BUZZ BEAT MEDIA

Prior to Darna’s finale episode, the internet was abuzz with theories as to who will guest star as Kevnar the queen of Marte (home planet of the original Darna, Zorra) after the teaser rolled out following the penultimate episode.

Vilma Santos and Pia Wurtbach were the top two names being floated around. When Episode 130 (last episode) finally aired last February 10, there was a lot of positive response when it turned out to be Celeste Cortesi, our recent Miss Universe representative.

The morning after, she tweeted how thankful she is for the role which served as her acting debut, and that she can relate to Darna: “Just like Darna, lumaban at patuloy na lalaban.” Reading between the lines of her tweet, it appears she will follow in the footsteps of her beauty queen predecessors who now have a career in TV and movies as actresses. She mentioned the prospect of a new door opening as another one closes, as well as “new beginnings” and “new adventures”. She called Darna an “iconic show that celebrates women empowerment”.

Her character Kevnar thanked Narda/Darna for being a successful protector of the stone, as well as called her a true warrior of Marte like her mother Zorra. She also went on to say that the stone is for the whole universe and not just for the benefit of their planet. Since Narda/Darna is an inhabitant of Earth, they will no longer take the stone back and it will stay with its protector. 

Even though Cortesi definitely had a twang to her speaking lines, she delivered it like a true alien royalty without stuttering and with finesse.

Some of the other former beauty queens who have successful Philippine TV and movie careers are Pia Wurtzbach, Precious Lara-Quigaman, Alice Dixson, Dimples Romana, Ariella Arida, Ruffa Gutierrez, Pilar Pilapil, Gloria Diaz, Margie Moran-Floreindo, Maria Isabel Lopez, Charlene Gonzales, Dayanara Torres (+), Michelle van Eimeren, Miriam Quiambao, Bianca Manalo, Venus Raj, Kylie Verzosa, Cindy Miranda, Mariel de Leon, Yana Fuentes, Anjanette Abayari, Megan Young, Winwyn Marquez, and Rabiya Mateo.

Filipino-Italian Cortesi was motivated when Wurtzbach won the Miss Universe 2015 crown. At 18 years old, the Pasay-born beauty was working for a couple of years already as a model and store cashier in Parma, Italy while juggling school and joining pageants secretly. This made her take pageantry mmore seriously and was eventually crowned as Miss Philippines Earth-Italy’s inaugural winner in 2018.

On the same year, she became the successor of Karen Ibasco as Miss Earth Philippines 2018, and made it to the Top 8. Sadly, despite garnering many special awards during the Miss Universe Philippines 2022 competition, for which she emerged as the titleholder, she was unplaced at the 71st Miss Universe competition.

However, during the national costume competition, she turned heads when she wore a Darna outfit as an homage to our country’s cultural heritage.

*Cover Photo/Thumbnail Photo from celeste_cortesi (IG)