The Heart of the matter

The phrase "sugar and spice and everything nice" must have been coined for Heart Evangelista. At 16, this restaurant heiress (her father is Rey Ongpauco of the Barrio Fiesta chain of restaurants) is as wholesome as ice cream.

She doesn’t go out on gimmicks with her gang at night, preferring the comfort and safety of home to the hippiest bars in town. Suitors are off-limits in their Carmona, Cavite home, which Heart shares with her parents and five older siblings.

Miss Goody Two Shoes always toes the line, careful lest she break dear old Dad’s heart.

For that is what she is: all heart when it comes to heeding well-meaning advice. Heart does not go out of the house on her own because Daddy doesn’t want her to. She pushes the thought of boys at the back of her mind and concentrates on her studies (second year high school Distance Learning Center) and career because – what else – this is what Daddy wants.

Too good to be true? Maybe.

But once in a rare while, Heart does push the limits. And when she does, this sweet young thing can get quite bull-headed.

When Heart (real name: Love Marie Ongpauco) decided it’s about time she fulfill a childhood dream to become an actress, she didn’t stop until she finally convinced her initially reluctant dad to give her a chance.

Her father’s reluctance in letting his youngest child loose in the turbulent waters of showbiz was understandable. After all, no one among his other children wants to join showbiz. Then of course, there were her studies to worry about.

But Heart was ready to move heaven and earth to fulfill her dream of joining showbiz since age seven. After all, showbiz is in her genes. Her uncle, Rod Ongpauco, a.k.a. Rod Evans, was an actor. Her aunt, Liberty Ilagan, who was married to Rod, was a popular actress during her time. - Aurora Salve, married to Heart’s uncle Romy, is an aunt-in-law. Heart’s grandparents, the Ongpaucos, owned Everlasting Films.

It was not surprising why Heart would drool over glossy magazine pages showing stars reclining on richly-decorated carpets and in poses oozing with glamor.

In school (she spent her elementary years in San Francisco, California), Heart plunged headlong in the activities of the drama club. She threw herself into voice lessons with a passion.

Heart saw herself holding a microphone, rendering pop songs before adoring crowds. ala Jolina Magdangal, her idol.

So when her father sighed and told his persistent daughter, "Okay, go ahead, audition. If you pass, you may try showbiz. If you don’t, there’s nothing more you can do," Heart didn’t give him a chance to change his mind.

She made a dash for the office of Beverly Vergel, who asked Heart if she’d like to audition at ABS-CBN. Heart made it to Star Circle’s Batch 9 last year. Since then, she has been a regular of the TV shows Pilya and the Pilot and the youth-oriented G-mik.

Heart’s world has taken a more colorful turn since. From a shy, taciturn teener, she has blossomed into a confident talker – able to hold her own before people from all walks of life.

The 360-degree turn is also obvious in the way Heart wears her clothes.

"They don’t need to be expensive. You can wear a simple dress but still catch attention if you have this certain aura," she explains.

A true-blue "hearts" girl who goes gaga over what else – heart-shaped pendants and earrings, this former Rexona TV commercial model admits to one character flaw: shopping.

"I’m an impulse buyer. I’d step inside a shop and buy a nice dress, just like that. Only then do I realize it cost a tidy sum. And when I enter a jewelry store, wow! " Heart’s eyes light up like tiny Christmas lights.

The girl is only acting her age.

"I’m in no hurry to turn 21," she says. You’re only young once and you can’t turn back the hands of time," Heart relates.

This statement may well be sound advice to girls Heart’s age, in a hurry to grow up, and turning out to be awkward crowd-pleasers, too eager to ride the tide of faceless conformity.