Lovi Poe is not the kind of actress who enjoys playing the quiet, spineless heroine. There is always a morsel of spunk to her characters: A fearless mistress, an iron-willed teacher, a cunning bastard daughter and a lionhearted revolutionary.
“Heroine roles bore me a lot,” says the 26-year-old Lovi, who is one of the most-awarded actresses of her generation, with credits both in mainstream and indie titles.
The Kapuso artist credits her roles in indie films for her extensive acting range. “It’s through these films that I can tackle a wide variety of roles, because they can be experimental and more daring.” She is currently filming indie project Lakambini, in which she plays Gregoria de Jesus, wife of Katipunan leader Andres Bonifacio.
Also, the young actress is back on mainstream television, this time as a scorned woman out to seek vengeance via GMA’s primetime program Beautiful Strangers.
In the series, Lovi portrays an attempted rape victim who suffers from selective amnesia, and later on assumes a new identity — a stronger, more vindictive character who crosses paths with the powerful family that wronged her.
Lovi says she enjoyed her scenes as a taong grasa the most. “I loved doing it. I was so unrecognizable in the streets when we were shooting.”
She also loved her “breakdown scene” in the church. “It was when I was about to get married to Benjamin Alves’ character and the confrontation scene with Heart Evangelista’s character. I really enjoyed that.”
The set of Beautiful Strangers feels a lot more like home to Lovi because she is sharing lead roles with her real-life beau Rocco Nacino and her best friend Heart.
Her friendship with Heart began when they co-starred in the series Legacy and they became even closer in the shooting of the film Temptation Island. “Even when I was just starting out and Heart was already established,” she recalls, “I always thought of her to be an ideal role model. I did not expect her to be my best friend.”
In Heart’s wedding to Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Lovi was among her 15 bridesmaids.
She talks about their friendship with much affection. “Heart is a good adviser. And I look up to her. So you can say that I’m her follower and admirer, too. I follow all her advice.”
It’s this sense of familiarity and comfort that made it easy for Lovi to tolerate Heart’s intimate scenes with Rocco. “But Heart felt very awkward,” she giggles. “Very awkward.” Since she looks up to Heart like a sister and mentor, Lovi shares, “It wasn’t awkward for me at all. Not at all!”
Speaking of sisters, Lovi’s real-life sister Sen. Grace Poe is very much in the political limelight these days. Being one of the frontrunners in the presidential surveys, what are her thoughts on the possibility of her sister leading our country? Lovi firmly believes that her sister is a “strong woman and I pray for her all the time.” She has also reiterated several times before in interviews that she will support her sister’s future endeavors.
Meanwhile, Lovi is also preoccupied with an enterprise outside showbiz. “I’m busy with Cable Car (a bar and restaurant at The Fort where she has invested in), and I’m thinking of putting up another business.”
In her downtime, she lives and breathes physical fitness. “I’m very athletic,” she adds. “I love to go to the gym. I move around a lot. If I don’t have work, I’m always on the go.” Sometimes, she even participates in funruns and marathons with Rocco.
But for now, Lovi is boldly unstoppable in her upward showbiz career path. “I still want to do more offbeat roles.”