LJ Reyes to spend a quiet Christmas at home + Shay Mitchell's advice to Filipina women

Kapuso actress and Aso ni San Roque mainstay LJ Reyes says that for a change, she wants to just spend Christmas day at home with her family. "I’ve have so much work these past few days that I didn’t have much time to stay at home and have bonding with my son. This is new for me, celebrating Christmas at home instead of going out. I am spending the whole day with my family. Plus I will be also visiting my siblings in their homes," said LJ who turned 25 the other day.

What is her Christmas wish for Paulo Avelino? As if you didn’t know, Paulo and LJ have a love child, Aki but they have remained good friends although they are not together. "I wish him more success in his career. For my son Aki, I wish he’d grow up intelligent, smart, athletic and I hope that we could spend more time together. Because of our kind of work, it takes up so much of our time. It seems 24 hours is not enough," she said.

While she is friends with Paulo, doesn’t she get jealous when Paulo is linked with other girls? "Magseselos pa ba ako? With the nature of our job in showbiz, hindi naman maiwasan na ma-link kahit hindi naman totoo. Just accept na lang na it’s part of the hazards of the trade. Siguro kung wala naman dapat ipagselos, huwag ka na lang magselos. Ganun na lang iyon," said LJ.

She is happy that her career, and same with Paulo, is doing great. "Siguro the reason why we are blessed is because of our son, Aki. I believed the Lord knows we need to be a good provider for our son. We have to be good parents for the sake of our son," said LJ.

How would you assess the state of your career in 2012? "I feel so blessed because my career is doing very well. I am never out of work because as soon as I finish one, in no time at all, a new offer comes along. Plus I am getting good feedback for the work that I am doing. I can’t ask for anything more. As the year ends, I feel the Lord has given me so much blessings and I am really thankful. My birthday wish and Christmas wish is good health so that I could fulfill well the responsibilities that the Lord is giving me in terms of work, and to things related to my son Aki," added LJ.

What is she looking forward to 2013? "Get more interesting projects. I hope to be challenged again with the kind of roles and projects that will come my way. I am embracing that I will be able to do something good like the role I did in Intoy Syokoy ng Kalye Marino for which I was noticed for my performance. I really hope so," said LJ.

Come the awards season next year, LJ would surely be in the running for her role as the prostitute with a good heart in Intoy Syokoy sa Kalye Marino, one of the most-talked about entries in the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival that was held last July. "Who wouldn’t want to be nominated and be recognized for a job well done? But I am not expecting anything. I’d rather not expect so that I won’t be disappointed in case I don’t win. The good feedback that I had for my performance in the movie is enough for me. Baka sobra-sobra kung humiling pa ako," said LJ.

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You can’t help but fall in love with Pretty Little Liars star Shay Mitchell who met the press last Monday, December 17, in Makati Shangri-La. Shay, born to a Filipino mother and Irish-Scottish father, was in Manila to promote the third season of the suspense-drama Pretty Little Liars which premieres on ETC on January 13, 2013. The moment Shay entered the room, her vibrant aura filled the air. She said she hopes to come back next year to check out more places and hopefully bring her family as well.

Shay said she knows the Filipino people are amazing and she just can’t wait to explore. Although she has a tight schedule, Shay was looking forward and is excited to going to the islands. She loves Filipino dishes such as sinigang, halo-halo, pansit and turon which she usually eats back in Canada.

Shay is proud of her Filipino ancestry and appreciates the people’s happy disposition. She related that her friends back home in Canada love coming to their family gatherings, which Filipinos are very fond of.

After seeing the skin whitening advertisements around the city, Shay has a bit of advice to Filipinas who are "morena" like her.

"I think it’s nice that I hope girls would embrace their color because it’s a beautiful color. Trust me, many people in the world don’t have what we have."

"Pretty Little Liars" casts Shay as Emily Fields, a gay girl who struggles over the loss of her girlfriend, Maya.

Shay doesn’t mind playing a gay role, believing that "love is love."

"It never matters to me. I think love is love, that’s how I was raised, that’s what I believe. For me to play a character that struggles with that is so important to me. Because a lot of fans’ reactions was ‘Thank you so much for playing this character and standing up for something.’ Like I said, love is love and I wouldn’t play anybody else.”