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Maui Taylor (born Maureen Anne Rodriguez Taylor on June 28,
1983) is a British-born Filipino model, singer, and actress.
Background
Taylor was born in Brighton, East Sussex, England and was raised there until the
age of six; the youngest of four children. Her mother Annette met her father,
Ricardo Taylor, a landscape artist, while on vacation in Britain. She lived in
London until her teens when she was sent to live in the Philippines by her
parents. Aside from her mother's longing to return to her homeland, her father
insisted that she leave Britain with the rationale that she be raised with
"Filipino values". Her older sisters are also in the entertainment field with
one being an opera singer for the London Opera House while the other a
choreographer.
Career
Taylor initially got into show biz with the assistance of a cousin who was a
member of a dance group in the Philippines. Because of her mestiza features,
Taylor quickly found herself as a sought after actress despite the fact that she
had no prior acting experience. She was eventually cast on the Filipino TV soap
opera Anna Karenina at the age of 14. This lead to other roles in various TV
shows as well as cinema.
Taylor first gained nationwide attention when she appeared on the cover of the
April 2002 issue of FHM (Philippine edition). Because of her mature body and her
very youthful face, she instantly became a hot sex symbol among men. This was
justified when she appeared in her first starring role in the movie Gamitan,
which grossed almost P70 million in the local box office. Maui Taylor had early
movie appearances in films such as Tatarin and S2pid Luv, both from Viva Films.
She had her big breakthrough, in 2002, when she got her first starring role in
Gamitan, a movie where she played a young college girl who lost her virginity to
an abusive and traitorous basketball player (who only used her in a big bet with
friends), and latter plotted schemes of vengeance against those who hurt her.
Gamitan was also the first movie where the young actress appeared nude and
performed in sex scenes on the screen although no frontal nudity was shown.
Also in 2002, Taylor appeared in the film Hibla where she shared the lead with
fellow actress Rica Peralejo. In separate situations in the film, both actresses
appeared nude and performed sex scenes with different actors. Hibla easily
topped the box office and enjoyed stealing people's attention as it featured a
French kissing scene between Taylor and Peralejo (non-lesbian situation). The
film is noted for its stunning capture of natural scenery.
2003 was the last year Taylor was active in films. In April 2003, she starred
with actress Katya Santos in the sex comedy Sex Drive, which was deeply inspired
by the movie Y' Tu MaMa Tambien. Although it was blasted by critics for its
pointless plot and sex scenes, Sex Drive made around almost P65 million
domestically.
For her next movie, titled Ang Huling Birhen Sa Lupa (international title: The
Last Virgin), Taylor had to work extra hard as she played a mentally retarded
girl and had to live up to the acting prowess of Ara Mina and Jay Manalo, both
veterans in the local film industry. She also had to go through rigid training
in order to think and act convincingly like a 10 year old girl (her character in
the story is 16 years old) and had to prepare herself for a rape scene.
While not as popular as her three previous movies, Ang Huling Birhen Sa Lupa was
the big awards winner for the 2003 Manila Film Festival (including Best Picture,
Best Director and Best Actress) and gained a financial boost from its victory.
Taylor gained her first acting nomination with the film, particularly for Best
Actress (which went to her co-star Ara Mina). The controversial movie became the
festival's 2nd highest grossing entry.
Later in 2003, Taylor's film career started sliding as two of her films with
Viva, Masamang Ugat and Bugbog Sarado failed to ignite in the local box-office.
On the home video front, the star enjoyed a rise in her popularity boosted by
the hot sales of the sexy music video collection Sex Goddess. She continues to
be one of the most popular models and actresses in Filipino entertainment. The
November 2005 issue of FHM featured an exclusive interview of Taylor as well as
a hot-looking cover of her. Taylor is expected to star in the upcoming movie
Short Time, a sex comedy that will be released later this year 2006.
FHM
Taylor is a consistent vote-getter in FHM Philippines' annual 100 Sexiest Women
in the World chart.
In the 2006 chart, she ranked 20th overall, up 54 notches from 2005. For the
years 2002 and 2003, she made the Top 10.
Box office attraction
Since she started going bold on screen, the gorgeous actress became a huge
box office magnet at the theaters. Her highest grossing non-starring role was
the comedy S2pid Luv. To date, her leading role films combined for a box office
take of P265,833,619.
List of theatrical appearances in chronological order (titles in bold indicate
lead roles)
Tatarin P44,885,191
S2pid Luv P32,523,168
Gamitan P69,812,200
Hibla P62,115,035
Sex Drive P64,822,701
Ang Huling Birhen sa Lupa P50,594,433
Masamang Ugat P18,308,970
Bugbog Sarado P18,489,250
Note: All box office figures provided by Viva Films.
Recent events
In an exclusive radio interview, Taylor revealed some shocking details
that challenged public opinion about her. These include:
1. Prior to her entry in showbiz, Taylor had plastic surgery to enhance her
image and at times lied to protect her image. She also had breast augmentation.
2. Rivalry truly was present among the Viva Hot Babes, a specially-formed group
of sexy female entertainers wherein Taylor was a member. Taylor confessed that
member Jen Rosendal is the one she despised the most. On a separate incident,
Rosendal deliberately injured fellow member Kristine Jaka during a televised
group dance in 2004.
3. Regarding her broken relationship with Bryan Revilla, Taylor admitted that
she and Revilla taped each other during happier times. Perceived as a sex video,
the actress expressed no worry about the footage circulating over the web.
4. Taylor confirmed that her career in showbiz will be halted for a while as she
plans to live in Europe soon. What made the interview significant was the fact
that Taylor volunteered to strap herself to a lie detector. |
