In the case of Aubrey Miles, it’s raining – and pouring! – not just offers but also, sob and sigh, tsismis.
One, she has a D.O.M. lover (now euphemistically called Darling Old Man).
Two, she is an unwed mother, with the love child allegedly delivered during her That’s Entertainment days (but how old – rather, how very young – was she then!?!).
Three, her overnight success, earned after the release of her launching bold starrer, Regal Films’ Prosti, has gone to her head.
When Aubrey met the movie press the other day for the media launch of the 2003 La Tondeña Calendar of which she’s the model, she, as to be expected, denied all three rumors.
"When I joined showbiz," smiled Aubrey (who was a beauty-contest finalist and a member of the GMA show Best Friends), "I was prepared for anything."
Yes, including nasty gossip.
Now, is she a sinner or a saint?
Frankly, my dear, Aubrey couldn’t care less.
Even before Prosti was released, Aubrey (thanks to her manager, Dondon Monteverde) had been swamped with offers. Besides the La Tondeña Calendar, showcasing the company’s various products (Vino Kulafu, G.S.M. Blue launched early last year and the new ERG, "an alcoholic drink that recharges," among others), she’s also one of the three models of the controversial 2003 FHM Calendar (with Diana Zubiri and Maui Taylor).
She has already started shooting her second Regal movie, Una at Huli, in which she finally realizes her dream of being kissed (torrid, if you may) by her "dream man," Richard Gomez.
The La Tondeña Calendar photos were taken by Raymund Isaac in Subic. (The ones in this spread are not from the La Tondeña Calendar; they’ve been digitally-composed specially for Funfare readers, according to Dondon.)
Incidentally, the La Tondeña Calendar will be launched at the Activity Center, Parking Tower of the Tutuban Center at 7 p.m. this Saturday, Nov. 30. Games and prizes galore are in store for the public during the event, with La Tondeña products to be given away, complete with Aubrey’s autograph.
"I’m sad," said Rufa who was seated beside Rudy Fernandez, her leading man in Hula Mo, Huli Ko, directed by Boy Vinarao for Rudy’s Reflection Films and intended for the Metro Filmfest next month." Just a while ago, I was crying," added Rufa Mae who plays a clairvoyant in the movie, a role which may have been inspired by... Madame Auring and/or Madame Rosa?
Rufa was sad not because she’s still mourning her father’s death a few moths ago but because she broke up with her boyfriend, basketball player Rudy Hatfield, barely a week ago after going steady for two years and seven months.
Was a third party involved?
"Sa akin, wala," said Rufa Mae. "Ewan ko sa kanya."
Because she’s driving a Jaguar, with a Road Trek standing by as "reserve," and has just acquired a P15-million three-bedroom bungalow in the exclusive Acropolis (Quezon City), Rufa Mae is rumored to be the "kept woman" of the son of a government official.
"Is there such a rumor?" asked Rufa Mae in all innocence. "Has the rumor come out in the papers? Naka-blind item ba?"
Told that the rumor has ceased to be simply a "blind item" because she and the guy have been identified in radio programs and in the tabs, Rufa Mae expressed pleasant shock.
"But he’s just a friend," she said, "just like the other guys romantically linked to me..." That is, including a very much married (like this guy) action star.
Explaining how she has acquired the Jaguar (as if she owed anybody any explanation), Rufa Mae said that she renewed her contract with GMA 7 and got a fat down payment which she, in turn, used in paying for the down payment on the Jaguar (worth more than P3 million, with the balance payable in two years) and the renovation of her Acropolis house. (She still lives in Quezon City.)
"I’m aware of the rumors that, you know, ‘I have this, I have that’ because somebody is giving all these to me. Why, can’t I afford to buy these things through my own sweat? That’s why I’m working very hard. I have several offers, movies and TV shows, and I don’t have to rely on anybody. Ngayon pa ba naman ako magpapabili kung kani-kanino samantalang kumikita naman ako?"
The movie writers reacted with pregnant silence.
Besides Hula Mo, Huli Ko, Rufa Mae said she’s about to start another Viva movie soon, in addition to the one she’s doing with, among others, First Son Mikey Macapagal-Arroyo. On GMA-7, she’s in the cast of the sitcoms Idol Ko Si Kap (with Bong Revilla) and Bubble Gang, with a co-hosting job on the Sunday show S.O.P. to boot and a role in the soap Ang Iibigin Ko’y Ikaw (with, among others, Richard Gomez).
She has also invested part of her earnings in business, including a beauty parlor called Booba’s Secret and a boutique called Anik-Anik, both at the BF Homes (Parañaque, right across the Tropical Hut), with an uncle as partner.
"You know," said Rufa, her eyes still looking very sad, "I bought the house for my father but he didn’t live long enough to stay there. ’Yung Jaguar naman, I bought it so I can drive it myself. The Road Trek is too big for me."
With the rumors sufficiently(?) explained, Rufa dismissed insinuations that she and Rudy enjoyed their love/kissing scenes in Hula Mo, Huli Ko.
"But Daboy (Rudy) is a good kisser," Rufa Mae admitted. "Even after the camera has stopped grinding, ayaw pa niyang tumigil. May kasama pang buntong-hininga. Bitin daw, sabi niya."
Asked what she found attractive in Rudy, Rufa Mae said, "His totality as a person. Very respectable siya."
And therefore, not... katalo?