Is he Dirty Harry?

Well, not really. Harry Laurel’s star turn in the indie film Ang Lalake Sa Parola (The Man In The Lighthouse) may have a lot of people thinking so, but he’s far from dirty.

Born Harrison Chua on Oct. 18, 1986 to Nestor and Evelyn Chua (the former is a TransCo-Napocor lineman and the latter is a housewife), he spent his formative years in the sleepy town of Talisay, Camarines Norte.

When Harry was old enough to study, his parents sent him to C. Villagen Elementary School; when he hit high school he moved on to the Camarines Norte State College of Agriculture. Unlike some of his contemporaries, he made sure to secure a college degree in BS Marine Transportation from the Mariners Polytechnic College Foundation before embarking on a showbiz career.

He describes his pre-showbiz life as follows: “Noon isa akong model na sumasali sa mga male beauty pageants. Basically, doon umiikot ang buhay ko. Mahilig din ako mag-mall kahit walang pera,” he laughs.

When asked to elaborate on the latter part of that sentence, he says, “Hiwalay na ako sa mga magulang ko noon” — that is, he was living independently at the time — “at hindi na po ako sa kanila umaasa kasi alam ko na kaya kong mabuhay ng hindi umaasa sa iba.”

Aside from modeling, he also worked in Jollibee to make ends meet. “Kinaya ko lahat ng mga pagsubok ng buhay sa Bicol noon.”

One of Harry’s earliest challenges came during the 2004 Ginoong Albay pageant, where he lost. A lesser man might have quit the modeling circuit altogether, but he used that experience to motivate himself to do better in the future.

He joined the Rajah Bagakay pageant in 2006 and received the Mr. Photogenic award. A year later, he beat out a host of other hunky provocateurs to win the 2007 Heat Wave Bikini Competition. According to him, taking part in such events has had a positive effect on his life.

In November 2006, he met his would-be manager — and so it was then he took his first step on the road to the “parola.”

However, at first Harry couldn’t believe his luck. “Akala ko noong una joke lang. Hindi ko kasi akalain na puwede akong mag-artista dahil hindi ako gaanong marunong mag-English at probinsyano pa ako.”

But now that he’s here — and after earning rave reviews for his acting in Parola — he’s determined to make the most of it.

When asked how his family feels about his daring image, this is what he had to say: “Actually, hindi pa po nila alam, pero sa tingin ko magiging proud naman sila kasi hindi naman bastos yung ginawa ko, at Viva Films pa ang nag-produce. Siyempre, medyo natatakot ako sa magiging reaksyon ng mga magulang ko kasi pinalaki nila akong may takot sa kanila. Pero proud kasi ako sa ginawa ko, lalo na dahil balita ko maraming nanood.”

He also says that he doesn’t plan to stick to the same image for the rest of his career — and that he would eventually like to try more complex and challenging roles. “Gusto ko ring mapatunayan na hindi lang paghuhubad ang kaya kung gawin. Hindi ako natatakot na sa paghuhubad lang ako mauuwi kasi alam ko na hindi ako papabayaan ng Viva Films. Masaya ako na nag-sign ako ng contract sa kanila.”

So how does he plan to explain his new career path to his family? “Hindi ko na siguro ipapaliwanag sa kanila — hayaan ko na lang na malaman nila,” he says with an impish grin.

Well, he may be no Dirty Harry, but he’s not that innocent, either.