Bea Alonzo on Her Past Peaks: 'I Was Somehow Hiding Behind My Characters'
Bea Alonzo has been under the microscope now for more than half of her life (two-thirds of it, to be exact). At 35, she’s still one of the most sought-after stars in the Filipino entertainment industry. Throughout the course of her career, she’s been forced to become a lot older than she really is.
In her breakout role in Kay Tagal Kitang Hinintay, for instance, she was only 14, dressed to play 21-year-old law student Katrina Argos (a favorite role of hers). In One More Chance, on the other hand, she had to play the role of a 25-year-old Basha when she was only barely 20. It’s been a non-stop ride for her since her early teens. When can she catch a breath?
But Alonzo has held her own, of course. Superstars, unfortunately, don’t have time for breaks. It’s all about getting another notch for these guys: to exceed expectations, to find more daring roles, to make more in the box office. When we think of stardom, we always think of the absolute apex of a particular artist’s career—how long they were relevant for, how high their ceiling was, how great they were at the craft, how loud was the loudest roar of the crowd. Oftentimes, however, we get too caught up in the concept of peaks. Someone’s so-called peak can happen more than once, really, and Alonzo is a hell of a case study for this.
At her GMA contract signing.
"'Yung peak hindi lang naman siya nagtatapos sa isa."
She’s still as big as ever, albeit in a changing landscape and transitionary period in her career. Alonzo’s doing Start-Up PH now with GMA, a Philippine adaptation of the mega-hit South Korean television series. We’re catching Alonzo in what appears to be another one of her peaks. She calls this a rebirth of sorts, and today, she can breathe a little.
"This is my like my second wind. ‘Yung peak hindi lang naman siya nagtatapos sa isa,” she says. “I had my peak when I was a teenager. When One More Chance happened in 2007, that was another peak in my 20s. That became a cult favorite eventually and I didn't expect that to happen. And now I'm in my 30s, I feel like I'm in my third peak.”
Three peaks is only fitting. It feels just right for how Alonzo's celebrity has played out. The biggest difference right now, Alonzo claims, is that this time, she actually has time to appreciate it. After years of lock-in tapings, endorsement deals, the grind of showbiz interviews, and the chants of a relentless legion of fans constantly in the way, Alonzo now has the time to be on cruise control. She doesn’t have much left to prove, after all.
The star says that she can’t take all the credit for her success. “To be honest, I'm very collaborative when it comes to work,” she adds. “I have to give credit to my directors and my writers. They do a great job of creating these characters and I'm just a tool.” Alonzo thanks directors like Vanessa Valdez, Lauren Dyogi, and Cathy Garcia-Molina, among others, for the development of her acting style.
Esquire Women cover shoot a while back. Different era.
“I create my character background. These are the things you don't find in the script. For example, what's their zodiac sign, their school, their friends. May falling out ba na nangyari? These are the things you don't get to read on any script,” she says of the preparation she does for her roles. “Kahit anong situation, you are able to create the character. You should know your character more than anybody.”
“I was busy thinking about how other people perceive me. I was creating this persona that was so scare of how people thought of the 'real me.'”
Outside of the studios, meanwhile, she learned to prepare herself for stardom, too, much like most celebrities of her caliber. The thing with showbusiness is that things can get a little superficial or, at times, even phony. The biggest stars know the star-fandom-media playbook. Celebrities are trained to answer questions this way, look at the press that way, talk to fans like this, address controversies like that, find a love team for clout, etc. It’s an industry that forces people to act on and off the camera a certain way. It’s part of the culture, especially locally. We rarely find stars getting candid on the spotlight and that's done on purpose.
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When that happens, for mega-stars like Alonzo, it can be rather depleting to have the weight of a tailor-made public persona. The good news for her is that these days, she can be as honest as she can be.
“This time around, I'm braver. I can show them who I am. I was able to reconnect with the fans on a personal level. They love me for who I am. Professionally, I have less insecurities.”
“Right now, I can enjoy it (the rebirth) more, unlike how it was during [my younger years]. I was like, ‘Do I like me? Am I good enough? Am I beautiful enough?' I was busy thinking about how other people perceive me. I was creating this persona that was so scared of how people thought of the 'real me.'”
Whether it was Basha in One More Chance or Bobby in Four Sisters and a Wedding, Alonzo explains that she hid behind these “well-loved” characters to be, well, well-loved, as well. “Because I was so scared that, 'Kung makilala nila si Bea, baka hindi nila magustuhan.’” A very human fear, indeed.
Perhaps this sense of comfort also comes with age. She started vlogging in her 30s and has never looked back. It's ultimately helped to liberate her, to say the least.
“I only try to live in the present and not worry about the future or the past. I enjoy it more now,” she states. “This time around, I'm braver. I can show them who I am. I was able to reconnect with the fans on a personal level. They love me for who I am. Professionally, I have less insecurities.”
In her home.
The 35-year-old says that she doesn’t have too many regrets at this point in her life, except for maybe that one role she wished she could’ve taken. “I was supposed to play the part of Rosario. I remember it was offered to me and I was so excited to do it. It was going to be my first period film. I remember it was an M.M.F.F. film. On the 25th, I was watching it and thinking to myself that I should have been the one doing the character.”
But that doesn’t mean we should write her off, of course. With projects like Start-Up PH and upcoming roles in 1521 (where she’s set to star alongside Danny Trejo), Alonzo’s third peak is in full swing. Now, who’s to say we’re not going to get two, three, four or more peaks from her? Each one truer to herself than the last. Finally, we're seeing the “real” Bea Alonzo arrive.
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