Ringing in the laughter

Mall shoppers take a second look at her and tease, "Hello, telephone!" The more serious ones call out, "Ikaw si Unlimited, di ba?"

Jen Ilustre can’t go out of the house without giving people that vague a-ha feeling of seeing her somewhere, someplace. They’re right. She’s that kooky girl all dressed in white who took a groom (Marco Alcaraz) after he slipped a diamond ring into her manicured finger.

"All I did was say bongga in three different ways: I had to say it the way a newscaster would. Then, I had to utter a sad bongga and finally a happy bongga," Jen reveals.

Like the magic wardrobe in The Wizard of Oz, that PLDT commercial has flung the door wide open for a whole new world for Jen. It has given her a role in Ispiritista. It has made her ever-smiling face familiar, not only to commercial watchers but to viewers of Startalk, Unang Hirit, S-Files and others. Her face is on billboards all over town.

In short, it has made her life more colorful though hectic. But Jen is not complaining.

"That’s the real me. I talk fast, I look at the bright side of things," says Jen. Judging by that series of commercials, she’s also hyper-active.

Jen is into many other things besides endorsing commercials. She hosts corporate shows. She recently hosted a travel show with Atong Redillas (remember him as a child actor?).

That’s not all. Jen sings with the all-girl Freeway band (former Silk) at Virgin Café and other venues.

"That’s why I have to update myself with the hit songs," she explains.

A member of Star Circle Batch ‘99 (with Sarah Christopher and Janet McBride), Jen can take on dramatic roles with the same ease she can play a kooky character.

She has guested in Maalaala Mo Kaya and appeared in a scene with Rio Locsin. Jen was also in Mangarap Ka and Recuerdo de Amor with Diether Ocampo.

No wonder her Singapore-based boyfriend, a German, tells friends his sweetheart is a star in the Philippines.

"He is a manager and he used to work here," Jen says. "But he didn’t immerse himself in Filipino culture so I taught him a few Tagalog words. This way, he won’t get fooled when he visits me here."

Someday, her eyes turn wistful, she wants to put her degree in educational management to good use by putting up a pre-school.

"I love kids. I love it when they pose with me in my out-of-town shows," states Jen.

The PLDT Unlimited Girl turning schoolmarm? Why not? But that would call for another story.