Post by wellasecreta on Apr 5, 2006 22:14:43 GMT 5.5
BIANCA GONZALEZ
Cover Story : Enjoying her time in the sun
First posted 11:59am (Mla time) May 01, 2005
By Ruel S. de Vera
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page Q1 of the May 1, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
SHE wasn't afraid of the snake. Whenever people meet Bianca Gonzalez for the first time, the topic of Bianca's towering billboard over Guadalupe—an ad for Pink Soda, for which she cuddled up with a rather large reptile—comes up. They ask her if she was scared of the snake. "I did ask the trainer if the snake had been fed," the 22-year-old model and TV host says with a big smile.
That smile (remarkably genuine), those eyes (amazingly bright), and that figure (surprisingly tiny and streamlined) have turned Bianca into the freshest fresh face among the hordes of new models that seem to be multiplying even as we speak. In fact, Bianca herself seems to be everywhere at once, as her campaign for Globe has overrun TV, newspapers, magazines and city streets.
It all is a bit of a bracing experience for Bianca, even though she's been modeling for more than five years now. Take the huge Globe ad on Edsa near Timog. "The one on Edsa is the most exagg thing ever," she says, eyes very
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wide. "Talaga,I remember I was on my way to work and I stopped at the stoplight. Lumingon ako-and it was so surreal, the attack of the 50-foot woman! But at the same time, I was, like, that's me!"
It does make sense that she's here at this point. Bianca Monica M. Gonzalez is the youngest of three children to businessman Chito Gonzalez and banker Ofel; older brother J.C. is a TV host-turned-producer, while Aissa is an interior designer. Bianca attended De La Salle-Zobel prior to attending the Ateneo. She graduated last March with a degree in Communication and a minor in Philosophy.
It was J.C. who started it, actually. "He was already doing commercials, even TV, and parang it was something I wanted to do but nothing definite," Bianca recalls of her late grade school years. In high school, she immersed herself in inter-class plays.
In spite of some ill-fated VTRs, Bianca really wasn't making serious attempts at becoming a model until her freshman year at Ateneo. It is the prototypical scenario: Bianca was walking in a mall, and she was pulled into having her photo taken for Pantene's promo. The unsuspecting Bianca won the top prize and became the face of Pantene's new campaign.
Now everywhere
That's when the modeling really began. She would do the occasional TV spot, but most of it was magazine work. Meanwhile, Bianca was nurturing art house dreams of being a director of short films after college. When she was in third year, she got a bit bored with school and was recruited to write for Studio 23's Concept Development Group, and was thus under the aegis of Enrico Santos for a year. After appearing on the cover of a glossy, Bianca met future manager Jet Valle of Backroom. "And it all changed," she says.
Three years ago, Bianca did the GenText campaign. She was recalled to effectively lead the new Globe G2P surge as the central figure in a texting triangle with Brad Turvey and Geoff Eigemann. Then her spot for Nestle Yoghurt began running again. All of the sudden, Bianca was
everywhere: on billboards on Edsa, texting from inside your television and reading aloud from magazines.
She also began exploring the possibilities of television, hosting to her heart's content on the defunct, lamented "Review Night" on Cinema One, which she hosted in its last months. She accompanied the colorful talk show "Y Speak Live!" in the program's switch from ABS-CBN 2 to Studio 23. Her gig on "MTV U Break" just wrapped up. If some guys are a tall drink of water, then Bianca is an unmistakable shot of Baileys in the morning, as one of the telegenic hosts of Studio 23's "Breakfast." On weekends, Bianca faces the footlights as a host on ABS-CBN's "Stardance."
The hosting and modeling gigs have made Bianca a familiar face, but she insists that a full-fledged showbiz career isn't for her. She can't sing, she says ("except for Magic Mike"). "I'm not an actress. I know it can be learned, but it's not my passion, unlike other people. I love watching local teleseryes and movies, but I can't imagine myself in them. My passion is hosting." It was a fairly late realization, something she realized while already working, in fact. "As long as someone would get me to host TV and model, I'll do it."
