Well anyway I thought this article was an little interesting.

Fil-Am star helps change the world (lalaine vergara )
From Inq7.net - By Irene C. Perez - 2004-08-26th










IN THE Hollywood teen world, where young blondes sport various levels of undress while singing and strutting in their pursuit of stardom, this 17-year-old Filipino-American brunette won stardom just by being herself.

Lalaine Vergara has also achieved what many other teenyboppers can’t claim: She was on the list of Teen People magazine’s 20 Teens Changing the World.

Mention the name Lalaine Vergara and you will get a puzzled look from most people. But say Miranda Sanchez and there’ll definitely be shouts of recognition, especially among children. Lalaine has been known as the best friend of Lizzie McGuire, portrayed by fellow teen star Hillary Duff.

"People ask me, ’Are you Spanish?’" said Lalaine, best known as Miranda Sanchez on "Lizzie McGuire." "I say I have Spanish in me but I’m not just Spanish. I’m proud of my ethnicities and I will always be proud of being a Filipino."

Born on June 3, 1987 to Filipino parents from Batangas and Pampanga, this 5-foot-5 sweetheart writes songs, dances and plays parts on TV, movies and stage.

Lalaine, who was last here in 1995, has been in the Philippines shooting "Flipside," a travel-cum-lifestyle program produced by CCI Asia Television Inc. and to be aired on Living Asia Channel in October.

"I am very excited about this project," she said. "It’s been a while since I was here and this is just great."

Earlier, she paid a visit to President Macapagal-Arroyo, who told Lalaine, "I’m sure you will be (more) successful. We Filipinos are very proud of you and claim you as our own."

In "Flipside," this teenage balikbayan reorients herself with a kaleidoscope of everything Filipino-culture, food, fashion, sports, film, music.

Lalaine grew up in California, but she understands Filipino and likes to eat adobo with steamed fragrant rice.

To be shown all over Asia and North America via The Filipino Channel, "Flipside" intends to re-educate Filipino viewers all over the world, particularly the young ones, to help them discover their heritage and culture. It also intends to introduce the Philippines to foreign audiences.

So far, Lalaine has been to Intramuros and Quiapo, and shopped in Makati and Greenhills.

Lalaine’s passion for charity work got her involved in events such as Aids Benefit Concert, Ronald McDonald Charity, N’ Sync Challenge for Youth, Children United International and other young people’s organizations. This in turn earned her a place in Teen People’s list of 20 Teens Changing the World.

Says Lalaine on her official website (http://www.lalaine.net, which averages 5,000,000 hits per month): "I visit hospitals all the time-spontaneously. Not for a ’Disney Day,’ not as ’Miranda Sanchez,’ just as myself. I like to show up at hospitals and visit sick kids without them knowing I’m coming, so that it’s a special surprise. They get so excited, and even get up out of bed. I’m probably making them feel good, but they also make me feel good."

The California youth program Power Play chose Lalaine as its spokesperson (after Shaquille O’Neal). The program encourages kids to eat fruits and veggies and take at least an hour a day to get active. Lalaine, who plays basketball, football, ice-skating, skiing, golfing, horseback riding, swimming and bowling, fits the bill well.

As for extending her helping hand in the Philippines, she said it’s part of her plans, "but nothing is definite as of now."

"Miranda is exactly like me except more amplified," said Lalaine of her "Lizzie McGuire" character. "I took the character and embraced it. I’m naturally funny, or comedic, if you will. It’s so me."

She receives thousands of letters from fans each week, some even from adults who see her as a role model.

"I know my responsibilities as a celebrity," she said. "Of course, there’s stuff I can’t do because kids look up to me, but that’s okay."

She said that as early as when she was 2 years old, she knew she was made for the stage. "I love theater," she said.

Inspired by her sister Cristina who was in "Miss Saigon" in 1996, Lalaine auditioned for various musicals and finally took a bow as Little Cosette/Eponine in Cameron Mackintosh’s Broadway production of "Les Miserables" when she was 10.

Then came endorsements for Barbie, Burger King, Quaker Oats and Microsoft. She did voices for the movies "Mrs. Santa Claus," "Inspector Gadget," "Lolita" and "Babe." Her latest guesting stint was on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which stars Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Lalaine’s song "You Wish," from her movie of the same title, became a huge hit on Radio Disney. She recently starred in an indie film, "Promised Land."

