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By Ricky T. Gallardo
Entertainment Editor
POPULAR Malaysian actress-model Carmen Soo is in town to finalize
preparations for an upcoming television project that will also
feature local actor Jericho Rosales. The project, a joint venture
between Star Cinema and the Malaysian production group Double
Vision, will be shot on location for two months in Malaysia and the
Philippines starting next month.
Soo doesn’t look a bit like 29,
and she didn’t have to think twice before divulging her real age
to a select group of entertainment editors during a special luncheon
tendered for her by ABS-CBN.
It’s her second visit to
Manila. “It was all work the first time I came over. For a few
days, I was shooting for a fashion spread. I would love to visit
your country’s beautiful attractions and I think that I might be
able to do that when work starts for this exciting TV project, “
she said.
The winner of a magazine cover
girl search in Malaysia, Soo started taking the fashion pages of her
country’s glossies by storm at 17, before becoming one of the most
sought-after commercial models on television.
The brown-eyed Soo, who is of
Chinese-Malay-English descent, speaks very good English. “I hope
to learn a few Philippine words and phrases,” she said.
Soo was born and raised in
Petaling Jaya, which is very near the capital Kuala Lumpur. She
admits that she would’ve wanted to focus on ramp modeling had she
been blessed with some more height. “I’m 5 feet 3 inches, and by
any standards, that’s too short for a runway model.”
Soo’s baptism of fire in acting
came by way of a cameo role in the Jackie Chan movie “Gorgeous,
“ shot in Hong Kong before the millennium. “I modeled in Hong
Kong for almost four years and it was my second home. That was how I
found myself acting for the Jackie Chan movie,” she said.
Soo revealed she was bestowed the
“most promising actress” award at the 2006 Malaysian Film
Festival for the film “The Third Generation.”
For the soon-to-start project,
Soo says that instead of setting high expectations, she’d rather
go with the flow and enjoy every workday. “Sometimes we pressure
ourselves too much that we forget how it is to have fun and look at
the bigger picture of things,” she said.
She said she already met her
Filipino leading man and had pretty good first impressions about
Rosales. “With some people, you feel that there are walls that you
need to get through before you actually open up, but with Jericho,
he made me feel comfortable instantly.”
Asked about her first impressions
of the Philippines, she broke into a wide smile and said: “You
have a lot of very handsome men here. And the people seem very warm
and nice.”
The producers of the venture have
not zeroed in on a title yet, and airing won’t happen until the
last quarter of the year. The series will be shown simultaneously in
the Philippines and Malaysia.
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