Pauleen Luna recalls kiddie-search past

LUNA. Opposites attract

Early this year, when we were asked by Skilty Labastilla of Pinoy Rebyu—a blog that aggregates reviews of local films—what our favorite films and performances were last year, we had a hard time winnowing down our hefty list of exceptional cinematic achievers. Our top five films included Carlo Obispo’s “Purok 7,” Chito Roño’s “Badil,” Jeffrey Jeturian’s “Ekstra,” Eduardo Roy Jr.’s “Quick Change” and Alvin Yapan’s “Mga Anino ng Kahapon.”

Given the sheer volume of choices, our outstanding lead performances were even harder to pick, so we listed down seven: We chose (in this order) Vilma Santos (“Ekstra”) and Agot Isidro (“Mga Anino ng Kahapon”), Joel Torre (“On The Job,” “Kabisera”), Cherie Gil (“Sonata”), Nora Aunor (“Ang Kwento Ni Mabuti”) and Bea Alonzo (“Four Sisters and A Wedding”) and Mimi Juareza (“Quick Change”).

Supporting performers: Angel Aquino (“Huling Cha-cha ni Anita”), Migs Cuaderno (“Purok 7,” “Quick Change”), Jasmine Curtis-Smith (“Transit,” “Puti”), Madeleine Nicolas (“Turkey Man Ay Pabo Rin,” “Gaydar”) and Jun-Jun Quintana (“Quick Change,” “Philippino Story”).

Revelatory

There was one unlikely lead actress on our Top 10 list: Pauleen Luna, whose revelatory performance (as a finicky woman who falls in love with her male friend, whose sexuality is questionable) in Alvin Yapan’s rollicking Quezon City film fest entry, “Gaydar,” is a joy to watch! The actress usually plays contravidas, as she does in GMA 7’s afternoon serial, “The Borrowed Wife,” so her foray into indie films as a lead actress was a welcome change of pace.

Pauleen recalls, “We shot ‘Gaydar’ for only seven days.  I had a lot of fun doing it because my role required me to be kooky and madaldal—and that’s me! On ‘Borrowed Wife,’ my character Tessa manipulates events to break up the relationship of the couple who betrayed her. If that happened to me, I would have left them alone and started fresh.”

Pauleen had an early start in show biz—as a contestant in “Little Miss Philippines,” a recurring segment on “Eat Bulaga,” which she now cohosts. What does she remember from that experience? The 25-year-old actress recalls, “I was only 6 then—and I’m no longer bungal (toothless) (laughs)! I lost in the daily round, but I was a go-getter. I wanted to give stardom another shot, so I went to ‘EB’s’ rival show, then hosted by the Apo.

Exceptional rival

“I was contestant No. 2, but I knew I would lose again when I saw contestant No. 1—because she was exceptional! Just my luck—two losses in three months (laughs)! When I watched a video of that contest years ago, I realized who contestant No. 1 was: Sarah Geronimo!”

What don’t her fans know about Pauleen? She reveals, “I’m very domesticated. I don’t go out—I just watch my favorite TV series. I like cooking pasta—and my favorite food is Cebu lechon, ‘yung maalat (salty)! I’ve become immune to intrigues. They used to bother me but when social media became pervasive, I knew it was pointless to let bashers get through to me. Lahat na lang ng tao think they can say whatever they want! If you make me feel unwanted, I won’t force myself on you.”

How different is she from boyfriend Vic Sotto? Pauleen discloses, “I don’t like very cold weather. But, we both like beaches. He’s laid-back, I like taking care of people. He’s quiet, I’m loud. We like taking road trips together, and we sing in the car—duet kami (laughs)!

“Vic prefers contemporary music, like Boyce Avenue, Kesha, Ne-Yo and Katy Perry, while I enjoy listening to Frank Sinatra. As they say, opposites attract—that’s probably why we click!”