The fighter in Lara

MANILA, Philippines - Precious Lara Quigaman may be a picture of sweetness and light. But scratch that fragile surface and you’ll see a toughness you never thought was there all along.

“I turned down an offer to endorse a liquor brand even if I was pressured to do so,” the Miss International 2005 title holder says.

Lara also rejected offers to pose for men’s magazines, believing that doing so would do her kiddie fans more than good. She has a lot of them who watch her every day in the ABS-CBN soap May Bukas Pa.

Yes, the lady is made of stronger stuff. She won’t do anything that clashes with her values. Let the naysayers be damned — she will stand her ground.

“I may seem quiet,” she relates. “But I speak up when something is wrong.”

This is the same lady who fought for her boyfriend when she brought him with her to Hawaii for a Wowowee event (they’ve since broken up).

Not only that. Lara is not as serious as she seems to be. She may not show it, but Lara can trade that beauty queen poise for a laidback, far-from-regal stance. This, she has been doing much of lately, thanks to Marco Alcaraz. Lara admits she’s been seeing much of Marco these days. And she’s enjoying every minute they’re together.

“Both of us are makulit,” Lara relates. “We’re always laughing and laughing; my stomach hurts because of our jokes.”

Do we smell a budding romance?

Lara refuses to call it one right now. “I’d say we’re getting there,” she admits.

Getting there is also a good way to describe Lara’s goal of playing roles she has never portrayed before. She’s no longer the helpless leading lady in Buenavista (Ang Kasaysayan ng Lucena), the indie film that celebrates Lucena’s 50th anniversary. As the rebel Conchita, Lara makes a complete turnaround from her sweet, demure onscreen image. The Gabriela Silang-like role sees Lara taking to the hills to help the Katipuneros fight Spanish rule.

Here, Lara still has a love interest (Luis Alandy). But she does not just smile sweetly whenever her Prince Charming comes along. She refuses to go with the flow when injustice stares her in the eye.

As the feisty Conchita, she leaves the comfort of home and goes to the hills to chart hers and her country’s future. You don’t see a trace of that beauty queen image as Lara sits down with the Katipuneros and plots the downfall of the ruling Ilustrados. You forget that she once played it nice and sweet as Bong Revilla’s late wife in Kapag Tumibok ang Puso.

No wonder Lara is as excited as a woman in love on her first date.

This time, she doesn’t have to live up to a beauty queen’s poised, glamorous image. Her character turns livid with rage once any man — or woman — stops her in righting the wrongs she sees around her. She will raise her voice when she has to; point an accusing finger on the powers-that-be when needed.

It’s a role she can sink her teeth into, something that will bring out the fighter in her — the one who dares break rules in the name of love, the right to choose her endorsements, and other things that mean a lot to her.

It’s the Lara we have never seen before; the one we’d like to see.

Thanks to Buenavista, we will finally see it, magnified many times over, for us to judge and mull over.