Behind Dawn's sweet and graceful façade is a master storyteller. She has us laughing hard when she recounts a conversation with Viva's Boss Vic del Rosario on what kind of image was suitable for her.

She was 19, and "napaka-tweetums-tweetums pa ako noon!"

Boss Vic: "Ano'ng gusto mong gawin? Anong direksyon ang gusto mo as an actress? [no reply] Sino na lang idol mo?" Dawn: "Si Sharon Cuneta! Puwede ba akong gumawa ng movies gaya ni Sharon Cuneta?" Boss Vic: "Ahmmm, puwede. Pero parang hindi ka kasi bagay do'n, e." Dawn: "Bakit?" Boss Vic: "Ang bagay kasi saýo, medyo dramatic." Dawn: "Pero drama naman si Sharon, a?" Boss Vic: "oo, pero para kasing ýong taste mo, mas serious. Sexy ka kasi." Dawn: "Sexy?" Dawn now reenacts her reaction to that conversation 20 years ago: "In my mind, ‘Oh no! Here we go again! ‘Parang he wants to bring me towards ‘yong mga gano'n. So do'n kami nagkahirapan. Kasi I'm insisting that I want a wholesome image. ‘Wholesome ako! Wholesome!'"