It’s a disarming start, equal parts honesty and humor, the kind of thing that makes her feel instantly familiar. And that’s Shuvee: the friend you haven’t met yet. She pulls you in, clinging to your arm, eyes wide, laughter spilling out in bursts. There’s an ease about her that you’d hardly remember that she has only been in the industry for a short while.
Born on Bantayan Island, Cebu, Shuvee grew up as the eldest of nine siblings. “Ang pangarap ko bago mag-PBB ay makapagpatayo ng bahay pero, I know it sounds cliché pero really it’s magka-pera para mabigyan ng magandang buhay ‘yung pamilya ko [My dream before joining PBB was to be able to build a house for my family. I know it sounds cliché, but it’s really about earning money to provide a better life for my family],” she says.
The girl who once studied physical therapy, with dreams of becoming a doctor, now finds herself navigating the faster, more unpredictable road of showbiz. “I postponed that dream of mine to go for a faster way—pag-aartista.”
Her entry point was serendipitous: a viral Tik-Tok video, a jeans company billboard, and then her first big audition. “I can still remember earning my first P5,000—in that moment, doon ko na sinabi na [that’s when I could say] ‘This is it!’,” she recalls.
Inside the PBB house, she carried on without fear. “I was really real because I had nothing to lose.” But when eviction day came, reality hit hard. “Tapos na, tapos na talaga [It’s all over],” she remembers thinking, convinced it was back to studies and putting acting on pause. Yet the moment she stepped outside, she was stunned. “Nagulat ako nung paglabas ko tas nakita ko ang dami kong mukha, hindi po ako makapaniwala, it was a humbling experience. Never ko kasi naisip na pwede ako ipa-tarpaulin [When I got out of the house, I was surprised to see so many of my faces, I couldn’t believe it. It was a humbling experience, I never imagined that I could be on a tarpaulin].”
The Sang’gre star is sharp about the industry she’s entering, she doesn’t romanticize it. “Never ko naman talaga inisip na madali ang pag-aartista [I never really thought that it would be easy being an actress]… behind the glitz and glamor… there’s really politics, there’s really this dirty laundry behind it. But I was so lucky because I’m surrounded by the right people… It was really God who directed me to this industry.”
The pursuit of fame, for Shuvee, has always been rooted in survival and love; a way to carry her family forward and open brighter doors for her siblings. That’s why she clings to her place in the industry with gratitude. And if her journey has proven anything, it’s that she was never meant to be anyone’s “starlet.” She is, and always was, her own star.
Photographed by CENON AT MAV, Creative Direction by PATRICK TY, Art Direction by CLARE MAGNO, assisted by TROY NONATO, Fashion Direction and Styling by ROKO ARCEO, Beauty Direction by AGOO AZCUNA-BENGZON and MARA GO, Produced by THESSMAR LECTURA, Sittings Editor PEEWEE REYES-ISIDRO, Makeup by DENISE OCHOA, Hair by ARIES MANAL. Nails by CATHERINE BALINGASA, GENEVIEV PIOQUINTO, JENNIFER PASCUAL, and OGIE RODRIGUEZ of TRIPLE LUCK NAIL SALON, Production Design TIPPING POINT, Fashion Assistant KRISSIE TERUEL, Producer for CaM LOUGIE DELA CRUZ, Lighting Assistants MIGHT MERCADO, RUEL CONSTANTINO, GABRIEL JEFFERSON OLMILLO, SAMUEL PILLON, and ANTONIO BAYLON, Written by LAURD SALEN.
Shot on location at RED APPLE STUDIO
Special Thanks to MIGUEL LAURETA, ELLA TAGACA, ANA YLALIM, and KEN OPIÑA of VIVA ARTISTS AGENCY, THESS GUBI, LAUREN DYOGI, ERIK MIRAS, JEFF RODRIGUEZ, PATRICIA RIGODON, and FRANCES JOSON of STAR MAGIC, CHESTER SINGIAN, JASHLEY CRUZ, and ROCHELLE TUAZON-CHAVEZ of SPARKLE PR TEAM and SPARKLE GMA ARTIST CENTER
