Anne awakening

Anne Curtis is no longer the girl you used to know.

Four years ago, that girl was a typical teenager — all innocence and light. Like most girls her age, she would dream of walking down the aisle with her Prince Charming and living happily ever after with him.

She’d frequent Boracay, her favorite summer place, and party in wild abandon. So carefree was she then Anne took one drink too much one summer night and regretted what happened after.

“Someone pushed me and I keeled over. Problem was, I was wearing a mini-skirt,” Anne recalls, her face red with embarrassment. You guessed it, the inevitable happened. It was too late for Anne to cover herself with her mini-skirt.

Thank heavens celphone cameras were unheard of then. Otherwise, Anne’s most embarrassing moment would have circulated fast for every Tomas, Pedro and Juan to ogle at.

That’s not all. Look back four years and you see Anne shifting from one relationship to another, and earning the unwholesome tag of “playgirl.”

This label, which Anne says to this day is unfair, is said to be the reason why Annabelle Rama, mom of her ex, Richard Gutierrez, frowned on their relationship back then.

“I’m hurt by that accusation,” Anne opens up. To begin with, I’m not easy to get. I’m not the type who gets into relationships all at the same time. I really feel in love with all the guys I got romantically involved with. I’m a decent girl. So that playgirl image is wrong.”

Today, Anne at 23, can only laugh at her teenaged misadventures with her just-as-carefree friends back then.

Loveless for almost two years now after she broke up with Paolo Araneta because of a third party, Anne is proud of how she has handled herself so far.

“I’m happy that I was able to be single and happy for a long time,” she relates. “But now,” she adds, “I came to the point where I think I can go dating again.”

Yes, she still believes in marriage and even dreams of having three or four children someday.

“I love kids. I have the patience for them. In fact, given the chance, I want to take up Early Education in college,” she says.

But she’s no longer that keen on marriage just yet. Contrary to public perception, Sam Milby is still courting her and his fate as far as Anne is concerned still hangs in the air.

Like Michelle “Mitch” Valmonte, her character in Star Cinema and Viva Films’ upcoming romance drama When Love Begins, Anne is afraid of falling in love again.

“I don’t want to get hurt. Neither do I want to hurt others. I want to be ready and sure of myself,” she admits.

That’s why she cuts and cuts clean the minute she has doubts about her relationship. It was she, Anne reveals who called it quits with all her past boyfriends except for one.

Was it Richard Gutierrez, Oyo Sotto (her first love), Paolo Araneta or Chubi del Rosario? Anne remains mum.

One thing has not changed for her, though. She still loves going to Boracay every year. But no longer does she party in the island paradise until heaven knows when. She’s past that stage.

Now, it is to bond with her US-based best friend who loves to return to the country now and then. Last month and early this month, Anne also went to Boracay to shoot When Love Begins.

She packed her favorite bikini and flew, heart pounding, to the island paradise for the nth time.

“I love the beach!” she exclaims, while looking longingly at the seashells spread across her at the presscon of When Love Begins. “That’s where I go when I visit Boracay, Palawan and Hawaii. And guess what? I’ve started learning how to dive!” Anne blurts out like the child playing with a brand-new toy.

In the beach, Anne can walk all by her lonesome and think things over. The fans, the klieg lights, the hustle and bustle of Manila are miles away. Out of sight, out of mind.

Here, her mind clear, her body energized, Anne mulls the future.

“I still have so many things to do and explore,” she says, eyes glistening with excitement. “I want to travel more, finish high school, attend university, become a pre-school teacher.”

These are not the thoughts of someone who wants to get married anytime soon. That’s why loveless Anne is taking her sweet time before entering yet another relationship.

She can send feelers to a guy she likes by texting sweet messages like “Take care” and “Good night.” These, she says are harmless ways of dropping subtle hints without being too forward about it. But getting into a serious relationship is another thing.

Anne would rather focus on other things, like the possibility of teaming up with the comebacking Gabby Concepcion. And, if the role is good, an intimate scene with Gabby would pose no problem at all to Anne.

As it is, she’s tickled pink Gabby announced that he’d like to work with Anne someday.

“Wow, I’m so happy he even knows me in the first place!” says a surprised Anne.

A Gabby team-up may not look as impossible as it did long ago, when leading ladies are expected to be as young as their Prince Charming.

Aga Muhlach, Anne’s leading man in When Love Begins, happens to be 15 years her senior. And if you think the age gap gets in the way, you’re wrong.

“Nowadays, it’s no longer a big deal to have a younger girl and an older man or vice-versa. It doesn’t mean that your age has to match perfectly,” says When Love Begins director Joey Reyes. “So it was never been an issue here because the girl is mature in the way she thinks and acts and Aga is meant to be older.”

Anne looks up to Aga too much to hold back in their many romantic scenes together. Teaming up with him for the first time, is to her, “a dream come true.”

Anne has been raring to work with Aga since she was 11 and still working on her first movie, Magic Kingdom. That’s why she was so excited she didn’t sleep a wink the night before their first shooting day in Boracay.

When their first shooting day finally came, Anne was so tense, Aga himself sensed it. They had to reshoot their scenes and Aga himself advised his leading lady to relax and take it easy.