until she gets her pre-pregnancy weight of 115 to 118 lbs.

"I can't go to the gym and exercise because I delivered my baby under the Cesarean section that's why when I found out about this procedure in Marie France, I tried it out and it has brought me good results," Dawn happily related.

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Christian Bautista's latest single titled "Since I Found You" is top-rater in various radio stations in Indonesia. This information came from David Tahalele of Warner Music Indonesia who furnished Warner Music Philippines the list of radio stations that had been deluged with requests to play Christian's song. The list of radio stations where "Since I Found You" had been lording it over for the last two weeks are as follows:

KALAWEIT RADIO (Palangkaraya) - TOP 1 for 2 Weeks; RCT FM (Semarang) - TOP 1; RRI PRODUA FM (Bandung) - TOP 1; SOKA FM (Jember) - TOP 2;EBS FM (Surabaya ) - TOP 2; TELSTAR FM (Makasar) - TOP 2; MAKOBU FM (Malang) - TOP 2; PHOENIX FM (Bali) - TOP 2;ISTARA FM (Surabaya) - TOP 2; UTY FM (Jogyakarta) - TOP 3; BE RADIO (Karawang) - TOP 3; and DJFM (Surabaya) - TOP 4

Asia's multi-platinum Pop Idol Christian Bautista is also doing a concert with young movie-soap superstar Karylle entitled "Movies, Popcorn and Love Songs." In the midst of network wars, love will surely prevail between a kapamilya and kapuso on this one night only affair to be staged in a venue to be announced soon.

It was originally scheduled at SM Megamall Cinema 9 on May 13, but had to be reset because of the inability of the venue desired. Christian and Karylle will surely delight young and old audiences as they sing unforgettable love songs and movie themes accompanied by memorable clips on the big screen. Directed by theater veteran Audie Gemora, the show is produced by Maxi Media.