Mina derived her stage name, which her mother chose, from her sister Cristine's real first name, Ara, and her other sister Princess's real first name, Mina. During her acting career, she used other names such as Ara Mina-Reyes, Dara Mina, which was derived from
Donna Cruz, and Danica Gomez, derived from
Charlene Gonzales. Mina became part of the Philippine entertainment industry at 14 years of age via the youth-oriented program ''
That's Entertainment, hosted and spearheaded by the late master showman German Moreno ("Kuya Germs"). Since then, Viva Entertainment signed Mina after being noticed on That's
and Mina has starred in about 40 television shows and 60 movies and released 3 recording albums. She won her first acting award for Best Actress for the film Mano Po at the Metro Manila Film Festival in 2002. The following year (2003), she received 3 more Best Actress awards from Manila Film Festival, FAMAS and Golden Screen Awards for the movie Ang Huling Birhen sa Lupa
. She also won the Golden Screen Awards and Star Awards in 2004 for Best Supporting Actress in a drama in the Philippines for her role as Luna in Minsan Pa''. Mina also sings aside from acting. Her self-titled and first album from
Star Music (formerly Star records) which carried the hit song "Ay, Ay, Ay, Pag-Ibig" received a gold record award a few months after its release. Because of this, the record label decided to produce another album for her entitled
Heavenly, which was also a big hit and included the track "Oops Teka Lang" which was also the theme song of the film of the same title starring
Robin Padilla and
Claudine Barretto from
Star Cinema. Her version of the Rey Valera hit "Kung Kailangan Mo Ako" was also used as the theme song of the
ABS-CBN miniseries
Sa Sandaling Kailangan Mo Ako. In 2005, she produced her third album entitled
Moving On which was released under Sony BMG. It consisted of acoustic covers of hit songs like "What Do We Mean To Each Other" by Sergio Mendes, "Somebody" by Depeche Mode, and "Very Special Love" by Maureen McGovern. She truly showcased versatility by starring in television shows of different genres, from sitcoms to heavy drama. 1999, she starred in her first television sitcom
Super Klenk, wherein she played a super heroine. She was then included in the cast of
Bubble Gang, which was her longest stint for television. The character that she played in the TV series
Mulawin, Vultra, is also remarkable. In 2007, she switched to freelance acting and transferred to ABS-CBN doing projects via
Prinsesa ng Banyera and
Ligaw na Bulaklak. She returned to
GMA Network and did multiple teleseryes for over two years. From 2011 to 2016, she did stints with
TV5 Network but was able to do shows with the Kapuso network through
Teen Gen and ''
Yesterday's Bride''. In 2011, she returned to Viva Entertainment after 1995, which also manages her sister Cristine Reyes. On April 17, 2015, Mina was part of the "Lucky Stars" of
Kapamilya, Deal or No Deal and won , making Mina as second millionaire of the season five. Her most recent television stint was for GMA's
Pinulot Ka Lang sa Lupa and was also part of the movie
My Ex and Whys starring
Enrique Gil and
Liza Soberano. She staged a teleserye comeback on
ABS-CBN in
Araw Gabi after doing anthology roles with the channel. In the late 2019 until the end of 2022, she is known for her role of Ellen Padua in ''
FPJ's Ang Probinsyano''. ==Politics==