IT has been more than a year since Bea Alonzo made the big move to GMA Network.
She was supposed to have started work immediately on a movie, titled A Moment To Remember, an adaptation of the Japanese drama Pure Soul that would have paired her with white-hot leading man Alden Richards. The project was supposed to have been financed by the industry’s most prominent producers: the Gozons of GMA Films, the Del Rosarios of Viva, and the Tuvieras of APT Entertainment.
But fate dictated otherwise, and the film production went into one kink after another, causing schedules to be mashed up, and Alonzo found herself setting that aside and focusing on her new TV series instead.
“I am a very realistic person, and I also believe that what is meant to be, shall be,“ she told us. Preparations for the Philippine adaptation of the Korean hit series Start-Up started to take shape and when major production details fell into their rightful places, Alonzo buckled down to work immediately, still with Alden Richards as her leading man.
“Maybe the movie will be set for another time, and if that time comes soon, then so be it. In life, we should never force things because if something is bound to happen, we will know, we will feel it, and things will unravel smoothly,” she said.
Alonzo is overwhelmed with the care and attention she is getting in her new work playground. She is also happy that the new series has been launched and in a few weeks’ time, work for every one in Start-Up PH will be finished and she could take on new adventures, whether work-related or personal. “The Philippine Start-Up team is having a grand time during these last few work weeks, and we are all giving our best to make sure that this local adaptation will be received warmly by the Filipino audience.”
Her coactors are all excited, too, and very happy to be working with Alonzo on her debut acting project in GMA.
“I’d never met her before, and perhaps had she not moved to GMA, I wouldn’t have had the chance to work with her, “ said Gina Alajar, who plays the doting grandmother to Alden Richard’s character in this much-awaited prime-time series. “And I was very happy that the more I got to know her, the more I realized how good and grounded a person Bea is. I believe she was raised well, especially her mom, whom she is very close to.”
Alajar shared that the more conversations she gets with Alonzo, the more she is impressed with the actress. “Bea knows what she wants in life, what makes her happy. So she focuses on these things that truly matter to her. She is also a go-getter, and both intelligent and smart.”
GMA contract artist and Bench underwear endorser Jeric Gonzales feels fortunate to be working with Alonzo, even admitting that he got starstruck initially.
“The first few times were a bit intimidating because she truly commands a presence. I’ve always adored her in the many unforgettable films and successful projects she was part of. After a few days, I felt at ease, realizing that she is very down to earth, sincerely nice to everyone on the set. Bea is a true star and she is almost always the first one to reach out to us. I am just so happy that she is now in the same camp, and I feel happier that I get to work alongside Bea in her first GMA series.” Gonzales plays the second lead character Davidson Navarro, the counterpart of the character played by actor Nam Joo-Hyuk in the original Korean production.
Start-Up PH has begun airing this week and Alonzo can now heave a sigh of both relief and happiness that her maiden project is off to a very good start.
It has been more than 20 years since Phylbert Angelli Ranollo Fagestrom was discovered by talent manager Archie Ilagan and fashion designer Oskar Peralta in the 2001 Mutya ng Pasig pageant. She got her screen name Bea Alonzo when she was signed up by Star Magic of ABS-CBN, where her star shone brighter for two decades as she took on one project after another.
Now in a different home studio and under the formidable management of Shirley Kuan, Alonzo has remained unperturbed by her continued success in all her personal, professional and business undertakings. Even her love life is in its deepest, purest state.
Many years ago, in a short chat with Alonzo, I remember her telling me, “Growing up, I was told few times: Bloom where you are planted. I try to make that a reminder from time to time.”
Bea Alonzo continues to inspire as a woman of beauty, class, courage and substance. She is, indeed, a lady in full bloom.