Does she have a special boy right now? "I have lots of friends," she said. "I’m just having fun and I’m too busy to be responsible for that."

"Flipside," produced by CCI Asia Television Inc., and sponsored by Sari-Sari Group and Philippine Airlines, airs on Living Asia Channel starting October.
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She looks like an average looking girl, is she a comedian? Didn't read your article.

Nah shes an actress. She used to play the character of Miranda(hispanic friend of Lizzie) on that disney channel show "Lizzie Mcguire".

Yeah but i meant an actress in comedy shows.

Nah she hasn't done any comedy shows and she's not that average looking.

she pretty popular in disney channel, and very open about her filipino heritage.

She mentioned that she loves filipino foods in one of those disney channel commercials.

On that pic you just posted, she is pretty. Isn't Lizzie Mcguire a show too though?

Yes its an show. And if you read the article it talked about her doing an miniseries in the Philippines.

She doesn't speak the language though, but she's fine, she is proud of her filipino roots and that is the most important.

She was there in the Philippines recently. And she got to meet Richard Gutierrez, who she has an crush onLink. And she has alot of filipino fans in her official messageboard.

And here is an interview of how she felt about visiting the Philippines

The flipside of Lalaine Vergara-Paras

By Cat Maniego
Photography Diana Noche


In the two seasons that the short-lived series enjoyed on Disney, 17-year-old Lalaine Vergara-Paras has enjoyed not a small amount of attention—gaining for herself a loyal following among the teen and preteen sets.

Now that she's shed her Miranda persona, Lalaine is ready to move on to more exciting things. These include guest stints on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a turn in a Disney movie, recording her first album, and exploring her Filipino roots.

Although born in the US, Lalaine lived in the Philippines for four years, hopping from Manila to Cebu to Batangas, before moving to Burbank, California.

This time, she's back! And she's not alone. To accompany her as she returns to her roots after nearly a decade abroad, she's brought a camera along with her to capture every moment of her journey.

For three weeks, she will be shooting a brand-new television show called Flipside, which chronicles the adventures of a girl rediscovering her roots and reintroducing herself to the different cultures and traditions, not to mention the native cuisine, along the way. It will be shown internationally on the Living Asia Channel, and hopefully, locally as well.

We recently sat down with Lalaine for a téte-a-téte and a glimpse of what makes this petite young Pinay tick.


So how does it feel to be back?

Um, it's not like its weird or anything, I don't feel like I'm adapting to anything except maybe the time differences (chuckles), y'know, the jet lag? But I dunno, it feels kinda natural… I mean, the traffic's crazy here, but hey (shrugs). And I don't remember as much buildings as there is now from when I was here [before], like when we were flying over, I was, like, "Wow… I do not remember that much buildings." But at the same time, you never forget the feeling.

Do you still have relatives here?

Yeah. Actually, we had two relatives that stopped by the hotel (last week). But, yeah… my mom knows more of our relatives out here than I do. I mean, I don't remember all of them from when I was still young.

Are both your parents Filipino?

Yes. My mom is Filipina but my dad is (mixed) Filipino (and)... something.

When did you first go to the United States?

Well, I was born in Burbank, California. I lived here (in the Philippines) from 1990 to 1995. But after that, I went back to the States, and I haven't been back since then. (We lived) mostly in Manila, but my dad moved around a lot, so we lived in a bunch of places. Like… we lived in Manila probably the longest, but we lived also in Cebu, and Batangas… so, there.

Can you speak Filipino?

Yeah, I can. Wait... um... gutom ka ba (are you hungry)? I speak it really well, but some of it's choppy, so… kasi kumain na ako, doon sa kuwarto ko, pero kung gutom ka, may pagkain dito (because I ate already inside my room, but if you're hungry there's food here).

What is your most vivid memory of the Philippines?

Well, it's probably the main things… like, the jeepneys and the tricycles. I remember that because whenever we went around from place to place, that's what we'd ride. I remember I used to love those things. I haven't ridden on one since we've been here. But, y'know, it's the main things like that.

That's kinda different, because whenever I ask that question, people always mention the food.

Well, yeah, I mean, you gotta miss the food, too!

What's your favorite Filipino food?

