Bea Alonzo on her humble beginnings in showbiz: 'I had to make a lot of sacrifices to get here'

Bea Alonzo has become a household name in the Philippines thanks to her successful showbiz career.

Just like many others, however, Bea had her share of hardships and setbacks before becoming of one of the most recognized actresses in the Philippines.

In an episode of "Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho," Bea opened up on her humble beginnings in the showbiz industry.

"Mahirap pong maging mahirap kapag nag-uumpisa kang maging artista," said the new Kapuso actress.

("It's hard to be poor when you're just starting out as an actress.")

Bea was 13 when she was discovered by talent manager Arcie Ilagan at a beauty pageant in Pasig City.

She didn't win the title but Arcie approached her backstage after the competition, thinking that she had huge potential.

"Her eyes are very expressive," he said in Filipino. "She can act, she can dance. I thought, this child is talented."

That was how Bea got her foot in the door of show business. But once there, she had to face a lot of challenges as someone who didn't have a lot of resources.

She has to bring her clothes for her characters, for example, as back then actors didn't have stylists to assemble their wardrobe for them.

"Kung normal ka lang na tao, parang iilan lang ang T-shirt mo at pantalon mo, hindi ba? So kami, umiikot kami ni mama sa barangay namin, manghihiram kami ng damit," Bea said.

("If you're a normal person, you have only a few shirts and pairs of pants, right? So my mom and I would go around our barangay to borrow clothes.")

Her family also didn't have a car back then, so she had to hitch a ride with the crew and staff of shows.

"I had to work very, very hard and I had to make a lot of sacrifices to get here, like I had to quit school which is like my greatest insecurity," Bea said.

She also regretted not being able to spend a lot of time with her family, but she is thankful that now everything worked out.

Bea, named Phylbert Angeli Ranollo in real life, is Filipino-British. Her biological dad is from Britain, but he left when she was just four years old.

—Kaela Malig/RC/MGP, GMA News