Already, she's unbelievably busy. Bianca arrives for the pictorial at the Renaissance New World Hotel, straight from a taping in Baguio. Then she has to scoot off to Quezon City for another pictorial. She recalls once having to stay awake for 38 hours straight, and then going for three straight weeks working. Yet she's still into it. "It's fun, and at the same time I'm really passionate about it. Even if I'm tired, it's a fulfilled kind of tired, so it keeps me going."
Super indeed
And at a time when celebrity is its own intoxicant, Bianca is refreshingly unaffected. She arrives sans entourage or posse, having just stopped for some coffee. When she laughs, it's an unaffected, wide guffaw, all teeth and eyes. She considers herself playful and prone to laughter and uses the expression "super" without it ever getting on your nerves.
Being Bianca means still going home to the family house in BF Paranaque. It means looking forward to trips to the beach. It means watching an unbelievable amount of TV, and not just any TV-cartoons. "My favorite is 'Hey Arnold!,'" she says, referring to the Nickelodeon animated series. "It's like a 'Wonder Years' kind of thing."
It means giving herself up to the lure of the movies, but only as a besotted audience member. She is a super movie fan, and her favorites: "As of now, 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' and 'Romeo + Juliet.' There are things she treasures, like her car, WJE, a silver Honda Civic, so christened after the three letters on her plate number. She loves junk food (thank God for a fast metabolism). There is her collection of Converse Chuck Taylors. And there is her Apple Titanium G4 PowerBook, festooned with stickers. "People either hate it or love it," she explains. "Some of them say, 'It's like an art school thing,' but others say, 'Why did you do that?!'"
It is on that PowerBook that Bianca does two of the things she, uh, super enjoys: blogging and surfing the Internet. Bianca just grazes in front of that flickering screen for hours on end. And she loves posting on her blog site (http://superbianca.blogspot. com), which she has kept since 2003. She loves it when people post comments. "Wow, people actually take time to do that. Wow." She tries to respond or at least acknowledge everybody who drops by. By the way, Bianca likes saying "wow" a lot, too. In a nice way.
She still has fun when people recognize her. And she absolutely enjoys the countless clothes she gets to try on."I consider myself a clothes person. I like modeling because they style you, and I like clothes, but everything else that goes with being kikay, I'm not into." For example, she's not really into makeup. "I'm not high-maintenance at all, but I can look presentable when I have to. I look at myself as simple. Super."
Comfortable as herself
What has also helped her as a model and host is that she's clearly comfortable in her own skin. It took some doing, as she says that she was "super itim, and payat (really dark and skinny)" as a kid. And believe it or not, she still has her insecurities: "Super. Madami! Typical Pinay body, particularly my legs, kasi typical Pinay kid, played a lot in the street, puro peklat (all scars)." And contrary to what people may think, life isn't perfect, even for models like Bianca. "Would you believe someone stole my cellphone a month ago?" she says incredulously. It's the fourth phone she's lost somehow. She's using a borrowed phone at the moment, presumably to text Geoff and Brad. Or not, since Bianca says she's staying single by choice right now.
One is tempted to worry about overexposure, about not growing, but Bianca isn't worried. She's just really enjoying herself and working very hard. "I want to flow naturally, so bahala na. I know it can all go away super fast, as much as I'd want to do this until I get old, but there are so many other things I want to do. I'd like to study film, and eventually direct someday. I'd like to save up enough to take my master's in philosophy and then teach."
But mostly she just wants to keep doing what she's doing right now. She's 22. Her face lights up the highways at night. Her image brings the television to life. Bianca Gonzalez can do whatever she wants. Right now though, she's waving goodbye with a big smile, slinging her bag over her small shoulder, crossing the street nimbly in flip-flops, off to the mall by herself, perfectly fine.
