Showbiz is in her blood

by: Wallden

While appearing in “The Buzz,” one of the network’s top executives, Ms. Charo Santos-Concio, saw her and when a new soap opera was in the works, she called on Maja for an audition. And now the young lass has taken her first step in fulfilling her childhood dream of becoming an actress someday like her father and uncle Philip Salvador as she enters tinseltown via ABS-CBN’s latest romantic series “It Might Be You.”

First-time actress Maja feels that everything is like a dream as she joins the cast of “It Might Be You.” In the new teleserye, she acts alongside her “idols” like John Lloyd, Bea Alonzo, Baron Geisler and John Prats. She takes on the role of Cara, a promising singer, who in the course of the series will have a romantic interlude with her showbiz “crush” John Prats who plays Gian Carlo Pablo.

“I really like the love team of John Prats and Heart Evangelista. I like them together kasi ang cute nilang pareho. Siyempre si John crush ko rin po because he is cute and I’m excited to work with him,” expressed Maja who understandably was tensed and but thrilled to be with John in the acting workshop prepared especially for the series.

“It Might Be You” is about the love between young Earl Lawrence Trinidad (John Lloyd) and Cielo San Carlos (Bea). As they were growing up, the two were inseparable. But due to some unfortunate incidents, they parted ways. But fate brought the two together as adults but with two different destinies of their own. So will true love find its way and bring Earl and Cielo together once more and forever?

The whole idea of joining showbiz has always been exciting to Maja. But never did she imagine herself in a big project like “It Might Be You.” Maja’s reunion with her father has truly brought good tidings to her. Also in the cast “It Might Be You” are seasoned actors and actresses which she has only seen on televisison or in movies in the past. They are Jean Garcia as Orlanda Mae Lacuesta, Tirso Cruz III as Mayor Ernesto Lord Trinidad, Maritoni Fernandez as Dra. Frida Montegracia-Trinidad, Bodjie Pacua as Eseng San Carlos and Sarsi Emmanuelle as Lupe San Carlos. The series is also directed by two of televisison’s noted directors – Gilbert Perez and Don Cuaresma. Ricky Lee is the headwriter of “It Might Be You,” while Olivia M. Lamasan is the creative director.

“This is one of my dreams fulfilled. I’m glad that I passed the audition,” reflected Maja. For her audition, she was asked to memorize lines from a script, act, dance and even sing a song. It was a moment she thought was going to last forever since she was very nervous all throughout.

Maja’s life story, as she recalled during the press conference of “It Might Be You,” is likened to a soap opera. Because of the hardships her parents encountered, her parents separated and that was the reason she never saw her father when she was a kid. Then when she was seven years old, her mother introduced her to her father but then after that, communications between the two was again disrupted. Since then she never knew the whereabouts or how her father even looked like. But like any child longing for his parents, she never lost hope that she’d see her father again.

“When I saw him, I felt that everything was back to normal. Ang nadagdag lang po, meron na kaming communication ulit,” said Maja. She added that through texting, she and her father are becoming closer to one another.

Although excited, Maja’s exudes a personality of being calculated especially when she answers questions in interviews and in any action that she undertakes regarding her budding career. Her rationale is simple on thinking first before answering or deciding on things – she doesn’t want to misinform people nor does she want to say the wrong things or make the wrong moves. This is probable because her father had advised her to be careful in everything.

“When I told my dad about the offer for me to do a soap opera, he gave his blessings. Ang sabi lang niya marami raw ahas sa showbiz na dapat mag-ingat ako. At sabi niya huwag kong pababayaan ang aking pag-aaral.

Her mother is also very concerned about her welfare. Their agreement was that her mother will always be with her wherever she goes so she won’t get into any trouble. She also told her that when she hears or reads rumors about her, she shouldn’t react immediately. Instead, she would seek the advice of her manager, Chit Ramos.

“Sa career ko po, hindi naman po ako nagmamadaling sumikat. But I’ll do my best para tuloy-tuloy ang trabaho,” Maja quipped.

With regards to intrigues that usually hit newcomers in showbiz, she says that she is ready for them. What is important for her is that she knows herself better than anyone else and she has her family that supports her and guides her.

“Kapag merong intriga, I need to tell the truth. And kapag may naninira, nandyan naman si Tita Chit,”Maja smiled.

As Maja works with big names in showbiz, she hopes that her colleagues will take her as she is and give her some some allowances with regards to her acting skills which she plans to keep on improving. She also prays that televiewers would like what she does in the soap because she really wants to entertain people.

Maja is driven and passionate about her acting career. She knows that she has a long way to go to prove herself especially as a Salvador, a popular and established family name in showbiz. But as she has said she will always give her 110 percent to make it. Simply put, she is one young actress ON THE RISE!