Actress Iza Calzado, whose new svelte figure is currently featured on a billboard on Edsa, said she?s still a long way to go from achieving her ideal physique.

?I still want to be more compact and muscular, much like (former tennis player) Dyan Castillejo,? explains Iza, who now weighs 125 lbs. She confessed to weighing over 200 lbs. when she was 16. ?My goal is to be a fitness buff, not a beauty queen.?

Ironically, Iza plays the lead character in the new GMA 7 drama series ?Beauty Queen,? which depicts the glamour, drama and intrigue in the world of beauty pageants.

Playing the character Maita San Miguel, a poor but pure-hearted market vendor who turns into a beauty queen, Iza has to wear a two-piece bikini.

She felt apprehensive about it, her first time to wear a skimpy outfit for a show. ?And I think it?s going to be the last,? she told Inquirer Entertainment.

The 28-year-old artist admitted that she never dreamed of becoming a beauty queen even when she was younger. ?It was really my mom who wanted to be one, but she was only 5-foot-1.?

?Beauty Queen? also features actress Katrina Halili and 2007 Binibining Pilipinas World Maggie Wilson. Playing support is 1969 Miss Universe Gloria Diaz. 1995 Bb. Pilipinas Universe Joanne Quintas is in the show?s creative staff, said Iza.

She?s been getting tips from the girls, Iza admitted. ?But I will have to learn how to go down the stairs gracefully without tripping. It?s really not one of my natural talents,? she pointed out.

She hopes viewers will not compare her performance to Maggie?s. ?Come on guys, she has won a pageant, and she is super petite compared to me,? Iza said. ?Maggie has her strengths, I have my own. She?s a big help to me. She has told me the tricks of the trade, which I won?t reveal to you. My job here, apart from acting like a beauty queen, is to entertain viewers, to make them fall in love with my character.?

No cosmetic surgery

Iza clarified rumors that she had to resort to cosmetic surgery to achieve her now-sexy figure. ?That?s not true,? she stressed. ?I?ve gone through many short cuts in life?crash diets, everything. For the last two years, I?ve been working hard to achieve whatever I have now. I?ve also been running and working out like crazy. It?s not even for this show. It was to prove to myself that I could achieve a certain physique that I would be very happy with. I may not be perfect, but at least I can say I?ve already improved, far from what I used to be.?

?Beauty Queen? airs on GMA 7 from Mondays to Fridays on the Telebabad time slot. It also features Marvin Agustin, Luis Alandy, TJ Trinidad, Juan Rodrigo, Carmi Martin and Elizabeth Oropesa. Joel Lamangan directs.