How Sunshine Dizon became Bakekang

She possesses one of the prettiest faces among the young actresses today. Her presence on screen has always been accented by her remarkable acting prowess, moderate when the scene calls for subtlety but passionately emotional in dramatically compelling scenes.

At 23, Sunshine Dizon has bloomed into a versatile actress who has impressed not just local audiences but an international jury as well. On top of winning the Star Awards Best Dramatic Actress Award for TV for her superb acting in Magpakailanman and the Golden Screen Awards Best Drama Actress Award for her exceptional portrayal of the fire maiden Pirena in the phenomenal GMA-7 fantasy series Encantadia, Sunshine also bagged the international award of Best Drama Actress from Gawad Amerika (the awarding of which was held at the Cultural Pavilion of the Celebrity Center or Scientology Center in Hollywood, California on December 23, 2005), also for her outstanding performance as Pirena in "Encantadia."

Indeed, Sunshine is one of the few actresses in local show business today who can rightfully be called a "serious actress." She is passionate in honing her craft, delivering a better performance from one acting project to another. She also exhibits a degree of flexibility seldom seen in artists her age: changing characters as easily as she changes clothes, moving from one strong emotion to the next with the ease and expertise of a true thespian.

Such versatility was acquired from years of exposure in the business, the world in which Sunshine literally grew up and matured as an actress. At the tender age of three, Sunshine starred in her first movie "God's Little Children" with Charlie Davao, Daria Ramirez, Bamba, Stawberry, among others. She then went on to do more films alongside the industry's most respected actors and actresses, among which were "One Day, Isang Araw" with no less than The King of Philippine movies Fernando Poe Jr., Dawn Zulueta, and Matet; "Pulis, Pulis Sa Ilalim ng Tulay" with the Comedy King Dolphy; "Bote, Dyaryo, Garapa" with Roderick Paulate and Zsa Zsa Padilla; "Huwag Kang Humalik sa Diyablo" with Gabby Concepcion; "Angelika, Sugo sa Lupa" with Helen Vela, Dante Rivero, Marianne Dela Riva, Anita Linda and Romnick Sarmenta; and "Silang mga Sisiw sa Lansangan" with Judy Ann Santos, Margarita Fuentes and Lady Lee.

Sunshine made her mark as a child actress when she won the Famas Best Child Actress Award for her performance in "Kahit Butas ng Karayom Papasukin Ko," the movie top-billed by Fernando Poe Jr. Sunshine also continued doing more movies alongside her regular TV shows as she grew up into a pretty teener.

Her exposure with the Kapuso Network also goes way back during the days of "TGIS" where she became a mainstay. Her string of shows with GMA continued as she did "Anna Karenina," "Kung Mawawala Ka," "Ikaw Lang Ang Mamahalin," "Kahit Kailan," "Daboy en Da Girl," "Bahay Mo Ba 'To," "Love to Love," "Encantadia," "Etheria," "Encantadia: Pag-ibig Hanggang Wakas," and "Captain Barbell." She also starred in the GMA mini-series "Umulan Man o Umaraw" and "Tuwing Kapiling Ka."

And now Sunshine is ready to take on the lead role of GMA's upcoming primetime series "Bakekang." After a long selection process from which emerged a shortlist of the industry's most versatile and viable actresses to be the next Bakekang, Sunshine emerged as the unanimous choice to do the 21st century version of the character popularized by the Superstar Nora Aunor in the 1978 movie based on the Carlo J. Caparas comics novel of the same title.

Bakekang, which is still the name used to this day in taunting a person who is deemed ugly, is about a woman with a hideous face who got herself impregnated by an American. True to her goal, she gave birth to a beautiful child whom she endeavored to become a popular actress. Through her beautiful daughter, Bakekang was able to feel the kind of attention and admiration she had longed for all her life.

And why was a young, pretty and childless actress such as Sunshine chosen to play the coveted role of Bakekang?

GMA Network being the innovator especially in its top-rating primetime block, Sunshine was perfect for the challenge of using the best prosthetic artistry in the almost magical transformation of a charmingly beautiful face into a look of bizarre ugliness.

And in this "uglified" Sunshine Dizon will be born a character that is so unlike her own - a feat that she is sure to achieve outstandingly given her track record and exceptional versatility as an actress.

With the upcoming launch of this new GMA primetime series, viewers will surely be hooked to the gripping story of Bakekang. And with an actress such as Sunshine Dizon in the title role, small wonder really if and when viewers start to disassociate Sunshine's pretty face from the ugliness of the feisty heroine - because given her expert acting, Sunshine will become Bakekang.

Sunshine Dizon is set to breathe life into a character that is so unlike her own.