How to discover a new teen icon

It certainly does pay to follow the dictates of a whim which is what we did when we decided to watch a film titled Diary ng Panget (Diary of an Ugly Girl) written by one simply known as Denny. Although we were not aware of an actor named James Reid as the rich and snooty kid called Cross, we felt that as an actor he played his role as antipatiko to the hilt. We hated him the moment we saw him unlike the crowd of teen fans who cared little for acting prowess and simply screamed each time he came on board. We were very much reminded of the way stars of Viva Film’s Bagets in the ’80s were deified by fans.

We thought the viewing public had grown more sophisticated. In fact, we thought that movie-watching had sunk to the bottom of entertainment priorities since the Internet took over. On the other hand, we are glad that the movies have made a brave comeback despite the escalating cost of movie-watching. We are also glad we followed our instincts and watched this movie we would normally have dismissed as a waste of time.

In an interview, Denny shared that when she was around 10 until 13 years old, she preferred watching animé, until she started watching TV movies and imagining how she would write the ending if she were the writer. Now 20 years old, Denny also admitted that writing was a means of whiling away the time in Imola, Bologna, Italy where she lives and pursues a degree.

Her big break came when her material was published, and Diary ng Panget became a huge hit with the online writing community Wattpad, gaining over 15 million readers in 2011. She went to various countries and in September last year made a stop at the National Bookstore in Manila to autograph copies of her book. Had Denny stayed a little longer, she would already have found out that big things were awaiting her little book — it was to be made into a movie! And, of course, we weren’t surprised to find that Viva Films was behind the project. 

 The book is written as a journal from the point of view of Eya (Nadine Lustre), a poor girl hired by Gabby Concepcion to be yaya of his antipatiko son James who thrives on being the campus heartthrob. Eya lands a scholarship at Willford Academy and is allowed time for school. Here she meets Chad played by Andre Paras, who becomes her close friend, who is crazy about a girl named Lory. On the other hand, Yassi Pressman as Lory has her eyes on Cross and asks Eya to introduce her to him. The love merry-go-round goes on, in the manner that most teen love stories go. And of course, there is a happy ending.

Viva Films soon announced it had started work on Diary ng Panget with Andoy Ranay directing from the screenplay by Mel del Rosario. Final cast was announced with James clinching the role of Cross. The 17-year-old Filipino-Australian hottie won Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) Teen Clash in 2010 and peaked on Twitter Trends at No. 2 behind “Edward Scissorhands.” Even some Justin Bieber fans online were curious about James. After seeing a photo of James, a Bieber fan commented on Twitter: “He’s cute!”

The full trailer of Diary ng Panget registered 1.5 million views on YouTube in less than a week. When it opened in Metro Manila, the movie was already trending on Twitter.

There is an apparent trend of books being adapted for the big screen. Next to be shown is the romantic comedy She’s Dating the Gangster for ABS-CBN’s Star Cinema starring Kathryn Bernardo and currently reigning young idol Daniel Padilla.

Best-selling books include Bob Ong’s ABNKKBSNPlako? which landed in the stable of Viva Films and made into a movie starring Jericho Rosales and Andi Eigenmann.

Bagets is a 1984 two-part youth-oriented comedy from Viva Films about a group of high school teenagers. The film was a huge box-office success which made William Martinez, JC Bonnin, Herbert Bautista, Raymond Lauchengco and Aga Muhlach stars overnight.

Life repeats itself after all. The icons of yesteryear have gone into other endeavors. Today’s stars still need to prove themselves beyond eliciting screams from fans at a movie theater.

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