Career Over Love

Following her folks’ showbiz footsteps wasn’t something Carla Abellana aspired for. Now, the Rosalinda leading lady and Starstruck’s newest cohost is out to prove she’s serious about her craft—even if it meant putting her lovelife on hold.

By EMMA RUTH L. ESPIRITU

Photography by CHARLES PEñACERRADA

BACK in 2005, a 19-year-old commercial model and AB Psychology student from De La Salle University graced the cover of MOD. That girl was Carla Abellana, now touted as one of show biz’s next big stars after she bagged the title role in Rosalinda, GMA-7’s second adaptation of a popular Mexican telenovela.

Pre-Rosalinda, Carla already came across as a made-for-showbiz type—what with her mestiza features, long, shiny hair, fair complexion, pretty smile, and pedigree—her dad is actor Rey ‘PJ’ Abellana, who starred in the iconic ‘80s soap Anna Liza; her mom, Ria Reyes, had a short stint as an actress; and her maternal grandmother is Delia Razon, one of the famous actresses during the 1950s.

It’s something that wasn’t lost on showbiz ‘discoverers.’ Says the 23-year-old Carla, “Ever since I was in grade school, there had been offers for me to join show business—Ang TV, a movie with Bong Revilla when I was in high school. Nu’ng college wala na masyado, and then after college, bumalik na naman.” But her parents would hear nothing of their daughter pursuing an acting career. “Commercials lang ang allowed,” adds Carla, whose first television ad was with Maggie Noodles when she was 12.

Things changed after she graduated—cum laude, mind you. This self-confessed geek during her student days finally gave acting a shot when she auditioned for two different roles in the GMA-7 show Zorro. She passed the auditions, but instead of a role in the Richard Gutierrez starrer, the GMA management gave her a role in Rosalinda—a lead role at that.

For Carla, waiting until she was done with school to respond to the call of the entertainment biz was worth it. “Definitely, this is the perfect time to enter show business instead of when I was younger because now I’m mature enough. I’m ready.”

But don’t let the confidence fool you. She rattles of a list of the challenges in becoming Rosalinda: “Gosh, ang dami. Where do I start? Number 1, Rosalinda—the original—was such a big hit when it first came out here in the Philippines a couple of years ago; number 2, it’s a lead role; number 3, it’s a Thalia role; number 4, the show is a passionate love story; number 5, I have no experience whatsoever in acting and the role of Rosalinda is challenging even if it’s a good-girl character; number 6, people expect me to be perfect; number 7, people expect me to be good just because I came from a family of celebrities; number 8, it’s my first ever role, my first ever project. Dami, the list goes on.”

Good thing for her, her family has been with her from day one, her lola—whom she lives with in Quezon City—especially. “Every time she sees me may buhat na advice ‘yan,” she says. Her lola is someone that Carla really looks up to. “Kasi naging malinis ‘yung career n’ya. Siguro hindi pa kasi uso ang intrigues noon. I would like to follow her footsteps.”

But for Carla, the most supportive person in her life is her ex-boyfriend, JC Intal, who plays forward for the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings in the PBA. She says, “He was the first ever person who encouraged me to join showbiz. He was also the most understanding of what I needed, which is time and space, so he gladly accepted that we take our time off. Akala mo kaya, eh, to balance work and a relationship. But in showbiz it’s really tough.”

Despite the breakup, Carla says they’re still in good terms, regularly talking to and texting each other. “He’s still there. I’m not naman closing my doors completely and forever.”

With no lovelife at the moment, Carla is all about work. She joins Dingdong Dantes and Raymond Gutierrez as the new host of the reality-based artista search, Starstruck. She will also costar with Marian Rivera in Nieves, an entry at the Metro Manila Film Festival this December.

It seems, though, that putting her lovelife on hold is the most daring Carla’s willing to go for the sake of her career. She says, “I will not succumb to the pressures of this industry—‘yung kailangan size 20 ang bewang, matangos ang ilong. I will never alter my body—injection pa lang takot na takot na ‘ko. I will not do anything that will alter my reputation in the business—pagbubuntis, drugs, alcohol. And ‘yung pagse-sexy. That’s one thing I promised my lola and my father. You will never see me on the cover of a men’s magazine.”

One thing she’s certain she wants to do is to hone her craft as an actress. “I want to be known for my acting, more than anything—more than the pretty face or the clothes,” she says. “Although wala pa akong bala, I know that through the years, I will learn and improve with the help of the network and my costars and the people I will work with in the future.”

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