Mylene marches to a different drummer

Marjorie Barretto did it. So did Teresa Loyzaga. So what’s keeping just-as-pretty Mylene Dizon from turning from a beautiful face and figure to a hideous Queen Manananggal?

Mylene couldn’t care less if layers and layers of makeup from her face to her hands transformed her into a scary reminder of many childhood nights when parents and yayas forced kids to go to bed before the Manananggal whisks them off some unknown places.

That’s not all. Mylene will even divide her sexy figure in two as she leads her deadly bunch of creepies in attacking a village in a scene from Imus Productions calculates will scare the daylights out of moviegoers in Agimat (Anting-Anting ni Lolo), official entry to the Metro Filmfest.

"Why not?" the US-raised Mylene says of her newest role.

She knows fully well what terrifying images her character conjures, and is ready to add this to her colorful repertoire of roles portrayed in a career studded with interesting, disparate sketches.

After all, she realizes that as sure as variety is the spice of life, versatility is the acid test of a performer.

Her acting credits explain why, even if Mylene has gone bold (in Gil Portes’ internationally-released Gatas), dabbled in comedy (as one of the Flower Pot Girls in Rufa Mae Quinto’s Super B) and even drama (Sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggan), the ugly tentacles of typecasting have not caught up with her.

"I always seek something new, something exciting in the roles I play. I have to enjoy the project," she explains.

Thus, while she had to go through the torturous process of putting on prosthetics for Agimat (Mylene endured it from 4 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next day), she did not complain. The experience of making her first fantasy movie alone was worth the effort.

But after playing Claudine Barretto’s nemesis in Sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggan for two years now, Mylene will think twice about accepting another villain role on TV. A similar one in the movies, on the other hand, will be just great, she says.

Lately, Mylene even dipped her hands in theater – via Atlantis Productions’ Rocky Horror Show. While hers was a non-major role (part of the chorus), Mylene still treasured the theater experience.

"I appreciate the discipline of theater a lot. It grounded me," she looks back. Unlike other celebrities who bask in the glare of the klieg lights and the din of cheers and shrieks, Mylene would rather stay in her own quiet corner and enjoy her privacy.

Not for her the reams and reams of releases praising stars to high heavens to the point where they cannot tell truth from fiction anymore.

"I’m not star-struck," she explains. "It’s so hard to be a star."

Never mind if Mylene has to be anonymous amidst a sea of faces. She would rather be known as an actress, thank you.

"My big dream is to turn out a quality performance," she goes on.

The mere thought of stardom bothers her no end.

"I’m scared stardom will make it hard for me to differentiate what’s real and what’s not in the business. The mere prospect of believing in my own press release scares me," she admits.

Mylene just wants to have a life outside showbiz, period. And that life revolves around things far removed from the tinsel and glitter of the biz.

Because she has time to smell the flowers, Mylene can look back at her stay in Boracay, where she went eight times this year, with fondness.

She can always get away from it all if she wants to, and not miss a single thing.

"I want to have time to visit my family in the US regularly, curl up with a good book, bond with friends," she reveals.

She doesn’t say it outright, passionate about her privacy that she is. But her list of must-do activities includes going out with boyfriend Ira Cruz, formerly of the Passage Band (he’s now with a rock and roll group).

The two have sustained their relationship for years now, proving that Mylene means what she says when she swears that flings are not a way of life for her. Relationships that grow with time are.

Mylene knows a relationship flung like an open book before just everybody’s prying eyes is doomed from the start. Thus, she protects her privacy with the ferociousness of a mother tiger guarding her cubs.

"I’m not public property. I’m my own property," she says defiantly. Not everyone will agree with her, but Mylene insists. Strongly at that.

"If you’re public property, people can dictate how they want you to run your life," she reasons out.

Okay, okay. Leave the shrieking fans, the wild screams, the deafening cheers to Judy Ann Santos and company. Mylene would rather give the greatest performance of her life, and nothing but. You may take it, you may not. That’s Mylene Dizon, frills-free for you.