Anne ‘stoops’ to conquer

Eight years back, she was just a teenybopper making those bubble gang movies. Hers were frothy roles, nice to while the time away, but not really making you feel like uh, you’ve seen a movie that will remain with you for a long, long time.

Yes, her sharp features bagged her kontrabida roles, but Anne Curtis never really struck you as someone who can grow those horns and bare those fangs.

That was years ago, when she was green at the gills and didn’t know any better. My, how times change! Only several weeks ago, Anne bested more than 20 hopefuls who auditioned or the role of ABS-CBN’s Kampanerang Kuba and won the coveted part.

She read three kinds of scripts, exchanged lines with the network’s seasoned actors, went for a final, bigger audition and emerged as Imang, the barrio girl who changes from ugly to pretty and back.

It could be her stint in Hiram or any other show that brought out the actress in her. Whatever it is, Anne now has the biggest break in her career in the role Vilma Santos herself played 30 years ago.

Twenty-year-old Anne has mixed feelings.

"I feel nervous about the expectations," she admits. But she’s thrilled and excited to play a role she can sink her teeth into. Goodbye, light-as–paper roles? If she plays her cards right, yes.

Anne is the first to admit it’s no walk in the park. First, she has to brush up on her Filipino, the language Imang speaks. Then, she has to endure the one-and-a-half ordeal of putting on facial prosthetics.

Like a magic spell, the beautiful Anne transforms into an ugly, humble hunchback her screen nemesis Jodi Santamaria (to whom the role was originally offered) loves to oppress.

So this is how it feels to be ugly, Anne tells herself. It’s a realization that must have hit this Crush ng Bayan like a cannonball. Before Kampanera, no one would have imagined Anne playing an ugly hunchback from an obscure town.

She attracts men like moths to a flame. Anne dated Luis Manzano and Derek Ramsey, but they never became her boyfriends. Oyo Boy Sotto and Richard Gutierrez did.

Now, Ann is going steady with Paolo Araneta (yes, he is old rich), her first non-showbiz flame. The two have been an item for seven months now.

"We met through Bernard Palanca," recalls Anne. "It was just hi and goodbye at first. Paolo asked BJ (Bernard) for my number. When Paolo and I bumped into each other again, he asked for my number himself. He said he wanted to get it straight from me this time."

Anne never hid their relationship from anyone, especially the press. This honesty, far from spelling disaster to her career, could have even enhanced it. Paolo can freely visit her during breaks on the set, and she can entertain him without fearing it will ruin a fabricated romance on screen.

Now, Ann can have her cake and eat it, too: enjoy a smooth-sailing love life while savoring the perks of her career.

"The fact that Paolo is 10 years my senior helps a lot. He is mature and understands my work completely. He doesn’t cramp my style. I can wear mini-skirts. I can leave my mobile phone for him to see whoever is calling me," Anne gushes.

The other wonderful thing about Paolo, adds Anne, is that he doesn’t cheat. This means the world to Anne, especially now that they seldom see each other because of work — she for Kampanerang Kuba and he, in his trucking business.

They have yet to have a fight. Even Paolo’s mom, Maritess Revilla-Araneta, is on Anne’s side.

"She makes bracelets as a hobby and she made one for me. Once, when we talked on the phone, Tita Maritess told me, `You’re working again?" Anne reports.

She seems to have a way of winning the mothers of her boyfriends ever since. Dina Bonnevie and Annabelle Rama, the moms of Oyo Boy and Richard, respectively, speak highly of Anne.

The reason is obvious: Anne has always remained faithful to her boyfriend. She was never rumored to play around while she’s in a relationship. And the moms appreciate this. After all, there’s no substitute for peace of mind when it comes to your son’s girlfriend.

Anne has just one wish: to watch the original Kampanerang Kuba. Someone gave her a DVD copy but it was defective. So when a member of the press told her it’s being shown on cable, Anne’s eyes lit up like that of a child in a candy store.

"Wow, really?" she reacted, her voice tinged with excitement.

Now, Anne reveals, she is more convinced than ever she didn’t make a mistake by transferring from GMA 7 to ABS. She simply turned a deaf ear to those who told her ABS might just use her.

"Now, I have this chance to prove that I can really act," she explains.

Nothing could be more challenging, Anne reveals, than stepping into that age-old church in Nagcarlan (Laguna), where Kampanera is being shot, and being transported into a magical world far removed from the one she has known ever since.

It’s the same church with its imposing belfry where Vilma and company shot the original Kampenerang Kuba.

Anne knows this is just the beginning.

"I never let success get to my head. My parents told me that the minute you do, you’ll start falling as fast as you went up," Anne says.

She faces tough competition from Angel Locsin, who plays Darna on GMA 7.

"I will give the role my 100 percent," Anne promises. It’s an acid test like no other. Now, all eyes are looking her way.