Now, she’s making her first movie after she became Miss Universe and she’s also using her real name on screen. The very first Miss Universe, Gloria Diaz, took several years before she did her first movie after winning the title in 1969. This was Celso Ad. Castillo’s “Pinakamagandang Hayop sa Balat ng Lupa” that really broke box office records in 1975 and introduced the so-called wet look in local cinema. That made Gloria a bankable film star who would also later win several acting awards. The next Miss Universe, Margie Moran, only did one movie after she won the title in 1973, “Oh Margie Oh”.
In the case of Pia, her first movie as Miss U. titled “The Revengers”, is something she really can’t claim as hers because she will be with two actors who have both won Box Office king titles, Vice Ganda and Daniel Padilla. Their names alone are enough to attract moviegoers to theaters. Their story conference was held at the Manila Hotel no less and she admits being nervous about it, but VIce Ganda himself comforted her.
“Sabi niya sa akin, hindi ako dapat kabahan dahil he will take care of me and i-enjoy na lang daw naming gawin ang movie,” she says. “Nakakatuwa nga kasi ang bait niya, hindi raw niya ako pababayaan so I should not worry at all. Nagtitiwala rin ako sa director naming si Joyce Bernal. I know aalalayan niya ako rito at excited na akong mag-shooting kami.”
Well, here’s hoping that the movie, an entry in the December Metro Filmfest, will really catapult Pia to full stardom and make her a big star. After this, she can expect to be paired with the top leading men of ABS-CBN like Papa P and John Lloyd Cruz, especially now that the latest buzz about her is that she has broken up from her racer boyfriend, Marlon Stockinger, after she found out that Marlon is an unwed dad with two kids.