SOLENN Heussaff gets to do her first drama film in Regal’s filmfest entry “Yesterday, Today Tomorrow.”  “This is my third film after ‘Valentine Girls’ and ‘Temptation Island’, both very light compared to this one,” she says. “I’m the daughter of Ronaldo Valdez and Agot Isidro. Ronaldo has two previous kids, Maricel Soriano and Jericho Rosales. Maricel is my boss in our company but she doesn’t like me. She’s very harsh on me and I’m scared of her. I’m on with Paulo Avelino, but I’m already bored with him so I fall for a gym instructor, Dennis Trillo, without knowing he’s having an affair with my mom at dati palang macho dancer. Big challenge ito for me as it’s my first serious role. Ang daming drama scenes.”

How did she prepare for her role? “We had workshops and I want to thank my co-stars for being very patient with me. Tinuturuan nila ko. Mabait sila sa’kin.”

How is it working with Maricel? “She’s very nice. She’s actually a comedian. Always joking on the set kaya masaya kami.”

Is she really going on with rugby player Gareth Holgate? “No, we’re just childhood friends. I have no boyfriend now. Ako naman, happy, may boyfriend o wala.”

2012 is her breakout year. Her exposure in “Survivor” led to movies, TV shows, a debut album and now, she’s the Ginebra 2012 Calendar Girl replacing her future sister-in-law, Anne Curtis. “It’s an honor. The calendar comes with me in five different poses by Marc Nicdao. I like the jungle version most with me in curly hair as it reminds of ‘Survivor’.”

And why did Ginebra choose Solenn? “She’s our unanimous choice,” says marketing VP Nelson Elises. “She’s beauty and brains, has many talents and people from all walks of life can relate with her. She’s like our flagship Ginebra San Miguel, a product that remains relevant and is still patronized by our core market.”

NEW FAIR HAIRED BOY AT GMA7

DERRICK Monasterio is obviously a fair haired boy at GMA. After “Tween Academy,”  he now has a new movie, “The Road.”  “I star with Barbie Forteza and Lexi Fernandez in the first episode of this trilogy,” he says. “Mapupunta kami doon sa road na, we don’t know, may gumagala palang killer. It’s a suspense-thriller at sisigaw talaga ang viewers sa takot.”

What’s his most scary scene in the film? “The most scary for me was nang pahigain kami sa morgue. I was imagining all sorts of things when we were made to lie  down doon sa bed na hinihigaan talaga ng mga patay. Our director, Yam Laranas, praised me. Hindi niya alam, nakatulog talaga ako during the take para mawala yung takot ko.”

Derrick is also being built up as a singer. He’s now recording his debut album. “But before that, kasama ako doon sa Christmas album ng Tween Stars. I sing ‘O Holy Night’ as a tenor, operatic ang dating.”

Derrick was then very vocal in having a crush on Bea Binene but he was told to drop it as it might hurt her love team with Jake Vargas. Now, he said he has a crush on Sarah Lahbati but again, he’s told to stop wooing her as she’s busy with “Kokak”. How does he feel about this? “Okay lang, pareho naman kaming mas focused sa career namin.”

MARICAR TIES WITH A DAKILANG EXTRA AS BEST ACTRESS

MARICAR Reyes and longtime extra Lilia Cuntapay tied in the best actress award of the Cinema One Digitals Filmfest Awards Night held at RCBC Plaza Makati on Sunday. Maricar won for playing a neophyte lawyer who defies corruption in “Anatomiya ng Korupsyon” while Lilia (best known for playing ghosts in horror flicks) won playing herself in “Six Degress of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay.” Best actor is Bong Cabrera for “Sa Ilalim ng Tulay.” Best supporting actress is Geraldine Villamil for “Six Degrees.” Tying for best supporting actor are Jojit Lorenzo for “Anatomiya” and Michael Bonapos for “Sa Ilalim.”  “Ka Oryang,”  a film about martial law, won for best picture, best director for Sari Dalena, best cinematography and best musical score. “Six Degrees” also won best screenplay, audience award, special jury prize (tie with “Mga Anino sa Dilim) and best editing (tie with ‘Paranormal Romance’.) ‘Paranormal’ also won for best production design.

