Who killed Rustom Padilla?

This guy’s got balls.

Stranger still is that I’m referring to a woman (albeit not in the most physiologically correct sense of the word) who was formerly an actor called Rustom Padilla. Now going by the moniker Bb Gandanghari, she is certainly the most controversial showbiz figure of the moment. The male counterpart of stars like Ruffa Gutierrez in films such as Underage is now dead (as Bb herself has declared to a cavalcade of reporters at an impromptu press conference in the airport). There’s no doubt that Rustom was no more (if anything only in the vaguest sense). The question was: Who was it in front of me? 

The announcement of the demise of handsome matinee idol by no less than the delicate, womanly figure he became was an audacious act, to say the least. Being yourself is already hard enough, but if that also entails wearing a dress then it’s almost suicidal. “I don’t care,” says Bb, when asked about the possible repercussions. “In the end, it’s all about my relationship with God,” explains Bb. “Ultimately it’s just you, naked, in front of Him.”

“Be all you can be,” was Bb’s oft-stated mantra and the gamine personality espousing it was no less its living embodiment. As expected it provoked a reaction in a culture that remains rigid in its delineation of gender roles, whose ready characterization of homosexuality rarely rises above slapstick. By default, both comic and brutal. But, armed with only frocks, makeup and a knowing smile, Bb met it with unmistakable style and chutzpah.

Receiving me at home, Bb says that it all feels natural as opposed to life before. The apartment with its chic, tasteful (but not ostentatious) décor is evidence of this. (The actor also lives alone with a black lab, Emanuel, whom he affectionately nicknamed “Iman.”) Asked about the difference, Bb says, “Rustom was very vain…now it’s much simpler.” To illustrate, the ex-hubby of actress Carmina Villarroel explains that as Rustom it took forever just to get through the rituals of getting ready in the morning. “Nakakapagod,” laughs Bb, who confesses that now the regimen is pretty basic, requiring only a few products.

Last October Padilla flew to New York. Just prior to that, he had already caused a stir by appearing in full drag to present at the last Urian Awards. At the event, she explained that it was all part of a character she was preparing for whose name was “Gandanghari.” But soon after arriving there, Bb started to emerge and took over, gaining ascendance with each step taken, walking in high heels and window-shopping in Manhattan. (Really, what else is there for a girl to do?) “I thought it was a role,” Bb now clarifies. “Then I realized, it was becoming me; Rustom was slowly dying.”

However, beneath that, there was still the struggle to reconcile a faith in God with this transformation. “When I was in the process…” says Bb, “I was asking God what was acceptable.” Being a self-described Bible scholar, Bb came to the realization that it isn’t only the physical being that matters. Rather it is also being true to oneself and knowing that divinity sees past that. “I leave it to God,” says Bb, who keeps only one picture frame with a photograph of Rustom at home. (“It’s a nice memory,” says Bb.) If anything, “I believe in resurrection.”

At the shoot, Bb is obviously in her element. Seeing the svelte figure being photographed, sitting at an old piano in a room remarkable with chandeliers, strikes one as pure Hollywood. Exactly what Bb wanted but with personal flourishes, of course. Never wanting to be a “poor copy” of someone else’s style, Bb cuts an iconic figure, one that’s reminiscent of old glamour, evoking the fierceness of Mata Hari and the enigma of Garbo. But it must be added, with the flair of the old charming devil that’s associated with her birth name, that earthy charisma that she shares with brother Robin most notably. Whatever it may be, Bb Gandanghari is certainly one to watch, a bona fide star to be bedazzled by in these (post) modern times.