Young stars heat up their act

SHAINA Magdayao: From sweet to sultry

Many TV-film actresses start out cloyingly sweet. But when they reach their mid-‘20s, they have a career decision to make—go on playing it sweet and run the risk of boring viewers, or heat up their act and become more exciting adult stars.

Most times, change is nominal—more tease than strip. But it worked for Vilma Santos in “Burlesk Queen.”

Of more recent vintage is “No Other Woman”—a romantic drama of domestic felicity marred by infidelity—where Anne Curtis and Cristine Reyes scorched cinema screens to top-grossing and initially record-breaking effect. Both actresses continue to reap the benefits of their bold gambit, and younger comers are following suit.

This month, a new teleserye about OFWs will start telecasting, with Shaina Magdayao and Bangs Garcia fighting over Jake Cuenca. Known as a sexy comedienne, Bangs will go the sexy-drama route.

More noteworthy is Shaina’s transition from sweet to sultry, because her screen portrayals so far have been of shy and compliant women.

Denise Laurel also does her share of sultry scenes with Rafael Rosell in “Dahil sa Pag-ibig.”

Rumors say KC Concepcion will opt for more mature roles, and single mom Andi Eigenmann is expected to do the same when she returns to TV-film work.

‘Bomba’s’ resurgence?

Will younger actresses’ increasing propensity for stripping onscreen oblige more established stars like Marian Rivera and Iza Calzado to bring more heat onscreen, if only to keep up with the competition?

Are we seeing a resurgence in local movies of the sex-cesses of the bomba decade, when even established film stars bared it all gratuitously for millions of voyeuristic viewers to gawk at?

Hopefully not on television, which should remain a GP or PG medium because there are always impressionable children watching.

Cinema is another matter, because it’s easier to control films’ audiences according to their relative level of maturity.