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.
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