YEN SANTOS wants to thank Mother Lily Monteverde for accepting her as Piolo Pascual’s leading lady in “Once In a Lifetime”. “Actually, puede silang mag-request ng mas kilalang kapareha ni Papa P kasi wala pa akong nagawa kahit isang movie, pero tinanggap nila ako at pinapirma pa ako ng movie contract sa Regal kaya very thankful talaga ako kay Mother Lily,” she says. “And not only that, mula nang ipa-interview ako sa presscons ng Regal, mas dumami ang nagsusulat sa akin at ang publicity ko. Mas nakilala ako ng tao.”
She signed up with Regal for a four-picture contract and Mother Lily sees a lot of promise in her. “Tipong sisikat,” the veteran producer tells us. “Nakaaarte pa.”
So how is it shooting her very first movie in New Zealand? “It’s an unforgettable experience kasi first movie ko nga, tapos sa ibang bansa pa and with Papa P as leading man no less,” she says. “Noong una, starstruck talaga ako. Nadi-distract ako kasi sobrang guwapo niya. Pero siya talaga ang gumawa na paraan to break the ice at para maging mas comfortable ako sa company niya. Kinausap niya ako, nakipagkuwentuhan siya para ma-relax ako at hindi ako mailang kapag humarap na kami sa kamera. Napakabait niya sa isang baguhang gaya ko. Kahit sobrang lamig doon sa Queenstown where we shot the movie kasi winter doon ngayon, naging mainit ang pagtanggap sa’kin ni Papa P at ng lahat ng kasama namin doon. Unexpected talaga ang mga bagong development sa career ko kaya sobrang pasasalamat ko kay Mother Lily sa breaks na ibinibigay niya sa akin.”
There’s a rumor that she’s the girlfriend of their director, Dondon Santos, who was the one who insisted that she be the movie’s leading lady. “Hindi po totoo yan pero ine-expect na naming may ganyang isyung lalabas kasi noong bago kami umalis, sa presscon ng Regal, nagbiro si Papa P about us ni Direk Dondon. Ako rin, nagtakang ako ang kinuha dito sa movie but Direk Dondon said nakita lang niya ang talent ko when he directed me sa afternoon soap na ‘All of Me’.”
It was in ‘All of Me’ that folks also linked her to Albert Martinez who was her leading man in the show. “Ang daming nagtatanong sa’kin kung naging kami talaga kasi totoong totoo raw ang mga halikan namin sa show kaya naghinala silang nagkakamabutihan nga kami. Even my relatives, nagtatanong. Pero hindi po, hindi po talaga, wala kaming naging relasyon at all ni Kuya Albert. Takot ko lang sa late wife niya, baka biglang magparamdam, baka kalabitin ako. But I enjoyed working with him kasi ang galing-galing niyang umarte at tinutulungan niya ako.”
She says she’s loveless at the moment. She admits she and Jason Abalos became on for awhile but he dumped her and she got so hurt. “After that, ayoko munang makipagrelasyon,” she says.
She’s the second girl dumped by Jason. The other one is Bela Padilla who also admitted at the “Camp Sawi” presscon that she felt so bad when Jason suddenly ditched her.
