This story was taken from www.inq7.net
http://news.inq7.net/sunday/index.php?index=1&story_id=50565
The Multi-Tasking Dream Girl Gets What She Wants
First posted 04:24am (Mla time) Sept 18, 2005
By Ruel S. de Vera
Inquirer
WHAT if you could really try everything you can think of trying? What if you could be a model and an actress and a career woman? What if you could do educational TV and reality TV? What if—imagine that—you could host a travel show, something that most people list as what they’d do if they could do anything they wanted?
Well, just ask Monica Llamas. With those fine, sharp cheekbones, that nicely tapering nose and those oversized, deep eyes, Monica Llamas has the kind of elfin features that aren’t easily forgotten. Llamas has been, after all, the San Mig Girl, and her face has filled the giant Bayo billboards. Though she has been the subject of print and TV spots on and off for years, Llamas’s profile now reaches critical mass with a gig hosting Studio 23’s “The Travel Show,” which airs Wednesday nights at 11:30 p.m.
And there’s more life in that clicker yet. That’s Llamas competing fiercely against show biz veterans on ABC-5’s “Hollywood Dream,” from which she was unfortunately eliminated last week. And should you wander over to the educational cable outlet Knowledge Channel, you’ll even see Llamas in a carabao costume—yes, a carabao costume—as the titular, English-speaking Karen The Carabao on the show “Karen’s World.” It’s a living, and a good one at that. “I like it the most when kids recognize me from ‘Karen’s World,’” she says with a laugh. “I’ll be the very first one to admit I’m living a charmed life.”
Fairie face
With the improbable precision of her fairie face and the slightness of her frame, she could have probably gotten by on her looks alone. Yet one conversation with the twentysomething Llamas, and one will see the casualness in her manner, the gawky sense of humor.
Hers is not the typical modeling experience, if there ever was such a thing. She has a serious passion for theater, having appeared in plays for Tanghalang Pilipino, Tanghalang Ateneo and the Metropolitan Theater Guild. Llamas is also part of the Kidlat Improv Comedy Group and the development officer for Everyman Presents, a group that uses theater to teach poetry and drama.
Indeed, Llamas is nothing like you’d expect. Her father Juan Miguel Llamas is a semi-retired real estate broker and her mother Ma. Cleofe Llamas runs a travel agency. A very dedicated student, she was an honor student at the Ateneo de Manila, where she graduated with an AB Communication degree in 1997. She’s not even the only model in the family: that would be younger sister Jenny. Llamas began her pictorial career at a really young age. “My mom worked for KLM, and when they needed to do a print shoot, they figured they could just use me as the baby.” A little later, Llamas appeared in ads for Presto, Swift’s, and Mighty Kids. “That was my favorite,” she says, “because I got shoes!”
There was even the time when Llamas accidentally became a Wrangler model at 11. “My mom is fond of raffles, and she submitted me and my sister’s pictures in this raffle because she thought it would win her something. She didn’t have her glasses on, so she didn’t know it was for a Wrangler contest.”
Corporate competitiveness comes naturally to Llamas. “Growing up, I’ve been told I was intense, perhaps because I always had a certain way of going about things and insisted on my own way.” After graduation, she worked as Senior Account Executive for McCann-Erickson, handling Coca-Cola. After taping “Karen’s World” (it’s being rerun now), she worked for Ballet Philippines as Marketing Sales Director and helped out at Tanghalang Pilipino and the National Museum.
Perhaps the time she really caught the public’s eye was during her turn as the San Mig Girl in the “Homeboys” San Miguel ad, which features the APO Hiking Society and the Eraserheads. “I was thrilled because they were great musicians,” she explains. “Moreover, the fee I got for that gig paid for my backpacking trip to Europe after college. I was pretty cool.” Aside from headlining the Bayo and San Mig campaigns, she’s appeared in Vaseline, Smart, Piattos, Stress Tabs and McDonald’s ads.
Other things
Of course, she seemed to vanish between modeling appearances, though the explanation is pretty simple: She was working and trying other things. “Commercial modeling is fun, but it’s not my main focus.” Aside from the corporate events, she also hosted shows like “Animal X” and “The Men’s Room.” Before she did the whole reality TV thing, she had a part in the Star Cinema film “BCUZ of U.” She’s even written for Cosmopolitan Philippines and she’s also sung in a band, just in case you were wondering. She’s also learning to dance the flamenco. Seriously.
The decision to jump from the corporate universe back into the limelight was one she did not take lightly: It simply was time for it. Right now, “The Travel Show” is keeping her busy. It was, like many things in her life, she says a happy accident. While walking through the mall, she bumped into a former schoolmate who was looking for an on-cam talent for the travel show he was producing for Studio 23. “I feel very fortunate to have this job,” she says. “Although I’ve traveled around the world, I really haven’t seen the Philippines until now. Our country is really beautiful, and it’s a pity that the problems happening in the Metro are making people hate the country. Manila is not the Philippines.” And the role as winsome wandering wonder fits her to a T: “My wanderlust started early, since my mother worked in the travel industry. We were fortunate enough to travel the world at a young age. I was exposed to different cultures, helping me broaden my horizons.”
Startups
Aside from attracting more viewers and having them see the manifold attractions of the Philippines, Llamas hopes to do more plays and maybe even a movie or two. She hopes that Everyman Presents will prosper. “I’m not involved in any stage productions right now, partly because I haven’t auditioned in a while and partly because I really want to concentrate on ‘The Travel Show’ and Everyman Presents since these are both in the startup phase.”
But of all the things she still wants, perhaps the most surprising gig she wants is to be president of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. “The CCP experience was fantastic,” she recalls. “I had first-hand exposure to Filipino artistry. I saw the plight of our artists. These artists deserve much more recognition than what they’re getting now. I hope to be able to give back to them one day.”
In the meantime, hers is a face and a presence that viewers and readers and everyone else should get used to. She’s going to do what she wants, and do what’s necessary to earn that privilege. “I liken myself to a cat with many lives,” Llamas says. “I took the long route to get to where I am now.” And what does Monica Llamas do now? Anything she wants.
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