Meet Carla Abellana— the new Rosalinda!

Hola, amigos y amigas! Sassy Girl here, and I’m your newest blogger on board. I’m excited to be a part of this site, and I’m all about bringing you the latest and the juiciest news and gossips about everything from your favorite celebs to your fave movies! First off… meet Carla Abellana, the newest exclusive star of GMA-7, and the lead actress in the Philippine remake of the mexicanovela, Rosalinda.

When news first broke about GMA-7 doing a remake on the popular Mexican telenovela, people then started to have speculations about who will be cast as the lead role. Lupita Ferrer (who played Rosalinda in the original version produced in Venezuela, “Maria Teresa”), and Thalia, the talented Mexican actress who also played Rosalinda in the 1999 television series, were hard acts to follow, so GMA network had to make sure that they pick the right girl to play the Philippine version. Amidst the rumors, Carla Abellana’s name suddenly came out, and after a while, it was confirmed that the pretty mestiza would indeed play the much-desired role. The question is, who is Carla Abellana? Check out the infos I got from Wikipedia and GMA-7’s official website.

Carla Abellana (born Carla Angelene Reyes Abellana on June 12, 1986 at Manila, Philippines), is the daughter of Rey “PJ” Abellana, a former Filipino actor of the 1980s, and Rhea Reyes. Rhea’s mom is Delia Razon, who was a very popular actress during her time. She went to O.B. Montessori Center in Greenhills from Pre-school to High School. She majored in Psychology at De La Salle University in Manila and graduated Cum Laude. It turns out that Carla herself is not a stranger to the limelight, as she has been a commercial model for Palmolive shampoo, Jollibee Ice Craze and many more.

In 2009, she auditioned to be one of the three leading ladies of Richard Gutierrez for the television series, Zorro. Instead of giving her a leading lady role in Zorro, the management of GMA Network saw a potential in her and decided to launch her as a new star by giving her a leading role in a television soap.

“Well, sa napanuod naming casting tapes, maliwanag na maliwanag ang potential ni Carla,”explains Gilberto R. Duavit, Jr., Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of GMA Network. Atty Felipe L. Gozon, Chairman and President and CEO of the network, also says, “Nakita ng grupo ang malaking potential ni Carla Abellana para maging isang malaking star.” “Kasi si Carla, ang ganda ng face niya. We saw the opportunity of building a good actress in her,”, adds Ms. Wilma V. Galvante, Senior Vice President for Entertainment.

What can Carla say about this great opportunity given to her? “Very, very excited,” says the 23-year old mestiza. “Kasi it came as a surprise, eh. It’s such a big project – right away, Rosalinda ang binigay.” She add that it (Rosalinda) is such a big blessing that she wants to prepare herself for. “Workshops, singing lessons, dancing lessons – whatever it has to take to prepare for that (role); I’ll got to the gym, I’ll do whatever to prepare for that role.”

Another question: Will Carla be able to live up to the role and hold the public’s interest?

Miss Wilma says that in Rosalinda, the titular character must undergo through stages of fame—and for that, “they need a fresh face that the audience will root for.” And if people are concerned that the newcomer might not be able to carry her own show, the latter says that what Carla needs is the right support — and that, they will whole-heartedly give.

Carla is set to make our hearts melt as the new Rosalinda, where she is paired with Geoff Eigenmann, who will play her love interest, Fernando Jose. The show will start airing this July 6, 2009 on GMA-7 Primetime. This gives us another reason to stay up late, eh?

How about you? What can you say about the new Rosalinda? Feel free to leave your comments below!