Bea in Preview Magazine

It may be hard to believe, but Bea Alonzo has a dark side.

For starters, Bea professes that she does not only hate dogs, she actually detests all kinds of animals. Before you write her off as cold and hardhearted, Bea discloses that her hatred dates back to a childhood phobia, an incident that happened when she was five. The only reason she has never grown to like animals is because she was trapped alone with a snarling dog during a game of hide and seek and nobody came to her rescue.

To add this, Bea, who turned 19 last month, readily admits that she is tired of being typecast as a martyred protagonist and is still waiting for a substantial kontrabida role to play. The closest she has gotten recently was portraying a mangkukulam on the fantasy series, The Adventures of Pedro Penduka, but she would still like to play the role of a serial killer, "to represent the darkness in society", maybe in a good indie vehicle that is willing to cast her. In the same breath, however, she shares that playing the Virgin Mary, "for my spiritual side," is still among her dream roles.

And then there's her character, Jackie Madrigal, in her latest soap opera, Maging Sino Ka Man, which she says is a muture, multi-dimensional departure from past roles as she plays a heiress to a banking empire. Bea describes the character as a woman who has many imperfections, among them her inability to follow her own heart and reveal her true self in her unceasing desire to please everyone. She is one corner of a "love square" (as opposed to a love triangle) on the teleserye, together with her perennial leading man John Lloyd Cruz and actors Sam Milby and Anne Curtis. But after mulling over it for a second, Bea is also the first to acknowledge, "Yung character ko dito yung pinaka-pure sa lahat."

Bea may try as she might but it's hard convincing anyone when this dark side is always belied by her honest-to-goodness nature; it seems almost futile to dig up any dirt on one of the few controversy-free young Filipina actresses today. She arrived at the Preview shoot wearing a striped oversized top from m)phosis, de rigueur black leggings, and ballet flats from Mango.

At 5'7", her frame is neither petite nor skinny, a rarity in Philippine show business where stick-thin has always been the "in" thing. The Preview shoot calls from Bea to change into a Tina Daniac take on a Balenciaga-inspired dress, that upon wearing is snug on her and she admits, "It's nice, but the size is pang-model." While Bea is aware about the occassional quips about her weight, she remains forthright, "I love chocolate. Before, I tried eating less carbs and meat, I try a special diet for awhile, then I return to a sinful diet." These days, she can rarely squeeze in a workout at the gym or a game of badminton, but she makes time for visits to the spa, one of her few indulgences. Bea is also allergic to most of the chemicals found in beauty products so her routine is simple and pared-down to Celeteque, which she also endorses.

Bea was only fourteen years old when she entered a small-town beauty contest in Pasig during one summer vacation and got her big break. Designer Oskar Peralta was one of the judges at the contest and was responsible for introducing Bea to Archie Ilagan, who became her manager. After that, she joined a crop of young talents launched by ABS-CBN as Star Circle Batch 10, starred in a short-lived teen dramedy called K2BU and soon began working on her first teleserye, Kay Tagal Kang Hinintay.

The last five years brought fame relatively quickly to Bea, while most of her contemporaries are still struggling to get a foot in the door to celebrity. However, she recounts that her dreams of entering showbusiness were first me with opposition from her mother, "Ayaw nya talaga. Nagdrama pa ako, I told her, Sige na this is my opportunity, kapag ma-miss ko to, wala na," she says.

Click on the thumbnails to view Bea's photos from the magazine shoot. You can also view these photos at the site's Image Gallery.