Maine Mendoza

Nicomaine Dei Capili Mendoza, popularly known as Maine Mendoza^[4][5] (born March 3, 1995 in Santa Maria, Bulacan, Philippines), is a Filipina actress and television personality.^[6] She is best known for her viral Dubsmash videos and her role as Yaya Dub in the noontime variety show Eat Bulaga!'s Kalyeserye segment airing on GMA Network and worldwide via GMA Pinoy TV.^[7][8] After Mendoza was accidentally paired with Alden Richards forming the love team AlDub, the ratings of Eat Bulaga! were further increased.^[9] The popularity of Mendoza as well as Richards is often described as phenomenal.^[10][11]

Early life

Mendoza was born and raised in Santa Maria, Bulacan, Philippines to Mary Ann and Teodoro Mendoza. She has two brothers and two sisters. All of the names of her siblings start with "Nico."^[12]

She finished her elementary education at St. Paul School of Sta. Maria and high school at St. Paul College of Bocaue in Bulacan. She completed a bachelor's degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management major in Culinary Arts at De La Salle-College of St. Benilde.^[13] She had her internship at The Sagamore in Bolton Landing, New York.^[14]

Career

Acting career

In the early part of 2015, Mendoza's career took off after she posted a Dubsmash compilation on Facebook. A compilation in which she impersonated Kris Aquino went viral with one million views overnight.^[15][16] This earned her the title "Queen of Dubsmash" in the Philippines.^[2] Subsequently, she was cast as Yaya Dub, the personal assistant of Lola Nidora (portrayed by Wally Bayola), on Eat Bulaga!'s "Juan For All, All For Juan" segment^[17] and first apperared on July 4, 2015. Her character in the segment was paired accidentally with fellow Eat Bulaga! co-host Alden Richards, on July 16, 2015, in a romantic-comedy sketch part of the show titled Kalyeserye; the couple became popularly known as "AlDub".^[9] In November 2015, Mendoza joined the cast of Princess in the Palace as Chef Elize^[18] becoming her first appearance in an actual teleserye. In December 2015, she appeared as a guest star in the TV sitcom Vampire Ang Daddy Ko^[19] and in the Sunday noontime variety show Sunday PinaSaya.

Mendoza and Richards starred in a 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) entry entitled My Bebe Love #KiligPaMore together with Vic Sotto and Ai-Ai de las Alas.^[20] Jose Javier Reyes, the director of the film, confirmed the inclusion of Mendoza in the motion picture.^[21] This is Mendoza's film debut and she plays Anna Carillo, the stubborn and rebellious child of Vic Sotto's character.^[22] This is also where Mendoza won her first film acting award. She was given the Best Supporting Actress award by the MMFF for her role as Anna.^[23]

In December 2015, they appeared in GMA Network's station ID commercial for Christmas.^[24] Even though she appears in GMA, she is not a member of the GMA Artist Center according to Mendoza's ask.fm account.^[25] Her career is being managed by Triple A, the talent management arm of Antonio P. Tuviera who is the executive producer of Eat Bulaga!.^[1]

Modeling and endorsements

Mendoza and Richards have done a number of product endorsements for a fast food chain,^{[26][27][28][29]} telecommunications company,^[30][31] several household supplies,^{[32][33][34][35][36][37]} and several other products.^[38] Mendoza also appeared in advertisements for a mobile phone,^[39] clothing brand^[40] and other brands.^[41]

Mendoza appeared as the cover girl for Meg magazine and Preview magazine for November 2015.^[42] Mendoza and the cast of Kalyeserye segment were featured on YES! magazine's November 2015 issue.^[43] Mendoza and Richards appeared on the covers of Reader's Digest Asia,^[44] a special issue of YES! magazine,^[43] and Inside Showbiz^[45] and PeopleAsia^[46] in December 2015. She was also featured in several television news magazine and talk shows including Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho^[47][48] and CelebriTV.^[49] Rico Hizon interviewed Mendoza along with Richards for a BBC special report.^[2][50][51]

For the second time, Mendoza and Richards were on the cover of the January 2016 issue of YES! magazine.^[52] On the same month, the couple was the first showbiz personalities to land on the cover of BizNews Asia.^[53] In the 2016 calendar of Disney Channel Asia, Mendoza appeared as Elsa from the Disney film Frozen.^[54] Mendoza and Richards appeared in the February 2016 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine.^[55]

Other ventures

Mendoza was part of Eat Bulaga! Sa Tamang Panahon benefit concert on October 24, 2015 held at the Philippine Arena where Php 14 million was raised for the program's AlDub Library Project.^[56]

Humanitarian causes

Mendoza is a supporter of the causes of the Lumads in Mindanao, who experienced expulsion from their lands, persecution, and killings.^[57] Her brother-in-law John Carlos Catalan is a member of the group AlDub for Lumad, which supported a caravan by Lumad leaders in Surigao City. Brigadier General Joey Kakilala, commander of the Civil Relations Office of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, criticized Mendoza and other celebrities on supporting the Lumads saying that they do not know the real story behind the Lumads' cause and are being misled.^[58]

Reception

In October 2015, Mendoza's Twitter account became the third fastest growing profile after Taylor Swift and Katy Perry. Her followers increased to 1,094,813 in just a few months.^[59] In November 2015, her popularity in Twitter was taken advantage by a group of hackers who identified themselves as Anonymous Philippines.^[60] The said group hacked Mendoza's official Twitter account and posted series of tweets promoting the Million Mask March. Despite hacking the account, they promised to return it to the rightful owner. In less than 24 hours, Mendoza was able to get hold of her social media accounts.^[61]

Mendoza became the most-searched female personality in 2015, based on Google Philippines. Mendoza outranked Caitlyn Jenner and Ronda Rousey, who placed 2nd and 5th respectively, in the list of top trending female celebrities in the Philippines.^[62] She also landed 3rd place as the most searched topic next to AlDub and Pope Francis.^[63]

Filmography

Television

Film

Awards and nominations

Mendoza got a star at the Philippine Walk of Fame on December 1, 2015 at Eastwood City, Libis, Quezon City along with her Kalyeserye co-stars.^[64] Mendoza was revealed to be one of the youth icons for Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) YOUnified on December 11, 2015.^[65] The 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival Best Supporting Actress award that was given only after nearly six months of her being in show business came into a surprise for Mendoza herself.^[66] Mendoza was not present during the awards night and after a few weeks, she personally received the Best Supporting award through an interview with Ricky Lo.^[67]

List of awards and nominations

See also

• Alden Richards
• Kalyeserye
• AlDub
• Eat Bulaga!

References

External links

• Maine Mendoza's official website and blog
• Maine Mendoza at the Internet Movie Database