Susan Roces: One of a kind

It’s The STAR’s 15th anniversary today and as I greet my STAR Family "many more anniversaries to come," I won’t let this special day pass without, as I’ve been doing these past many years, a happy birthday and "many happy returns of the day" to Susan Roces, one of the very, very few truly enduring movie queens (the other being Gloria Romero), who’s turning a year wiser also today.

As Funfare has been saying every July 28 for the whole world to hear, they don’t make movie stars like Susan (and Gloria) anymore, whose name and reputations have been untainted by even the slightest trace of scandal or controversy and who have very beautifully (and without any effort) maintained a level of dignity, grace and poise, and respectability that only very few stars today can ever hope to live up to.

We miss the likes of Susan (and Gloria) because, sad to say, most of the present crop of stars seem to have thrown caution to the wind, behave not-so-nicely in public and on national television and fail miserably as (whether or not they like to be) role models. You haven’t heard Susan (or Gloria) utter any four-letter word or something offensive against anybody, have you? You haven’t seen Susan (or Gloria) lose her temper or malign anybody on national television, have you? You haven’t seen Susan (or Gloria) act "unlady-like" (even in their unguarded moments on or off the camera), have you?

Back in high school at Tabaco Pei Ching in Tabaco (now City, Albay), I picked Susan as my all-time favorite and time has "vindicated" me and proven me (and millions of other Susanians, I’m sure) right all along. Then and now, Susan exudes an inner peace and serenity reflected in her face that, until now, many people (this one included) still describe as "The Face That Refreshes." When I became a movie writer and became Susan’s friend (among the dozen true and loyal ones), I came to know her up close and I discovered that she’s beautiful not only "outside" but also "inside."

I’m getting carried away again…

Actually, all I want to say is… if only stars today can be as good and as nice and as well-behaved as Susan Roces is, showbiz will be a more pleasant landscape for idols and admirers, and movie writers like me will have nothing to write but praises and accolades. Susan (and Gloria’s) tribe didn’t really increase (sad, isn’t it?).

Susan is one of a kind.

Is it Hans and Miriam this time?

Don’t look now but a romance may soon bloom on the set of Unang Hirit, GMA 7’s early morning show, between no other than two of its hosts, Miriam Quiambao and Hans Montenegro.

Surprise, surprise?

Don’t be. In showbiz (and television), nothing is impossible, especially not a beautiful romance nourished by constant togetherness. Miriam has just broken up with her long-time boyfriend Martin Bernardo (never mind if she was hinting only several weeks ago, before the sudden split-up, that they might get married in December this year). Hans himself, making a grand comeback after that "dangling controversy" years ago, is now fancy-free, being already divorced from his wife, Cara Subijano (with whom he has a daughter), who, like Miriam, also happens to be a Bb. Pilipinas title-holder (Miriam as Bb. Pilipinas-Universe of 1999 and Miss Universe first-runner-up that same year and Cara as 1994 Bb. Pilipinas-World and semi-finalist in the Miss World contest that same year).

So it isn’t true that Paolo Bediones was going to be the "new love" in Miriam’s life. Their closeness (especially on the set of Miriam’s other GMA show, Extra! Extra!) was nothing more serious than "brotherly" affection and attention, after all, since it was Paolo who very kindly offered Miriam his shoulder to cry on when she was smarting from her break-up with Martin.

Now, was it Paolo who acted as "bridge" between Miriam and Hans who is a close friend of Paolo (it was he who introduced Hans to GMA bigwigs)?

"Months or years from now when she looks back," somebody who knows Miriam and Martin very well sadly said, "Miriam might regret having broken up with Martin. It’s a pity that she seems to have been ‘swallowed’ by showbiz."

Whatever did he (the speaker) mean by that?

Justin is secure with his manhood

Six-footer Justin Cuyugan is so convincing in his portrayal of the gay friend of Claudine Barretto in the ABS-CBN soap Sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggan that some of his friends and many televiewers are starting to suspect that he might be, you know, gay. Does it make Justin, well, insecure?

"Not at all," smiled Justin, the eldest among four children, who did commercials (as "supporting actor," as he put it), such as those for Rejoice, Rexona, Del Monte and Whisper, before he was launched with several other hopefuls in 1997 as Star Circle Batch 6. "I know myself and I’ve nothing to worry about."

Before he auditioned for Walang Hanggan, Justin studied the mannerisms of gay people he knew and came up with a composite character that at once won the nod of the screening committee. On the soap, according to Justin, he even mimics some of the antics of his former girlfriend, Denise Joaquin (who’s in the cast of the ABS-CBN sitcom Eto na ang Susunod na Kabanata). "My character (Dondi) believes that he’s a woman and not just gay, so some of his mannerisms should be feminine."

Justin (native of San Fernando, Pampanga) was a Masscom freshman at St. Louis University in Baguio City when a talent scout entered him in the Ad Faces Search in 1997 (he was one of the 10 winners). That same year, he auditioned for the ABS-CBN Talent Center’s Star Circle. Since then, Justin has guested in other TV shows and done two plays (Batang PRO and Kulay Abo ang Madaling Araw, inspired by Steven Javellana’s Without Seeing the Dawn). He was also in the cast of the movie Hey, Babe, topbilled by Marvin Agustin and Jolina Magdangal.

A homebody, Justin said he’s a voracious reader who gobbles up novels by Nicholas Sparks, Anne Rice and Mario Puzo.

Many people observed that Justin looks strikingly like Jay Manalo (see photo at left) and that, said Justin, "is not intentional" (meaning he isn’t making gaya-gaya). "But I’m flattered to be likened to Jay. He’s a good actor and he’s goodlooking."

Would he strip naked like Jay does for a good role?

"Yes, I would," said Justin. "Why not?"