Lauren Young was ecstatic that her hard work finally paid off when she was cast as the main lead of the early primetime teleserye Mula Sa Puso. “Pinaghirapan ko talagang makuha ang role na ito. Talagang dinaanan ko ‘yung auditions, go-sees, mga workshops. At least dinaanan ko siya para masabi ko ring I actually worked hard for this, hindi lang siya ibinigay sa akin,” she explained.Mula Sa Puso is the remake of the 1997 phenomenal hit series and Lauren is reprising the role of Olivia Pereira that was previously played by Claudine Barretto. Lauren said that comparisons between her and Claudine are inevitable, but she is not letting these bother her. “Everyone will always compare us because siya ‘yung original tapos ako nag-remake, pero ‘di naman po ako natatakot kasi iba naman ang acting before at acting ngayon. At the same time, hindi porke’t dahil matagal na ‘yon magpapabaya na ako. I’m still going to work hard naman.”
When prodded if she is not worried about being pitted against her colleagues and other actresses, Lauren replied, “Ayokong ma-compare kahit kanino. Basta gusto ko po I am who I am, ‘yun lang ho ‘yon.”
She is also confident that the management chose her for the part because they believe that she can effectively portray the role. “Kung sa tingin ng management ‘di ko kaya, sana ‘di nila ako pinili. They think naman na kaya ko.”
While taping for a daily teleserye is difficult enough, Lauren continued that working with seasoned actors like Dawn Zulueta, Eula Valdez, and Ariel Rivera makes the project even harder. However, she said that she uses her past experiences to motivate herself in doing heavy scenes.
With the possibility of becoming a teleserye princess, Lauren said that it feels good to finally have the chance to prove herself. “I’m not going to let them down. I’m going to prove to them na kaya kong mag-deliver,” she said optimistically. “This is what I want and I’m working hard for it and at least I’m getting something out of all the hard work I’m putting into it.”
At the press conference of Mula Sa Puso last week, Lauren said that it took a while before she got her break but she said that all happened at the right time. “People expect kasi na once makapasok ka sa ABS-CBN, sunud-sunod din [ang projects]. Siguro sa iba ganun sila pero in my case naging okay sa akin na hindi ako pinasok [sa major roles] agad kasi alam ko rin na I wasn’t ready din naman. At least alam mo ‘yun I had time to work on my acting, I had the time to expand and learn everything. At least now I know it’s my time kasi antagal kong nag-training.”
Megan, Lauren’s older sister, is also getting an acting break in Hiyas, the next presentation of Precious Hearts Romances. She plays the leading lady of Zanjoe Marudo. But some reporters assume that the reason Lauren was given a bigger project is because she is a better actress than her sister. “Hindi naman po,” Lauren defended. “Si Megan kasi lagi naman niyang sinasabi, siya sa hosting [at] ako sa acting. Ako naman kasi, mas gusto ko talaga ang umarte, siya mas gusto niyang mag-host. We all have our differences pero ayoko namang sabihin na mas magaling akong umarte.”
