Long live the Queen B

MANILA, Philippines - You have to give it to Bea Alonzo. Though her Instagram page is not on fleek by today’s standards (she doesn’t have consistent filters, impeccable flat lays, punny captions, #OOTDs in scenic locations), she has more than 1,500,000 people liking snippets of her life in squares. And maybe that’s exactly why we follow her: In this age of stylized online personas, Bea’s account is refreshing, a page that reflects real, imperfect life. She posts spontaneous group shots with her co-workers with captions that tell it like it is (“Last day of shooting #TheLoveAffair. I will miss you guys!!!”). She posts before-bedtime selfies that aren’t accompanied by pa-deep quotes that may or may not have been uttered by Marilyn Monroe/Buddha/Rumi. And when she’s indulging her love of travel, she uploads pictures of her on the beach or on the road, never mind that the colors totally clash with the hues of the other pictures on her page.

@BeaAlonzo’s Instagram is neither perfect nor coherent — much like real life. She’s one of the lucky ones, an actor who has managed to stay grounded, having made her bones before digital-savvy became a requisite for stardom. Her track record precedes her, and her work is what makes people follow her online. This one doesn’t need a 15-second twerking Instavideo to get people to line up for her next movie.

FRENZIED YEARS

In 2014, Bea top-billed one soap opera and didn’t do much else, a stark difference from her frenzied early years in showbiz. (“Dati, halimbawa M-W-F, soap [opera]. Tapos T-Th-S and Sundays nag shu shoot ng pelikula. So every day, ibang [character] ka. Nakaka bipolar ’yung feeling.”) Today, her projects are spaced far apart, so that each time she headlines a movie or a soap, her fans feel like they’re in for a treat. Bea has reached that enviable status of being able to choose and focus on one role at a time, a set-up that she loves. “Siyempre, pag tumanggap ka ng isang movie, responsibilidad mo ’yun sa writers mo, sa audience mo, to give your full dedication,” she says, sitting primly in the makeup chair.

In person, Bea is stunning — more Euro than Asian — a total lady who apologizes when she coughs mid-sentence, the soothing cadence of her voice perfectly matching the regal way she carries herself. It’s hard to imagine this elegant woman getting her hands dirty, but when she speaks of dedication, she means it — she learned competitive sailing, for example, in preparation for her upcoming film The Love Affair (in theaters nationwide on Aug. 12).

In this latest outing, Bea plays sailer Addie, a jilted bride who meets a broken man (played by Richard Gomez), whose wife (Dawn Zulueta) cheated on him with his best friend — very dramatic stuff. Vanessa Valdez, creative director of Star Cinema and the writer behind some of Bea’s best movies (One More Chance, The Mistress, and And I Love You So, among others), was “very pleased” that Bea took on the physical and emotional challenges of the part.

“She’s usually perceived as lampa (even she thinks that of herself), so I wanted to show her doing something physically demanding in this film,” Vanessa shares in a text message. There is palpable respect between these two women, and Vanessa’s involvement in this project was a major reason Bea said yes to doing this film. “Alam ko na alam niya yung makakabuti sa akin na project,” Bea says. “For the first time, nabigyan ako ng role na tama sa edad ko.” (When she was 15, Bea played 21-year-old lawyer Katrina Argos in the soap Kay Tagal Kang Hinintay; when she was 19, she essayed the role of iconic Basha, a 20-something engaged to Popoy in One More Chance.)

Maturity had to come early for Bea, whose approach to acting is that of “mirroring what is happening in real life, mirroring what people feel.” And now, for once, show business and “real life” are coming together. Her character Addie is seeking the very things the 27-year-old actress wants: happiness and meaning. “Tapos ka na dun sa surface. Tapos ka na dun sa stardom. Tapos ka na sa material things. I think mas lumalalim ka na as a person,” she says, referring to herself in the third person. “Tama ’yung role na to sa akin.”

LIFE, ACTUALLY

Outside of the make-believe world of movies, Bea likes to live. And by live, we mean get out of her bubble and explore the great big world without her coterie of assistants, road managers, and the rest of the people who take care of her needs. She travels alone or with her friends and boyfriend Zanjoe (yes, they’re still together), and laps it all up: the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Les Miserables in London’s West End, the azure waters of Ibiza.

“Na e-enrich ko yung pagkatao ko pag nasa ibang bansa. Ang dami kong nalalaman tungkol sa sarili ko na hindi ko nalalaman pag nandito ako.” She does arm chair travel, too, immersing herself in the works of Paulo Coelho (she says Eleven Minutes taught her to embrace her sensuality) and Mitch Albom (she read For One More Day during a plane ride, and came home crying, hugging her mom in appreciation as a result). 

Her friend/movie writer Vanessa Marquez believes Bea’s movies always do well in the box office because of this fool-proof triumvirate: “Good content, good direction, and great performance from Bea.” We won’t argue with that, but we also suspect it has something to do with how Bea views acting.

Bea Alonzo is real. She mirrors life so well because she knows how to live.

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Tweet the author @IrishDDizon.

Photos by PATRICK DIOKNO

Produced by DAVID MILAN

Makeup by DENISE OCHOA

Hair by AYU HAMASAKI

Dressed by STYLIZED STUDIO