Ara Mina in Lupin

Ara Mina (aka Hazel Reyes-Mathay) is a popular young Filipina actress, model and singer who was born May 9, 1979 in Manila, the Philippines. She is the daughter of Chuck Mathay, a former Philippine congressman from Quezon City, and granddaughter of former Quezon City mayor Ishmael Mathay, Jr.

Ara Mina started as a sexy actress who eventually won awards with her portrayal in artfilms like Huling Birhen Sa Lupa among others. Since 1998, Ara Mina has been a regular cast member of Bubble Gang, a sketch comedy television show in the Philippines. Her sister, Cristine Reyes, is also an actress with the GMA Network. She had to leave GMA and her show Bubble Gang due to ABS-CBN's exclusive contract and having her show Prinsesa ng Banyera as Angelika de la Cruz' replacement for her role. In 2004, Ara Mina won the Golden Screen Award for Best Actress in a drama in the Philippines.

Movies is which Ara Mina has starred are:

Lupin Vol. 1 (Episode 1-11 ) in 2008. This movie stars Ara Mina, Janno Gibbs, Katrina Halili, Michael de Mesa, Rhian Denise Ramos, Richard Gutierrez, Ricky Davao and Tirso Cruz III. Lupin unfolds a compelling story of trials, tragedy, success and love. With sleek and luxurious sports cars, breath-taking and action-packed scenes, and a swoon-worthy romantic tale. Lupin will surely captivate the viewer's attention. Witness the adventures of a young man trapped in his past of which love had yet to set free. Lupin is a veteran thief trained by his father Duroy. Seeking to turn over a new leaf, Lupin decided to quit his job as a thief to marry his girlfriend. Fearing of losing his greatest asset, his father made a collusion with the Maskardo Gang to ruin his son’s dreams by assassinating his girlfriend Angelie, then killing the perpetrators so that there will be no evidences. Despite of this, Lupin learned of his father’s treachery and is now devising a plan to avenge Angelie without ending up behind bars.

Anak Ng Kumander in 2008. This movie stars Ara Mina, Lara Morena, Manny Pacquiao, Roi Vinzon and Valerie Concepcion. It is about the son of a rebel who continues his father's work, hiding out in the mountains with a band of men, wreaking havoc on the corrupt officials who continue to oppress the people. Using his unique code of honor, he metes out justice to all those who deserve punishment. But the life of a rebel is difficult, and he must eventually make a choice between his values and a chance for an easier life.

Shake, Rattle & Roll VI in 2006. This movie stars Ara Mina, Camille Prats, John Apacible and Tonton Gutierrez. In this movie,three modern tales of the horrific are served up in the 6th installment of the beloved horror-comedy anthology. In "Ang Telebisyon", directed by the late Maurice Carvajal, Joanne Quintas plays a young mother who must protect her daughter from a mischievous clown who comes out of a weird television set. "Ang Tulay" stars Ara Mina as the companion of little scene-stealers Aiza Sequerra, Matet and Tom Taus as they go on a quest to bring peace to the souls of restless spirits haunting an old bridge.Ang in "Ang Buwan", Georgia Ortega is possessed by the three personalities of the hukluban, which fight one another for the possession of her soul one moonlit night.

Mano Po in 2003. This movie stars Ara Mina, Maricel Soriano and Richard Gomez. It is a compelling tale of a Chinese Filipino family’s search for identity and place in Philippine History. Told in the context of their struggles amid harsh contemporary realities and the ties that bind them to a land that has been good to them despite the life-threatening circumstances that have now begun to hover over their lives.

Ara Mina has built a career around her well-developed body. Her singing talent is minimal and she probably wouldn't have a recording contract if not for her good looks and screen popularity. In 2001, Ara Mina released Heavenly, her second album. Her self-titled debut album from 1999 was successful commercially, but Ara Mina's vocal performance was awful. Her singing has improved on Heavenly, although some of it is still below average. As before, high production values are evident in the making of the album, and many respected local music figures took part in the affair. Mina's status is such that she attracts only the best people, despite the fact she doesn't sing very well. However, this state of affairs is quite common in the Philippines where popularity and good looks are often more important than talent. Heavenly contains more diversity than 1999's Ara Mina, which consisted mostly of easy listening love songs. Heavenly has its share of these type of tunes but there are also three dance-inflected numbers: "Sorry," "Dance Paikot Ikot" (Dance Around and Around), and "Keep on Dancing." Another tune, "Gusto Kita" (I Like You), contains electronica. Mina's vocal performance varies throughout the album. She sounds passable on the easy listening "In Love Na In Love" (Very Much in Love) although it's apparent she doesn't have much natural talent, but her vocals are awful on the coy "Oops! Teka Lang" (Oops, Wait a Second), where she sounds like Minnie Mouse on helium. Remarkably, she sounds better than average on the fine ballad "I'll Never Forget."

Ara is also busy as an entrepreneur. She owned a fine-dining restaurant named Osteria88 in Tomas Morato, Quezon City and co-manages Bubble Gang Toppings, the restaurant she and her co-stars in the Friday night gag show on GMA-7 put up late last year. Ara also owns a talent agency named Posh, which has been operating for more than a year now. Her current boyfriend is kapuso hunk Polo Ravales.

Osteria88 has been closed for months now, but there are still unanswered questions why it closed down. In an interview, she declared that she cannot carry the rates of the restaurant’s rent anymore and that's why she and her partners decided to close it down. However, one showbiz insider, who is close to the owner of the space where Osteria restaurant is situated, said that the rent is a non-issue because the owners were willing to lower their rates for Ara Mina. Instead of increasing it annually, they would give Ara Mina friendly rates. However, Ara still decided to move out.

Now another bomb has exploded with rumors that some of Ara Mina's air-conditioning units are tapped to the adjacent restaurants. One of her air-conditioning units was allegedly tapped to the coffee shop next to her own restaurant. The other a/c unit was also said to be tapped to another nearby restaurant. About the issue of rent Ara said: "I'm not complaining na mahal ang rent, (but) hindi naman ako ganoon kayaman. Kung yung iba, kayang magbayad ng ganoon, ako hindi. It's just that hindi na lang talaga kaya ng overhead ng restaurant ko". Her replies to the statement that the landlord even lowered the rent for her: "Yes, that's true. Nakikiusap ako na baka puwedeng ganito, gina-grant naman nila. (Pero) Siyempre, habang tumatagal, nagmamahal ang mga bilhin. Kaya sometimes we need to do cost-cutting. Ganoong lang yun. Hindi lang talaga kaya ng overhead ko".

On the electricity-tapping issue: "That's not true. Alam mo naman, na kahit noong sinarado ko yan noong renovation, sinasabi nila nagsara na kasi nalugi na. Kumbaga, dapat hindi na iniintriga yung mag- landlord ko diyan, kasi hindi naman sila showbiz. Saka kung naka-jumper yung kuryente namin, almost 2 years na yung restaurant bakit ngayon lang magrereklamo? Kahit ipa-check pa nila yan sa Meralco, malabo. Impossible Nachea-cheapan lang talaga ako sa isyu. Na pati kuryente sa restaurant ko e ginagawan nila ng intriga," asserts Ara Mina.

However, the mere closing of one restaurant is not the end of Ana Mina venturing into business. Ara Mina is set to open a coffee shop in the Katipunan area soon, which will be called "Cafe Mina," obviously inspired from Ara Mina’s name. But as of the moment, Ara Mina is a little busy working as she appears daily in the afternoon TV soap "Prinsesa ng Banyera" and promoting her movie "Ate".