WOW Pinoy

Anna Marie Perez De Tagle and Kara Crane

TWO Fil-Ams, Anna Maria Perez de Tagle and Kara Crane, are two of Disney Channel’s newest stars. The girls, both 17-year-olds, are featured in Disney channel made-for-TV movies—Perez de Tagle in the upcoming “Camp Rock” in June, and Crane in “Minutemen,” which premiered on Jan. 25 on the Disney channel.

Anna Maria Perez de Tagle
Anna Marisa, who besides starring in “Camp Rock” plays mean girl Ashley Dewitt on “Hannah Montana,” shared in an exclusive interview with Janelle So on “Kababayan L.A.” that she learned a lot about singing and acting through her famous grandmother, singer and actress Sylvia La Torre.
“”I’m very close to my grandma—she’s quite the icon in the Philippines,” laughed Anna Marisa.
“She taught me my first Filipino song “Bahay Kubo.” Whenever she’s on stage she says ‘Oh my apo, she’s following in my footsteps,’ and I can’t disagree. When it comes to singing and acting, I owe it all to her.”
Anna Marisa shared that despite her Hollywood career, her parents still raise her with conservative Filipino values and rules.
“Well, my parents say I can’t date until I’m 30!,” Ana Marisa joked.
“They always make me have a chaperone—my older brother’s always there. But he’s a cool brother, he’s not like one of those brothers who’s behind my back everywhere I go.”
But she did share that her parents are willing to compromise on certain things, such as spending time with her fellow Disney stars—but only to an extent.
“We go on group dates, you know with the Jonas Brothers (her co-stars in “Camp Rock”) or Zack Efron (star of Disney channel’s smash hit “High School Musical”)…but I can’t go out past 11 [p.m.] or anything like that.”
Yet Ana Marisa doesn’t mind her parents’ relatively strict dating rules, as she is completely focused on honing her singing and acting skills.
“If a guy were to ask me out, they would definitely have to know that I’m really focused on my career right now.”
She also enjoys the fame she has already received from playing Ashley on “Hannah Montana.”
“Little girls come up to me and say ‘You’re the girl from ‘Hannah Montana!,’” Ana Marisa laughed.
“Sometimes they even think I’m mean because I play a mean girl on the show, but I explain to them that it’s just acting. But I definitely love my fans!”
Anna Marisa clearly enjoys being part of the famous Disney channel family, its perks including hanging out with superstars like Zack Efron and the Jonas Brothers.
“They’re such nice guys,” Anna Marisa says about the Jonas Brothers.
“We actually filmed in a remote place in Canada where there was no cell phone reception and no Internet so we became really close.”
About watching her upcoming projects including “Camp Rock” set to come out in June, Anna Marisa had this to say to her fellow Filipinos.
“Filipinos please, please, please support me.”
“I’m really happy where I am and I love being in the Disney family.”

Kara Crane
Also in an exclusive interview with Janelle So on “Kababayan L.A.,” Kara Crane, who has a Filipina mother and a Russian father, talked about her already successful Disney film “Minutemen.”
“The film (“Minutemen”) got 7.3 million viewers and was the most watched program of the week so I’m really excited,” Kara said.
“In the movie, I play kind of like the sidekick of three boys. It was a nice part—I loved it so much.”
Kara, who has been acting and singing since she was 9 years old, shared that her road to acting all started with her love for theatre.
“I’ve always been involved in a lot of theatre—community theatre, shows at my school…I just love musicals and all that.”
“I auditioned for ‘The Sound of Music’ when I was nine-years-old and I got the role of Marta Von Trapp! Ever since then, I just loved it. It just escalated from there. I got an agent and we’ve been going out on auditions for the past couple of years.”
And although she doesn’t understand or speak Tagalog (her mother is from Zamboanga and speaks Chabacano), she is ready and willing to visit the Philippines.
“We’re actually planning a trip in August or September; we’re going to stay out there for maybe a month or so, I’m really excited!,” Kara said.
When asked if she was willing to try showbiz in the Philippines, Kara exclaims “I’d love to—it’d be awesome!”
Kara also shared that she is currently in a relationship.
“I do have a boyfriend. They (my parents) know about it!,” Kara laughed.
“He’s an actor, and we’ve been together a couple of months. I’m really happy,” she said.
During the exclusive interview, Kara’s mom Leslie commented on the challenges of raising a daughter in the entertainment industry.
“It’s hard, but they’re all good kids,” Leslie said.
“All you have to do is you just have to discipline them.”
When asked by Janelle if she ever had to palo her kids, Leslie laughed, “Of course!”
As for upcoming projects, Kara shared that despite the writers’ strike slowing Hollywood down, she is optimistic about future movie roles.
“I’ve been having a lot of movie auditions lately—hopefully something good will happen,” she said.
As for other young Fil-Ams trying to make it in U.S. showbiz, Kara had this advice.
“Just follow your heart, I wanna say,” she said. “If you think you can do it, you can. You can accomplish anything you put your mind to. So if you really want it, you’ll get it.”

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