Gwen Garci

Not to be confused with Gwen Garcia
Gwen Garci (born May 7, 1981) is a Filipina actress and model who is known as one of the original members of the all-female group Viva Hotbabes and one of the favorite cover girls of FHM Philippines. She was also one of RAN Online's calendar girls for 2007.

Gwen was born Mai Lee Ang on May 7, 1981 in Tuba, Benguet, Philippines. She's of Filipino - Chinese - Spanish - Japanese descent. Her family owns a department store, salon, spa and other businesses in Baguio City.

When Gwen was 16, she joined and won the 1997 Body Shots contest held in her native city. That win started her modeling career. She became an official endorser of Levi's Jeans, Jag Jeans and Wrangler. Her posters with those endorsements literally filled the billboards in major cities in the entire Philippines. Before entering show business, Gwen was using Garcia as her surname. Upon the suggestion of her manager Jessica Rodriguez, Gwen dropped the last letter a in her adopted screen name Garcia since there are already too many celebrities using Garcia in Filipino showbiz.

In 2003, she was discovered by the Viva big boss, Vic Del Rosario. Del Rosario cast her as one of the members of the first group of Viva Hotbabes which includes Katya Santos, Maui Taylor, Andrea Del Rosario, Myles Hernandez, Jen Rosendahl, Kristine Jaca and Hazel Cabrera. On February 2003, the group’s first straight-to-video simply titled "Viva Hot Babes" was released. Since it was an adult-themed video, conservatives said it was too daring and opposed its distribution but other sectors, led by then Philippine videogram regulatory board chair Ramon Revilla Jr., claimed the video has an R-18 classification that fit adult viewers.

The controversy gave Gwen and the rest of the group free marketing exposure they need to become more popular among the male audience in the country. The group’s bold and sexy modeling increased their legions of male fans which made them stay in the sexy limelight for a few years until they disbanded. The group also made into singing and made some popular songs like Bulaklak, Kikay and Basketbol. The group’s final collaboration was another adult-themed straight-to-video titled “Viva Hotbabes Gone Wild” in 2007.

Gwen ventured into films accepting supporting roles until she was cast as one of the lead stars in the movie First Time (2003) together with fellow hotbabes Jen, Myles, Kristine and Hazel.

Although Gwen’s background seems extensively assorted, most of her movies and videos have been highly charged sexual scenes, fantasies, and subjects.

In 2009, Gwen made Striptease, the Art of Erotic Dancing. This instructional video tackles seductive stripping. The video promises to teach viewers how to undress seductively as well as use striptease to keep in shape, not to mention various forms of dancing.

Gwen also tried her acting skills on indie films such as 3 Days of Darkness (2007), Room 213 (2008), Butas (2009), Heavenly Touch (2009), Ang Beerhouse (2009), and Bigasan (2009).

Aside from movies, Gwen also had her share of TV stints such as Extra, Extra (2003), Narito Ang Puso Ko (2003), MariMar (2007), and My Binondo Girl (2011).