Cover Story : Enjoying her time in the sun
First posted 11:59am (Mla time) May 01, 2005
By Ruel S. de Vera
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page Q1 of the May 1, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
SHE wasn't afraid of the snake. Whenever people meet Bianca Gonzalez for the first time, the topic of Bianca's towering billboard over Guadalupe—an ad for Pink Soda, for which she cuddled up with a rather large reptile—comes up. They ask her if she was scared of the snake. "I did ask the trainer if the snake had been fed," the 22-year-old model and TV host says with a big smile.
That smile (remarkably genuine), those eyes (amazingly bright), and that figure (surprisingly tiny and streamlined) have turned Bianca into the freshest fresh face among the hordes of new models that seem to be multiplying even as we speak. In fact, Bianca herself seems to be everywhere at once, as her campaign for Globe has overrun TV, newspapers, magazines and city streets.
It all is a bit of a bracing experience for Bianca, even though she's been modeling for more than five years now. Take the huge Globe ad on Edsa near Timog. "The one on Edsa is the most exagg thing ever," she says, eyes very
Print this story
Send this story
Write the editor
Reprint this article
View other stories
wide. "Talaga,I remember I was on my way to work and I stopped at the stoplight. Lumingon ako-and it was so surreal, the attack of the 50-foot woman! But at the same time, I was, like, that's me!"
It does make sense that she's here at this point. Bianca Monica M. Gonzalez is the youngest of three children to businessman Chito Gonzalez and banker Ofel; older brother J.C. is a TV host-turned-producer, while Aissa is an interior designer. Bianca attended De La Salle-Zobel prior to attending the Ateneo. She graduated last March with a degree in Communication and a minor in Philosophy.
It was J.C. who started it, actually. "He was already doing commercials, even TV, and parang it was something I wanted to do but nothing definite," Bianca recalls of her late grade school years. In high school, she immersed herself in inter-class plays.
In spite of some ill-fated VTRs, Bianca really wasn't making serious attempts at becoming a model until her freshman year at Ateneo. It is the prototypical scenario: Bianca was walking in a mall, and she was pulled into having her photo taken for Pantene's promo. The unsuspecting Bianca won the top prize and became the face of Pantene's new campaign.
Now everywhere
That's when the modeling really began. She would do the occasional TV spot, but most of it was magazine work. Meanwhile, Bianca was nurturing art house dreams of being a director of short films after college. When she was in third year, she got a bit bored with school and was recruited to write for Studio 23's Concept Development Group, and was thus under the aegis of Enrico Santos for a year. After appearing on the cover of a glossy, Bianca met future manager Jet Valle of Backroom. "And it all changed," she says.
Three years ago, Bianca did the GenText campaign. She was recalled to effectively lead the new Globe G2P surge as the central figure in a texting triangle with Brad Turvey and Geoff Eigemann. Then her spot for Nestle Yoghurt began running again. All of the sudden, Bianca was
everywhere: on billboards on Edsa, texting from inside your television and reading aloud from magazines.
She also began exploring the possibilities of television, hosting to her heart's content on the defunct, lamented "Review Night" on Cinema One, which she hosted in its last months. She accompanied the colorful talk show "Y Speak Live!" in the program's switch from ABS-CBN 2 to Studio 23. Her gig on "MTV U Break" just wrapped up. If some guys are a tall drink of water, then Bianca is an unmistakable shot of Baileys in the morning, as one of the telegenic hosts of Studio 23's "Breakfast." On weekends, Bianca faces the footlights as a host on ABS-CBN's "Stardance."
The hosting and modeling gigs have made Bianca a familiar face, but she insists that a full-fledged showbiz career isn't for her. She can't sing, she says ("except for Magic Mike"). "I'm not an actress. I know it can be learned, but it's not my passion, unlike other people. I love watching local teleseryes and movies, but I can't imagine myself in them. My passion is hosting." It was a fairly late realization, something she realized while already working, in fact. "As long as someone would get me to host TV and model, I'll do it."