Mine's probably pork adobo and sinigang… love sinigang! Pastries like… ensaymada and… I miss the mani (peanuts)out here. Like, the salty ones with the garlic? Yeah! I've been munching on those ever since I've been here!

So, what have you been doing (since you've been back)?

Working! Monday to Saturday, I have shoots for Flipside (a show on the cable channel Living Asia). It's about a young Filipina revisiting and rediscovering her roots. So yeah, Monday to Saturday, I'm working and then Sunday is my rest day, so we get out and go… shop (laughs).

How did you end up doing Flipside?

Well, I was approached with the idea. As soon as I saw the concept of the show, I liked it right away. Because one, I liked the concept of revisiting the Philippines, and two, I wanted my friends to know more about my heritage; I wanted it to be more publicized and get out more, because not everyone knows, some are just finding out. And you know, I'm proud of my roots, so I want to publicize that I'm not just whatever-Mexican. I'm Filipino, and that's mostly who I am.

So where have you been to already?

Lotsa places! I mean, we have our different segments of places like Intramuros, then we have our food segments… and they're everywhere! They're not in just one place. Like we're doing a segment here, then we zip up to do another food segment… they're everywhere so it's really nice. I actually like that idea.

Back in the States did you still like, follow Filipino practices?

Um, the closest thing I can get to culture, Filipino-wise, is my family. And the food, of course. My aunt, I love going to her place, even though she lives far, like two hours away, I wouldn't mind driving out there because my cousin [and I], we're like best friends, and every time I go there, my aunt always has food for us to eat. There has not been a time when we couldn't eat at her house, and she cooks a lot of my favorites, like adobo, kare-kare… I'm trying to think what else, but a lot of stuff. That's the main thing, really, it's my family, because of the food and all, plus just the atmosphere of just being with them and the things they talked about. And they all talk in Tagalog, they never talk in English…

We discovered you on the Lizzie McGuire series. What projects did you do after that?

After Lizzie, Wish, the Disney movie. And then after that, that's when I really started getting back into music, because I did a song for Wish called "You Wish," which is the title track to it. And then, I'd audition for whatever, but I started focusing on the music, and now I'm putting an album together.

What kind of music do you listen to?

My music is kind of a rock-pop, if that makes sense. And I write my music, which helps a lot. There's something different about singing music you write. You won't always remember your lyric, but you'll know it more and you'll feel it more if you wrote it down. Music I listen to? I like all kinds of music, except maybe heavy metal. Not that there's anything wrong with Kurt (Cobain). My favorite bands are Maroon 5, singers like Joss Stone, Fefe Dobson… I used to hate country music, with a passion, and now I like it. A lot of country music is actually really funny.

I saw you on Buffy (the Vampire Slayer) the other night. What's up with that?

I did a couple of episodes. It was just really short, I was going to be one of the potential Slayers, and it was hard because when I got it, I had already got several concerts booked before that, and it was hard to work my schedule around it, so they made me kill myself.

What do you do for fun in your spare time?

Because everything's already so crazy, auditions and work and whatever, for me, I love to just chill out with my friends. Sometimes, we like to go do crazy things, y'know? My friend's been trying to get me to go paintballing. I haven't yet. We like to go play basketball, football… but most days, we all just go over and hang out at a friend's house.

What about school?

I'm graduated. I'm done with it. I graduated a year earlier, because I'm in home school, so I sorta zipped right through it.

Any plans for college?

Yeah! Even when I was in high school, I was doing college classes where I live for credit and stuff. And now, I'm still doing college classes and I'm going to start up in the fall. But it's getting a little harder because I can't exactly go to the college and show up, so I'm doing online college. I'm doing certain classes but I don't have a specific course yet.

she's half right?

No more like 1/4 spanish and the rest malay. Her mom is filipino and her dad is half filipino and half spanish.

i thought her dad was like white american or something. that's why she's american.

No both her parents are from the Philippines. But Lalaine was born in the US. So that is why she is an fil-am.

There were a lot of news about this girl having a crush on Richard Gutierrez.

Thats what I said, I heard that she even met him. And he gave her flowers or something.

They would make an really good love team if she ever thought about giving the filipino entertainment industry an try.

Hey why do we only have 2 celebrities in the gallery by the way ? We should add some...

