20-year-old actress Maria Ysabel Ortega-Lapid, or simply known as Ysabel Ortega rose to fame for playing the supporting antagonist and villain Charlotte “Charlie” Quiñones in the now-defunct ABS-CBN melodrama series Pusong Ligaw.
Ysabel is now working as a talent of GMA Network, but prior to that, she also appeared in several Kapamilya shows such as On the Wings of Love, Maalaala Mo Kaya, Ipaglaban Mo!, Born for You, and Precious Hearts Romances: Araw Gabi.
The young actress captivated the hearts of the netizens because of her beauty and innate talent, which is something that she might have inherited from her former celebrity parents.
For those who are not aware, this beautiful young lady is the daughter of the veteran actor turned politician, Senator Lito Lapid and former actress-singer Michelle Ortega. Her mother is also part of the government organization as the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Back in 2015, Ysabel shared in a radio interview for DZMM that she had her first Television Project was when she was only 16 years old. The young actress said that this project was really challenging for her because she had to act like a drunk 24-year old girl, which is something that she hadn’t experienced yet since she was so young at the time. However, she managed to deliver her role properly through the help of her co-actors and actresses.
Ysabel has already proven that she can make a name for herself by stepping out her parents’ shadows and not using their fame. In fact, she auditioned for the role of Angela in On The Wings of Love and attended the workshop of her former manager Ogie Diaz.
With only her mom by her side, the young actress grew up as a good daughter. Ysabel is also close to her stepfather, Greg Pimentel, who treated Ysabel as her real daughter and took responsibility for looking over her. Pimentel is the Director for Intelligence of Philippine National Police (PNP).
According to her, she’s very close to her biological father, Lito Lapid when she was young, but all of a sudden their communication just stopped for an unknown reason.
Despite that, Ysabel said in a previous interview with “Tonight with Boy Abunda” that she doesn’t hold a grudge in her heart against him and still loves and respect him a lot as her father.
“He’s one of the reasons why I joined showbiz because I look up to him. He’s one of my role models and I’m very proud to have him as my father,” she said.