Already, she's unbelievably busy. Bianca arrives for the pictorial at the Renaissance New World Hotel, straight from a taping in Baguio. Then she has to scoot off to Quezon City for another pictorial. She recalls once having to stay awake for 38 hours straight, and then going for three straight weeks working. Yet she's still into it. "It's fun, and at the same time I'm really passionate about it. Even if I'm tired, it's a fulfilled kind of tired, so it keeps me going."
Super indeed
And at a time when celebrity is its own intoxicant, Bianca is refreshingly unaffected. She arrives sans entourage or posse, having just stopped for some coffee. When she laughs, it's an unaffected, wide guffaw, all teeth and eyes. She considers herself playful and prone to laughter and uses the expression "super" without it ever getting on your nerves.
Being Bianca means still going home to the family house in BF Paranaque. It means looking forward to trips to the beach. It means watching an unbelievable amount of TV, and not just any TV-cartoons. "My favorite is 'Hey Arnold!,'" she says, referring to the Nickelodeon animated series. "It's like a 'Wonder Years' kind of thing."
It means giving herself up to the lure of the movies, but only as a besotted audience member. She is a super movie fan, and her favorites: "As of now, 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' and 'Romeo + Juliet.' There are things she treasures, like her car, WJE, a silver Honda Civic, so christened after the three letters on her plate number. She loves junk food (thank God for a fast metabolism). There is her collection of Converse Chuck Taylors. And there is her Apple Titanium G4 PowerBook, festooned with stickers. "People either hate it or love it," she explains. "Some of them say, 'It's like an art school thing,' but others say, 'Why did you do that?!'"
It is on that PowerBook that Bianca does two of the things she, uh, super enjoys: blogging and surfing the Internet. Bianca just grazes in front of that flickering screen for hours on end. And she loves posting on her blog site (http://superbianca.blogspot. com), which she has kept since 2003. She loves it when people post comments. "Wow, people actually take time to do that. Wow." She tries to respond or at least acknowledge everybody who drops by. By the way, Bianca likes saying "wow" a lot, too. In a nice way.
She still has fun when people recognize her. And she absolutely enjoys the countless clothes she gets to try on."I consider myself a clothes person. I like modeling because they style you, and I like clothes, but everything else that goes with being kikay, I'm not into." For example, she's not really into makeup. "I'm not high-maintenance at all, but I can look presentable when I have to. I look at myself as simple. Super."
Comfortable as herself
What has also helped her as a model and host is that she's clearly comfortable in her own skin. It took some doing, as she says that she was "super itim, and payat (really dark and skinny)" as a kid. And believe it or not, she still has her insecurities: "Super. Madami! Typical Pinay body, particularly my legs, kasi typical Pinay kid, played a lot in the street, puro peklat (all scars)." And contrary to what people may think, life isn't perfect, even for models like Bianca. "Would you believe someone stole my cellphone a month ago?" she says incredulously. It's the fourth phone she's lost somehow. She's using a borrowed phone at the moment, presumably to text Geoff and Brad. Or not, since Bianca says she's staying single by choice right now.
One is tempted to worry about overexposure, about not growing, but Bianca isn't worried. She's just really enjoying herself and working very hard. "I want to flow naturally, so bahala na. I know it can all go away super fast, as much as I'd want to do this until I get old, but there are so many other things I want to do. I'd like to study film, and eventually direct someday. I'd like to save up enough to take my master's in philosophy and then teach."
But mostly she just wants to keep doing what she's doing right now. She's 22. Her face lights up the highways at night. Her image brings the television to life. Bianca Gonzalez can do whatever she wants. Right now though, she's waving goodbye with a big smile, slinging her bag over her small shoulder, crossing the street nimbly in flip-flops, off to the mall by herself, perfectly fine.