What Gallery are you talking about?

http://www.asiafinest.com/cgi-bin/if/image...=Filipino_Stars

This one...

But that was for Filipino.

This is a new thread.

All right Im adding in Maxene, Heart, Lalaine,Claudine, and Kristine on that.

What do you mean new thread? I was just asking why we only have 2 actress featured in our "filipino celebrites" photos... That's why i said we should send them more of our celebrity pictures?

But the question is, can we/how can we send pics?

Yes, Try to post some more pictures!

If you have some more time please try to answer those posted topics that have zero replies?

Ok, i'll start browsing them. Damn i just noticed, you almost got 10,000 posts!!! My god!!! How old are you?

I have posted some interesting articles,some without any replies.

Ek-ek what do you think of this thread I put up. Do you have anything to say about it.

Anyway I put up pics. of Lalaine, Kristine Hermosa, and Claudine Barretto for the filipino gallery.

Another question, do we have a filipino mod in this forum? Because we badly need it, i see a lot of thread titled "Are _______ look like filipinos?" And we end up trying to bear all these insult they throw at us.

Ek-ek for mod. Anyway Im moding this thread, stay on topic d@mn it.

She's only a member.

And um, MAKE ME!

:genius: Try posting a tons of topics and post replies.

You need at least 1,000 post to qualify as a moderator!

If I was the mod I would ban you for loitering.

No no, i don't want to be a mod, i just want one of us to be one.

Heck, i'll even bann myself if was a mod sometimes because this thing is so addictive.

Oh oh I want to be an mod. Then I can clean up the filipino forum. And make the world an better place to live.

LOL! Ok ok, let's get back to topic, how old is this actress? I wonder if she'd say yes if i ask her out.

I hope that you will try to come here and try to post more often.

But you cannot totally clean the Philippine forum site.

In Chinese, Vietnemese forum they have also numerous flame wars!

Besides , we need to post a lot more. Chinese forum site had been averaging 50,000 plus replies and Vietnamese had over 40,000

We are just in the 20,000 mark.

She's 17 and no your not her type. Her and Richard Guiterrez would make an great loveteam though. And I have the perfect script/story line for an movie with those 2 in it.

And ek-ek I post alot. Don't worry about the 50,000 mark I can get us to the 100,000 mark by making usless comments and post whoring.

For example, I can make an topic like this: Why do we send monkeys to outerspace.

Oh nevermind them, the important thing is, noone should be able to say crap about us on this forum and get away with it.

Richard phucking Gomez? What?! I'm prettier than that dude. handsomer!!!

Richard Guiterrez not Gomez, and I did post up an pic of him in this thread. You should compare yourself with him then since Lalaine has an crush on him.

Try to post that in the Philippine forum and not somewhere else!


Richard Gutierrez and not Richard Gomez! I do not know whether or not this is just a publicity gimmick or what?

No she really does have an crush on the guy. She even said it on her Official website.
And ek-ek of course I will post that on the Philippine Chat. Thats the entire point, to make useless topics and replies to get us to the 100,000 mark.

Richard Gutierrez?! You mean one of those twins? My friend is friends with that guy. He is nice, pretty cool, smokes pot and all, but nah, he's got nothing on me man. j/k

So she admitted that.

Anyway a lot of teenager even adults had a crush in this guy!

Yup one of those twins. Lucky guy that Richard, having somebody like Lalaine crushing over you.

Here this link will give you more info. about it.
CRUSH

Lets keep on talking this is the most busiest I have seen the filipino chat in an while.

I know him, his twin, his friends. They are players, and as retarded as me.
She deserves someone better.

guys lalaine met her crush.... it was aired in the news here in the philippines... he was an filipino actor named richard guterez and he gave her flowers and a heart shaped pillow(they met in the airport, How Sweet!!!!)... lalaine really looked cool and she really handled the situation well.... i really feel bad for my self coz i did not get a chance to go to one of her appearances here.... its my only chance to meet her... is she still coming back here?
according to chitzkoy.


So Richard had gave her a pillow too.

And who might that be. I don't see you giving her any flowers.

And yes Ek-ek he gave her an pillow too and by what it says in that messageboard she also gave him her mobile phone number.

Know them personally?

I think he's just pulling that out of his )(.