Isabelle de Leon makes her big comeback
At 7, Isabella de Leon won viewers’ hearts as Duday, daughter of Vic Sotto’s character in the sitcom “Daddy Di Do Du.” At 9, she won Best Child Actress awards for playing a cerebral palsy patient in Maryo J. de los Reyes’ acclaimed film “Magnifico.”
Eleven years after, Duday and that little girl another former child actor, Jiro Manio used to carry in his arms, is now a young lady. She dropped the ‘a’ in her first name, grew to 5’4” tall, got a manager (Arnold Vegafria) and is now making her big comeback bid.
Duday
Isabelle de Leon, 20, is one of the three fresh faces who headline TV5’s upcoming musical-drama-comedy series “Trenderas” (the others are YouTube star Katrina Velarde a.k.a. ‘Suklay Diva” and singer Lara Maigue).
Isabelle chuckles when people call her a Shaina Magdayao lookalike and is just as happy when Vic still refers to her as Duday (they saw each other when she sat as one of the judges in Eat Bulaga’s Little Miss Philippines sometime this year).
“Na-touch ako. Ibig sabiihin, kaht papano, nakagawa ako ng mark as Duday.”
Isabelle is just as glad Vic encouraged her when he discovered she can write songs, and has an album to boot.
Saving grace
Music and her studies became Isabella’s saving grace when she bowed out of the limelight and reached the so-called awkward age in showbiz (that stage when one is no longer a child, not yet an adult).
Isabelle finished high school, took up voice lessons under Kitchie Molina, studied various kinds of musical instruments (drums and a little bass). At 12, Isabelle also started writing songs.
Never did she feel scared at not being able to make a showbiz comeback once she's past the awkward stage.
Faith in God
“It helps na may personal faith ako kay God, kasi kung saan man ako dalhin – kung itutuloy ang career ko or magiging simple lang, content na ako. Alam kong may plan ang Panginoon for me.”
It seems part of that divine plan is for her to stay in showbiz. After she finished high school, Isabelle recorded “LoveZone,” her debut album under PolyEast Records. She starred in “Maria Mercedes” and “Nasaan Ka Elisa?”
But the plot of these two shows did not center on Isabelle the way “Trenderas” does. The primetime show, which premieres at 9 p.m. on Saturday, September 13, depicts the friendship among three young women (Isabelle, Katrina and Lara), who make ends meet by selling trinkets on the street. Their passion for music makes them overlook the hardships of the daily grind as they dream of making it as professional singers someday.
Dreams of stardom
Of the three actors, it is Katrina who can best identify with her role. The YouTube sensation uploaded a YouTube video of herself singing in front of a mirror using a plastic comb as imaginary mic, and earned instant fame.
But Lara, her co-star, is just as talented. She wrote “Sa “Yo Na Lang Ako,” one of the top 5 finalists in the 2013 Philpop competition.
Isabella, Katrina and Lara are out to prove they can carry their TV roles over to real life by making their dreams of stardom come true. With talent burning and faith brimming, who knows? They might stumble on the right formula and prove themselves right.
