Not just gorgeous bodies

This year’s Cosmopolitan Magazine’s centerfolds (those yummy boys you’d likely have for sweet dreams) revealed themselves in a Private Conversation I had with them. The guys, who were carefully selected from hundreds of photos and numerous personal interviews with the Cosmo mag board of editors, let themselves out, like little cats out in a basket for some night of verbal romping. They were great, they were exciting and they were just beautiful.

It was not an easy choice by the editors, says Ianne Evangelista, who accompanied centerfolds William Devaughn, Marco Alcaraz and Victor Basa.

"Last year, I was not even in the folds," says Victor who in this month’s issue of the magazine only has a pail to cover him. There are 69 of them — gorgeous men chosen as Cosmo’s most-wanted and sought-after bachelors with only few landing on the center pages. Girls, guys and gays would surely have fun scanning through the magazine from back to cover. But would mom appreciate it?

"My mom likes it," says Marco, who is making a name for himself in the movies and on TV. Almost six feet tall, Marco has his own share of TV and movie fame when he played Axel, Bea Alonso’s martyr husband in It Might Be You. Now, he is in Kampanerang Kuba and is doing two films for a major movie company. Victor’s mother thought he looked OK in the pictorial. William, whose family is in the US, is sending a copy to his mother.

Despite being called gorgeous, these guys still feel inadequate about their appearance. "I am pretty insecure about my looks," says American-born William, who came to town to follow his girlfriend whom he eventually broke up with. William survived Manila through friends. "It was worth coming to town." Victor, who has the most desirable pouting lips in the Pacific, is insecure about his lips but feels good about his eyes whom Ianne describes as capable of giving a "smoldering stare."

Ianne intimates that the magazine receives a lot of fan mails. "What we have in this issue is for all markets –pink and all." Modern men with liberal attitude, it is perhaps this kind of stance that makes them even more desirable to women. Can a woman make the first move or even court and pursue men?

"I don’t mind girls making the first move," says Victor. "There is equality of the sexes." William has had a relationship with a girl who made the courting and it lasted for four years. "It was good," he says of the relationship.

Ianne, who looks forward to turning 30 (she is 29) and enjoys being married, says, "Absolutely, girls can make the first move." She goes out on dates with female friends, and starting a conversation with a total stranger at a bar or a restaurant does not mean being "trampy." "You are in a place where there is partying. Talking to a guy next to you doesn’t make a woman less respectable."

But how important are women in the happiness of men? Sorry guys and girls. New hunk on the block William is happy even without a girl beside him. "I am not courting anybody now. I have not done any serious courtship yet." Marco, who is not going steady with anyone at the moment, says, "kung walang girl, mahirap."

Models and modeling have been plagued with the IQ question since time immemorial and the centerfold hunks are quick to the draw. Obviously, beyond having beautiful bodies, these guys have something between those earlobes. William finishes a book in a week’s time and has read Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. He worked as surgical technician in L.A. Marco went to San Sebastian College, and Victor is at the La Salle College International.

For the centerfold hunks, the parade has just begun.

Fili auditions

Gantimpala Theater Foundation (GTF) in cooperation with the National Parks Development Committee announces the audition for its forthcoming production, El Filibusterismo on Sept. 16, 1 to 4 p.m. at the Rehearsal Hall of the Concert at the Park Auditorium, Luneta, Manila.

Up for grabs are lead and supporting roles. The audition is open to male and female actors, between 18 to 50 years old, fluent in Filipino. Theater background is a big plus. Interested parties should prepare a three-minute dialogue and must bring a resume with a head-shot plus colored photo.

El Filibusterismo, the second novel of Dr. Jose Rizal, is the dark tale about Don Simoun and his quest to fulfill his impossible mission of wreaking havoc and chaos by destroying his enemies, stirring a revolution and saving his immortal beloved from the confines of the convent. Soxie Topacio directs the play.

For details, call GTF at 536-5860/528-0603 or 0921-5286308. Look for Alwin Ignacio.