Joyce Jimenez with her clothes on

First, there was Da Body en Da Guard (Wednesdays, ABS-CBN). Now, there’s Narinig Mo Na Ba ang L8est?

Joyce Jimenez is dead serious about branching out to more wholesome viewing where her audience is not confined to wide-eyed males raring to see her curves and cleavage. And why not? Everyone, a sexy star like her included, is entitled to a 360-degree turn in their career.

"It’s really different," Joyce compares her latest Star Cinema outing from sexy flicks she’s done before. Here, it’s laughter all the way with Aga Muhlach, also her co-star in the TV show The Body en Da Guard, and fellow actors John Prats, Ricky Rivero, Bernard Palanca, Tessie Tomas, Mandy Ochoa, Carlo Muñoz and Gloria Romero as Aga’s doting grandma.

This time, Joyce is bent on proving that she is not just another sexy body on the big screen.

Her latest project is right up her alley. Directed and written by Joey Javier Reyes, it is, as the title suggests, about the current texting craze taking Manila by storm.

"If this movie clicks, it will definitely be a career booster," Joyce says, excitement written all over her face. But lest her male fans out there start groaning about missing her sexy moves on screen, Joyce hastens to add that this will not put an end to her daring roles, as long as they present an acting challenge too tempting to resist.

Narinig Mo Na Ba ang L8test? casts Joyce as Gina, whom the clean-living Popoy (Aga) suspects is nothing but a brainless beauty because all she does is text her boyfriend, until events bring them closer together.

No other activity – bordering now on habit – can be closer to Joyce’s heart as texting. The cellphone to her has become as indispensable as a makeup kit is to any actress.

"I can’t live without it," says Joyce. She is not ashamed to admit that hers is not exactly the latest top-of-the-line model but a serviceable 3310. Practical Joyce says she doesn’t like to carry the smaller models which could suddenly drop and break. Then it’s goodbye to the hard-earned money she could have invested somewhere else.

Besides, a less up-to-date model can make and receive calls and text messages just as well. It can serve the same purpose. So why bother, muses Joyce. A text fanatic, she sends around 30 text messages, especially during shooting breaks when there is nothing much to do. When her fingers get tired from all the key-pushing on her cellphone, Joyce simply resorts to text forwarding to save on time and effort.

And when she hears the first few bars of Man Enough, Joyce knows it’s time to answer a call on her cellphone.

Last Holy Week, Joyce put those calls on hold when she hied off to picturesque Pagudpod, Ilocos for a retreat with friends. There, away from the hustle and bustle of showbiz, Joyce got the break she richly deserves.

Not that she is complaining about her load. Far from it. In fact, she has learned to count her many blessings.

"I couldn’t ask for anything more," she gushes. "I’m not very materialistic," Joyce explains her contented outlook these days. "I try to be a good Christian. I try to share what I have with my family."

Contrary to the no-holds-barred image she projects on screen, Joyce’s liberal attitude does not apply to having multiple sexual partners. "I respect myself and my body too much for that," she replies, cringing at the very idea.

Joyce is strong enough to take most rumors about her in stride (e.g. pregnancies, abortions, etc.), but not when the talks center on her family. Like any typical Pinoy (she is, deep inside, despite the American accent and ways), Joyce will fight back.

She wasn’t raised in the independent, outspoken American ways for nothing. As it is, Joyce, chin up, can proclaim to the whole world: "I don’t care what people say about the way I dress and behave."

Still, even that try-me-if-you-can stance can soften at the sight of a man’s smile: warm, friendly, sincere. Turns out it’s Joyce weakness.

"You can tell a lot about a guy by the way he smiles," she explains.

After all, Joyce adds, machismo is less about being handsome or aggressive than it is about the way a guy carries himself. And that, Joyce’s discerning eye can easily spot.

Neither is being gay, says she, reason to view a person as different from you and me. She has many gay friends, whom she doesn’t think less of because of their gender preference.

"What’s more important is where the person is coming from and what he is deep inside," she points out.

Behind that sexy body (10 pounds lighter thanks to a healthy diet) is someone who looks past a person’s appearance and probes the depths of what really matters: his heart.