Louise makes a splash on GMA primetime

She’s the face of GMA’s newest and original mermaid story that is causing ripples on primetime television. She’s young, she’s refreshing and she’s slowly swimming her way into the hearts of GMA Prime audiences worldwide.

Louise delos Reyes is now every bit the leading lady that she has always wished to become. From her early years in the pageant circuit, Louise joined GMA Artist Center in 2010 in the hopes of realizing her childhood dream.

“I started when I was eight. I went to auditions and attended summer workshops because acting has always been my first love,” she recalls. “In second grade, my advisory teacher asked me if I can be the muse of my class, and that started everything.”

Each year after that, she joined school pageants and won every title. When she was 14, she joined Ms. Teen Philippines and was crowned Miss Teen Luzon. In college, she took home the Ms. Lyceum of the Philippines – Cavite title. “I joined pageants because I believe that they share the same advocacy that I believe in, which is youth empowerment.”

She has led three major TV productions — One True Love and Mundo Mo’y Akin on primetime, and Alakdana in the afternoon block. Now, she has yet again been handpicked to front another stellar primetime production, Kambal Sirena.

“I’m happy and overwhelmed. I can’t describe the feeling because I’m blessed and beyond thankful to GMA for giving me their trust,” she says, gracious to all the people — from executives to production — who believed in her potential. “I want to pay back their kindness by giving my 100 percent all the time.”

Louise plays a dual role in Kambal Sirena — twin sisters separated by circumstance: Perlas, a human being born with gills behind her ears, and Alona, a mermaid tucked away in the underwater kingdom of Serenadia to live as a sea princess. Both characters will fall in love with Kambal Sirena leading man Aljur Abrenica.

“Alona is the tougher one and she knows what she wants,” Louise says of her mermaid character. “Perlas is the total opposite. She’s distant and guarded because of her gills.”

Big-budget productions like Kambal Sirena warrant intensive research and credible characters to weave a captivating story. In formulating her character, Louise underwent swimming and scuba diving lessons under the tutelage of former actor Jess Lapid Jr. Jess is now a licensed member of the World Underwater Federation, an international sport diving association.

“It was priceless,” she raves, awed by her underwater experience. “Seeing the beauty of the corals and swimming with different kinds of fish is totally breathtaking.” With state-of-the-art visual effects, Kambal Sirena is shot in picturesque seascapes, particularly Anilao, Batangas.

Most actresses her age would cower at the thought of swimming in prosthetic fins — 20 feet from the ocean surface, no less. But Louise was unyielding to her fear of the water. “I trained really well to overcome my fear. And I love wearing my tail!” she exclaims. “It doesn’t bother me at all. I’ve always dreamed about being a mermaid ever since I was little. This is a dream come true.”

Everyone in Kambal Sirena had to undergo water training, acting workshops and teambuilding exercises to achieve the rapport of a close-knit cast. “We always make it a point to have fun at work.” Louise seems to be enjoying the company of her cast. “Sometimes we don’t feel like it’s one in the morning already because people are still up and about like it’s 8 a.m.”

Louise considers leading man Aljur an inspiration to fine-tune her acting chops all the more. “He is very focused on-cam and he has this stare that can melt your heart,” she shares. “I love how he affects me with his emotions. He’s very expressive. Off-cam, we’re very good friends and I love how he enlightens me with God’s wisdom.”

This is Louise and Aljur’s first time to test out their onscreen chemistry. Aljur and his perennial love team partner Kris Bernal have been together in a number of projects, while Louise has been consecutively paired with Alden Richards.

How are her two leading men different? “Actually, I can’t really tell the difference between them because they’re both good-looking, real gentlemen and very good actors.”

Leading a high-profile project — perhaps one of GMA’s most ambitious this year — does pose some pressure, but Louise remains unruffled. “The pressure is always there. It’s up to you whether you’ll be affected negatively or positively. For me, pressure is my fuel to be a better version of me every day.”

Louise says she still has a long way to go and looks up to more established actresses for inspiration. “I admire Ms. Marian Rivera because she’s the epitome of everything. She’s the GMA Primetime Queen and yet she’s very down-to-earth and one of the sweetest people I know. I really learned a lot from Ate Yan.” Marian previously led another Kapuso sirena-serye, Dyesebel in 2008.

Don’t be fooled by her girly and sunny personality because Louise is tough as nails underneath. Little-known fact about this fun-loving 20-year-old: She is a trained target shooter. “I started target shooting when I was 10. It’s one of the many things I share with my family. It’s how we bond.” Her father and two brothers are part of the police force.

With her gun-shooting prowess, Louise says she looks forward to doing an action-serye in the future.

Despite the glare of the spotlight, she is still a homebody at the core. “I don’t go out if I don’t have to. I just stay at home, read a good book or just lay on my bed. Sometimes, I go to the gym to de-stress. Or go on road trips, I love road trips!”

So how is she like behind the camera? “I’m just a normal young adult who has a life outside of showbiz. You’ll always see me in jeans and in plain shirt because I always want to keep it simple and return to reality if I don’t have to work.”

En route to becoming one of television’s fastest-rising young stars, she abides by one simple rule: “Always strive to be the best version of yourself.”