John Lloyd Cruz & Bea Alonzo - TV's Hottest Couple
by: Eden Carlos, Mod Magazine
July 21, 2003
Eight teleserye years ago, Yuri Orvida (John Lloyd Cruz) met Katrina Argos (Bea Alonzo). But at that time, Yuri was going out with Kat’s older sister Heleana (Rica Peralejo) and he only saw Kat as a painfully shy little girl with braces. That and well, he remembers admiring how well she played the piano. Eight years later, Yuri now one of the most admired of his batch of young lawyers, gives a special lecture at a law school where Kat studies. They clash. Sparks fly. She would eventually become an intern at the law firm he works. They fall in love, with him not knowing that she is the younger sister of Heleana. When he does find out, the knowledge almost drives them apart. But they soon discover their feelings for each other are stronger than any bitterness that the past may have caused and they reconcile. Several trials and tribulations later at the Kay Tagal Kang Hinintay universe and here they are – the most popular loveteam in television.
The two stars who play Katrina and Yuri, MOD finds out, are even more captivating in person. For starters, they’re both tall and very attractive. They remind you of those legendary loveteams from the Sampaguita and LVN days: wholesome, earnest, unmistakably gorgeous. They’re both, however, both uncomfortable and disbelieving when people tell them how good looking they are, or how popular their loveteam is, not, it seems as a put on, but more as a reflection of their attitude. Unlike some stars who stumbled on some measure of fame, Cruz and Alonzo are not too fake, not too steely and businesslike, not too impersonal – just refreshingly normal. And maybe that’s the key to their popularity, that somehow their “niceness” comes through and makes a connection with the TV viewers.
The Reluctant Hearthrob
Twenty-years-old John Lloyd Cruz insists that he is no matinee idol. “I’m not comfortable with that title,” he laughs softly. “I don’t think I look good enough to be called a matinee idol. But I guess people will always put labels on you. Pero nakakailang. The leading man, the matinee idols are like Piolo Pascual, not me. I’m way too far from that.”
What Cruz won’t dispute is how successful he has been constantly making the leap from playing Rovic from weekly teen show in Tabing-Ilog to hotshot lawyer Yuri of Kay Tagal Kang Hinintay and back again. “The director and creative staff had executed it well. That’s probably why people can easily tell and they appreciate that the two are very different characters. It was a tough process for me. We’ve gone through workshops and that helped me have this clear picture of how Yuri is, the way he walks, moves, everything especially when the character underwent the transformation from book 1 to professional in book 2. I studied how I can convey that the character is a lawyer. The idea is to make the movements and manners more dignified when he speaks, he expresses himself well, those things are critical” John Lloyd says.
As for Tabing Ilog, Cruz shares that although the three-year-old show is still rating well, some would like to see it over and done with. “It’s sad,” he muses. “I personally think the show is still okay. I hope they don’t end the show because I love doing it. I love being with the people involved in it and it’s nice to be in a show that’s been doing so well for quite some time now.”
Cruz senses that he is being groomed as a leading man and he admits to some worries: “I don’t mind being the leading man, in fact, I’m grateful. I just don’t want to rush into things. I hope I can maintain this pace that I have now, para di mabigla, di pilit.”
When we asked him if he realizes how popular he is, he pauses. “Mahirap talaga, hindi mo alam kung ano ang reality. Ako, okay na sa akin ito. I’ll just do my work, always see to it that I give my best.”
Pretty Baby
Bea Alonzo is 5’7” tall and growing – she’s only 15 years old. “She’s so tall, aabot nga ng 6’1” yan,” teleserye partner Cruz teases. Alonzo (real name Phylbert Angellie Ranollo, is half-British (dad) and half-Filipino.
As Katrina from KTKH, she has transformed (quite well, we might add, this girl is getting the hang of this acting thing) from awkward teener to confident young lawyer, a fresh grad from law school and one of the most promising in her class. In person though, she is still much more like the early braces-wearing Katrina – a little shy, gets self-conscious especially when posing for photographs.
She’d rather wear sneakers (she came wearing a pair of Diesel baby blues) so she gingerly puts on the high heels during the shoot for the more formal clothes. Alonzo is uncomfortable with the near-maniacal attention to detail a photo shoot requires and it’s actually partner Cruz who clowns around a little and makes everyone laugh.
But when she puts on the clothes and steps into the light, it’s just magic. The girl is gorgeous. She makes the simplest clothes seem appealing. In person, she looks like a cross of Kristine Hermosa and Rosanna Roces, with a little Dina Bonnevie thrown in, as if she wasn’t good looking enough.
We ask her for some beauty secrets, and she tells us she does nothing fancy (just the occasional milk and honey (equal measure) for her skin. She smoothes on the concoction, waits for a few minutes then rinses. Offscreen, she just dabs on lip balm and occasionally lipstick (her favorite shade is pink), uses Mac pressed powder, sprays on perfume/cologne from Victoria’s Secret and she’s ready to go.
But not everything is perfect, she insists. She has to watch what she eats to lose 6 to 7 pounds of baby fat. Her diet includes (among other things of course) vegetable salad and wheat bread. No rice please. “Sana may pagbabago,” she laughs.