Anne Curtis: After Sam, what?

They say that nothing makes a person better than pain. If that’s true, then Anne Curtis must be a much better person and actress, now that she’s broken up with Sam Milby.

You see pain written all over her the last time she faced the press for Baler, Viva Films’ entry to the Metro Filmfest. She half smiled, but tears formed at the corner of her eyes and threatened to fall any minute. You can tell she was trying to put up a brave front.

Sam, after all, was her boyfriend for three years. And now that Sam asked her that they stop exclusively dating so he can concentrate on his relationship with God, Anne is hurting.

“It’s a painful process,” she admits. But her ego remains intact. She’s not wallowing in self-pity. Anne knows there’s no third party and the breakup has nothing to do with her. It’s got more to do with Sam’s soul searching than anything else.

Thus, she doesn’t take the split up personally. Nor does she take it against Sam. In fact, Anne pleads, “Please don’t get angry at Sam. People should not look at him negatively. I also went through what he is experiencing now. He has a good heart.”

Ah, love! It makes Anne protect Sam from sticks and stones her detractors want to throw at her former boyfriend. Love allows her to put herself in Sam’s shoes.

“I have my own struggles. I also have to fix things where my relationship with God is concerned. Sam gave me a chance to do that,” she told Kris Aquino in an interview on The Buzz.

The broken-hearted Anne is not closing the doors to a reconciliation. But if it won’t come, she will meekly accept things and move forward.

“I’ll be okay,” she assures not only the press but herself as well “I’ll pray for Sam.”

This ability to summon an emotional storm is one trait she shares with Feliza Reyes, the beautiful Filipina Anne portrays in Baler.

“I fell in love with Feliza the moment I read the script. Like her, I fall real hard when I fall in love. I give my all,” notes Anne.

Unlike the conservative Feliza though, Anne speaks her mind.

She doesn’t hide her dismay when reporters keep needling her about Sam.

“Enough, enough!” she implores.

Unlike the timid Feliza, Anne lets you know where she’s coming from.

Herein lies the challenge of playing someone who lived in war-torn Philippines in 1898. Because Feliza’s father (played by Phillip Salvador)frowns on her relationship with the indio Celso Resurrecion (Jericho Rosales), Anne resorts to body language to express herself.

A flutter of the eyelashes, a naughty glint in the eye, a furtive glance at Celso — these are the ways by which Feliza expresses what so many words can’t achieve. And this is where the challenge lies for Anne.

Joel Torre, her co-star, can’t help but sit up and notice.

“She’s an intelligent actress. She has what it takes to last long in the business,” he observes.

Jericho adds, “She’s a sensitive actress. Ang galing umiyak! Anne is also professional. She was never late on the set.”

Anne herself can’t wait to see how fans will react to this first in her career.

This time, she plays a full-blooded Filipina, not a balikbayan from the US. And she’s not even a modern-day Pinay. Anne dons the traditional baro’t saya, an attire which she admits transforms her the minute she wears it.

“I become different when I’m in that costume,” she relates. Anne becomes the love-struck young woman who defies her father to be with the man she loves. Their secret kissing scenes burn with passion; their struggle to defy the odds is heartbreaking.

“The passionate scenes remind you of The Notebook,” relates Anne,

Her Feliza is a far cry from the winged Dyosa and the tough Celine in Maging Sino Ka Man. This time, Anne lets her defenses down and becomes vulnerable.

“It’s my most challenging role so far and I’m honored to be part of this landmark movie,” Anne remarks.

It’s also a fitting way to cap an eventful year. The year about to end, notes Anne, is full of lessons she learned the hard and easy way.

The hard way is obvious: it came after she and Sam parted ways. The easier way is Anne’s pleasant discovery that the audience has become more open-minded. It has embraced her, no matter what she is on screen; hero or heel.

“It’s nice to know that the audience can still accept me, whether I play a bad girl in Maging Sino Ka Man, or a sympathetic character, like Dyosa,” explains Anne.

Now that she’s joining the Metro Filmfest, thanks to Baler, Anne feels more blessed.

“I’m happy that I’m given the chance to work with Jericho, one of the finest young actors we have. I hope to live up not only to his but to the expectations of everybody who is putting their trust in me,” she relates.

Jericho himself is nursing a broken heart since he and Heart Evangelista parted ways. Thus, Jericho and Anne speak the same language, share the pain of love gone wrong.

Baler is an acid test for Anne. It will determine, once and for all if she’s ready for the next level: more lead roles that call for heavier stuff: heart-wrenching, emotionally-draining performances that separate the serious actor from mere flash-in-the-pans.

It’s make or break for Anne. No wonder she feels anxious and excited. So, too, do all those who have seen her blossom from awkward Australian balikbayan to an actress dead serious about her craft.