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Mariel 'flies high' as Varga

MARIEL RODRIGUEZ is better known as a TV host. She's seen daily on Wowowee, and weekends in the showbiz talk show Entertainment Live.

She also co-hosted the past seasons of Pinoy Big Brother with Toni Gonzaga and Bianca Gonzalez, until she was sent in as a guest housemate in PBB Celebrity Edition 2, an act which changed the course of her life and career.

After PBB, Mariel began getting more offers to act. She started with cameo roles at first, then graduated to meatier parts in Love Spell and Maalaala Mo Kaya. Prior to PBB, Mariel had appeared in the movies Agent X44 and Umuulan, Umaaraw, but even then, she confesses that she really didn't think of herself as an actress.

Well, maybe now she will, now that she's bagged no less than the title role in ABS-CBN's high-flying fantaserye Varga. Varga is actually the second installment in the Komiks Presents Mars Ravelo series; the first was Kapitan Boom, starring Jon Avila (who was, incidentally, Mariel's fellow housemate in Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Edition 2).

In the story, Vara (Mariel) is a princess from the planet Vargon. Because of the ongoing war in Vargon, Vara is forced to fly and land on Earth. The impact of her landing gives her amnesia. The child Olga (Angel Sy), whose only dream is to win in a beauty contest to make her father Andres (Dominic Ochoa) proud, is the only one who can see and hear Vara. Unexpectedly, the two realise that they can join forces to become Varga. Thus, the name Varga-from Vara and Olga.