The first Filipino actor to be nominated at the prestigious Golden Globe Awards and British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards (BAFTA) is now setting her sights on La La Land itself, where she is set to blaze a trail alongside some of the film industry’s most respected names. For the honor she has brought so far to the country and the local acting profession, Dolly is one of PeopleAsia’s “Women of Style and Substance” 2023.
By Jose Paolo S. Dela Cruz
Photography by Mark Chester Ang
It’s been more than eight months since Dolly de Leon first made waves globally, when her career-defining role in Triangle of Sadness led her to a Golden Globe “Best Supporting Actress” nomination, and subsequently, a BAFTA nod in the same category, among a string of other recognitions. And while the 54-year-old actress didn’t walk home with these coveted trophies, she didn’t exactly come home empty handed.
Dolly’s star, after all, is on the rise. And it dawns on the City of Stars itself, no less.
And judging from her red carpet appearances at the Beverly Hilton for the Globes in January and the Royal Albert Hall for the BAFTAs in March — where she wowed in a leather dress by Norman de Vera and a custom Rajo Laurel cocoon gown, respectively — one could say that life has definitely changed for this veteran actress.
“I’m always busy these days. Dati kasi hindi naman ako laging may trabaho (Before, I didn’t always have jobs lined up for me),” she starts off. “And although people have always been nice to me, perhaps due to the fact that I am old, now they’re extra nice.”
Away from the red carpet that she has now shared with the likes of Cate Blanchett, Michelle Yeoh and other A-listers, Dolly’s current reality is a far cry from what it was for most of her decades-long career.
Like many actors, Dolly only remembers too well how it was to live from paycheck to paycheck. “That was me for 33 years. I would shoot today and then go to another soap and shoot there the next day. I wouldn’t sleep. I would just go to the next one. And I would just say yes to anything,” she admits.
Dolly never had to read scripts or ask who the director was before deciding to sign up for a project. She didn’t need to know the studio, producer or production outfit. “I would just accept and accept and accept. I was never choosy. I could not be choosy,” she shares.
Yet there was a void in her heart, especially as a creative. In fact, she had wanted to quit acting three times.
“The closest I got to quitting was around 11 years ago, when I couldn’t pay for our electric bill anymore and our electricity got cut off. My son also had to stop school because I couldn’t pay for his tuition fees. So that was when I seriously thought of leaving the profession because it wasn’t bringing in any money,” admits the single mother, who is raising four children on her own.
She was ready to bid the cameras goodbye and simply focus on her job as a motivational speaker and facilitator in team-building programs, where the pay was more or less steady. Someone, fortunately, strongly objected to her plans.
“This girl,” Dolly says, pointing to her daughter Luccia, now also her manager locally, who accompanied her to the PeopleAsia shoot. “She told me, ‘Mom, keep doing it.’ Do your facilitation work but if you get offers, or calls for a role, don’t turn them down. Just keep saying yes. I think she knew that if I quit acting, I’d be very miserable. So I listened to her and did not quit.”
And now the Philippines has its own Golden Globe and BAFTA nominee, thanks to a young girl who had faith in her mother.
‘Bigger’ roles
While Dolly admits that she is still more or less relegated to the same roles — mothers, oppressed women and, from time to time, women in power — the significance of her characters has grown.
No matter how big or small the role though, Dolly says that she spares no effort in preparing for it. “I want my lines memorized before I go on set. I want to go there without relying on luck for a good performance. I really like to work hard and make sure that I have everything in place before going on set,” she says.
Dolly also recently received an invitation to be part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She was among the handful of celebrities to be invited this year, alongside Best Supporting Actor winner Ke Huy Quan of Everything Everywhere All at Once and Academy-Award nominees Austin Butler and Stephanie Hsu, and pop star Taylor Swift.
“I got an invitation via email. The moment I got the notification, I messaged my manager and I said, ‘Is this a scam?’ He said ‘No, no, that’s legit,’” she says, laughing.
More than bragging rights, the main privilege of being part of the Academy, according to Dolly, is having a voice. “It’s about being able to vote — which is how our voices can be heard. So to me that’s the most special part of it. It’s the same with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), where the members recently voted to go on strike,” she says.
With her new access to Hollywood, Dolly admits to feeling a little bit pressured. “I think the most challenging part is that I feel like I have a huge responsibility now. Unlike before in my career as an actor, it was just about me. I was just doing my job and acting in films and making sure I deliver. Now, it’s a bigger responsibility. Sometimes I feel like I’m representing us — Pinoys. In a way, everyone’s relying on me, somehow — hoping that I am opening the door wider, so that more people could enter,” she says, “Honestly, it’s like I became smaller. “at’s how I feel. It’s like I became smaller because now I’m not alone anymore. I’m with a larger group of people around me.”
Stopovers & destiny
Before Hollywood, Dolly’s itinerary to international stardom has quite a few layovers, to say the least.
One such stop is in Germany, where she is set to film the second season of streaming giant Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers. Dolly, who is mostly mum about the project, will play the role of a former nun, alongside Academy Award-winning actress Nicole Kidman, who will also produce the show.
And, of course, there’s the actors’ strike, which Dolly now supports as a SAG member. “This means that while she will be in Germany for the next six months, it would have to be in a preparatory capacity, until the conflict in the picket lines is resolved. “The strike covers anything that is SAG-registered. For now, I can only work in Philippine productions, otherwise I might lose my membership,” she explains.
Despite the delays the strike might cause, Dolly isn’t complaining. “I don’t see it as a bad thing. I think that it’s about time that this is happening because actors have been wanting change. It’s the last resort for many of them, but if this is the way, then I am in solidarity with them,” she says.
Well, Nine Perfect Strangers may have to wait, but Dolly’s growing legion of fans wouldn’t have to, if they want to see her on the silver screen. She has just finished filming A Very Good Girl, a dark comedy co-starring Kathryn Bernardo, set for release in September.
August is also a very busy month for Dolly, whose two films in Cinemalaya — Iti Mapukpukaw and Ang Duyan ng Magiting — debuted on Aug. 5 and Aug. 8, respectively. Other projects that she has lined up are Keys to the Heart, which will be streamed on Netflix; Simula sa Gitna, which will be helmed by director Antoinette Jadaone; and the indie film Salome, which is in post-production at the time of this interview. Dolly is also considering a return to theater in 2025, and admits to having more than a few projects lined up here and abroad in the coming months.
So how does one make it to Hollywood a la Dolly De Leon? This self-effacing “Woman of Style & Substance” awardee lets out a chuckle before answering the question. “I don’t know. You drive and go get in a car? I really don’t know. Just keep working. Just keep working and working and working. Audition and keep auditioning.”
Ladies, and even gents, take note.
Art direction by Dexter Francis de Vera
Makeup by Lars Cabanacan
Hair by Chezka Dumandan
Styling by Mike de Guzman and George Palmiano of MGP, assisted by Ysabelle Bianca Viray