SPECULATIONS ABOUT PACQUIAO

CHAMP Manny Pacquiao was interviewed via phone patch by Pia Guanio in “Showbiz Central” right after he won over Juan Manuel Marquez by decision in Las Vegas last Sunday. “Nahirapan ako,” he humbly admitted.

His winning this time is really controversial. Most Pinoys expected he’d knock down Marquez but this didn’t happen and a lot of folks say  it’s Marquez who should have won. We’re surprised at the reaction of some people over this. They think just because you question, you’re automatically anti-Pacquiao, anti-Filipino. We’re not putting down or questioning Pacquiao here but the credibility of the judges’ decision. It would’ve been nicer and fairer if he won without his integrity as a boxer being questioned. Some folks now blame Manny’s foray into showbiz and politics as the reasons for his not being in tiptop shape against Marquez. His attention has no doubt been divided. Some folks are also blaming his wife Jinkee, who said she’d have a showdown with him over his rumored new girl, Kat Ordonez, after the Marquez bout. They say Manny wasn’t able to focus totally on his fight because of this. Still, some say what happened with Marquez is a calculated move so they can face each other again and people will be more excited to see them fight again next time. Truly, Pacquiao has become very controversial.

CHAREE: NOT MATT

CHAREE Pineda is paired with ka-love team JM de Guzman in “Angelito: Batang Ama” but off cam, she’s linked to their co-star Matt Evans. “It’s not true,” Charee said at the show’s launch. “Hindi talaga kami although we’re good friends. We go out, but as a group, kasama namin sina Melissa Ricks, Jessy Mendiola at iba pa. We’re like brothers and sisters at si Matt ang tagapayo namin when someone has a problem. He’s the eldest kasi. I have no boyfriend at all.”

“Batang Ama”, now seen on ABS Gold at 3:30 p.m., is her biggest project so far.

“Before kasi, puro support lang, dito lead na talaga so excited ako as I waited long for this and the role of the teenage daughter of Snooky Serna na nabuntis ni JM is so challenging. Nag-workshop kami ni JM for our roles. We interviewed real life teenage moms and dads to find out kung ano pinagdaanan nila. Karamihan sa kanila, galing sa broken home or nasa abroad ang parents kaya kulang sa proper guidance. Teenage viewers will learn a lot from our show about teen parenthood.”

WHAT ELIZABETH HID FROM PUBLIC

IN the presscon, Beth Oropesa, who plays JM’s lola, revealed for the first time that she was a teen mom herself. She gave birth to her first son, Henry, when she was only 16 years old. “Pinakasal kami nung nakabuntis sa ’kin but it didn’t last long as we’re both so young,” she says.

She hid the truth when she joined beauty pageants and later, showbiz. Her first husband had passed and her son is now a nurse. She also has a daughter with Marc Roces and a son with Taiwanese actor Meng Fei.

REGINE RESTING AT HOME

OGIE Alcasid revealed in “Showbiz Central” that he has finished composing a new song for son Nathaniel James, “Aking Anak”, that he’ll sing in “Party Pilipinas” this Sunday. He’ll also show fotos and a video of his baby. Since wife Regine Velasquez delivered by caesarean section, she stayed in the hospital for a while to recuperate fully, but she’s now back home. But she won’t appear yet in “Party Pilipinas.” She wants to lose weight first before being shown on cam again. Her first show will be the Valentine concert she’ll do with Ogie at the Big Dome come February.

Ogie is ecstatic that his show, “Daldalita,”  continues to get high ratings. As Mateo, the father of Jillian Ward as Daldalita, his feud with sister in law Manilyn Reynes as Katrina gets worse with their constant fights. Katrina asks head veterinarian Marc Abaya as Sam to fire Ogie from his work at the zoo at the time that Ogie wants to take Jillian to a psychiatrist as Teacher May (Isabel Oli) told him that Jillian has an inferiority complex.  The love-hate relationship of Elmo Magalona and Julie Ann San Jose as Gino and Marga also continues to spice up the show.