Angel

This is an homage to Angel Aquino who turned 38 last Monday.  Wikipedia says she was born in 1973.  So I must have first met Angelita when she was 20 years old.  We signed her up for her first major TV commercial as a shampoo talent after my boss saw her face in an obscure  print ad.   At that time, mestizas or fair-skinned Filipinas where ruling the beauty care category.  We thought we should change the rules of the game by casting someone who was morena or more Filipina-looking.  18 years hence, she remains as one of the most sought-after endorsers for shampoo and other cosmetic brands.  

And for 18 years now, I continue to be blessed by my friendship.  I immediately took a liking to her in our first project because she was kind and uncomplaining.  Shampoo commercials are the toughest for any talent with all the torture the hair is subjected to before and during the shoot.  You can’t find a more cooperative and professional talent than Angel Aquino.

She behaved like a lost, naïve girl from Baguio in her first trip to Hong Kong.  My teammates Chrys F., Gil C. and I had to channel our inner Mother Teresas for Angel’s sake.  We rallied her on during the shoot.  One scene took all of 38 takes before she could get it right.  Then A-list HK director Larry Shiu threatened to walk out.  He muttered, “That girl has to believe herself.  She’s got no self-confidence at all”.  Before the 38^th take which made the final cut, we cheered, “C’mon, Angel, you can do it, think about the paycheck”.

The following year, Angel and I traveled together to KL for another shampoo shoot.  Holed up in a hotel that felt a thousand miles away from the city, it was only then that I understood why the loveliest talent ever was also the loneliest.  Her life story deserves its own telenovela.

After KL, she made very hard decisions that allowed her to come into her own. The confidence Larry Shiu missed was now oozing, and was specially evident in a multi-country shoot of top celebrities in Sydney where she was easily the favorite of production team made up of the best from L.A. and Sydney.  She also broke into film around that time, and earned raves for her honest, intense and graceful acting style. 

Just recently, she stole the spotlight in ABS-CBN’s highly-rated series, Magkaribal.  Cast against type, there she was bitchy, hysterical.  And for her enjoyable turn as the fashion mogul Vera, she was voted online as the 2010 Kontrabida of the Year, and arguably was primetime TV’s actress of the year.  Who would've thought?  Yet, in spite of all her fame and fortune, she's still the kind and gentle Angel I knew 18 years ago.

Happy Birthday, my angel.  You’ve done your Mother Teresas proud.