Dolly de Leon

Dolly de Leon first made waves in local theater before taking the international stage by storm with Triangle of Sadness, earning acclaim and breaking barriers for Filipino actors in Hollywood.

From navigating challenges to celebrating unexpected breakthroughs, she shares her journey, inspirations, and the thrill of stepping into fantasy for Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Describe Dolly when no one is around.

When no one’s around, I talk to myself. If someone walked in on me in my bedroom at home, they would think I’m crazy because I literally talk to myself, I talk to my cats. I’m very opinionated when I’m alone. I criticize everything I watch and see, so may pagka-pintasera ako when I’m alone.

What are you most proud about being Filipino?

I’m most proud about being Filipino because we’re very loving people and our culture is very rich with art—we love art. We sing at home, we perform, we dance. Most of us in our families have at least one person who plays an instrument, so that’s what I love about us. We’re very artistic and very loving and caring.

Filipinos have been historically underrepresented in Hollywood, yet you’ve become one of the faces shifting that landscape. How do you see the future for Filipinos in global film, and what challenges did you overcome along the way?

I think that we’re on our way to being front and center on the global stage. I think that’s going to happen soon. Hopefully, in my lifetime, I’ll be able to see that happen. The major challenge is really that most stories are centered—I’m talking about internationally, most stories are centered around white people, so I guess that’s the main challenge, for there to be people of color in every story we watch. So, I guess, it’s our responsibility also as Filipinos to create our own stories so that we can be front and center in that arena.

How did you get into acting? And did you know this is where you would end up today?

I started in college because my course was theater arts. One of our side hustles in theater was to do soap operas, sitcoms, and stuff like that, so that’s how I started acting professionally.

Ruben Östlund, our writer and director, wanted to cast a Filipina for the role of Abigail, so he sent his casting director over here in Manila, and she sought the help of two other people, Bianca Balbuena, and Jake Macapagal. Jake got in touch with me and told me to audition, and I did, and I was called back, and that’s how I got the part.

I didn’t think I’d end up here. I just thought I would be forever struggling, and at the most, just having consistent work and not having to worry about paying bills. That’s all I really wanted, and that’s all I was expecting to happen. So no, this was not expected. It’s very unexpected.

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What’s something they don't tell you about working in Hollywood?

Well, I only found this out recently, but you can’t just get a job, and you can’t even get an audition if you don’t have representation—if you don’t have a manager or agent. It’s impossible for you to get work there. I learned that when I started working there, and the irony is I got the role in the film that broke me out not through an agent or manager, but on my own, so it’s kinda strange.

Throughout your journey—from local theater to international films—who were the artists, locally or internationally, that you looked up to?

Locally, I look up to Nora Aunor, Vilma Santos, Lolita Rodriguez, and Gloria Romero. Internationally, I look up to Meryl Streep, Olivia Coleman, and Andrea Riseborough.

Is there still a dream role that you would like to play in the future?

Yeah, I’d love to play a drummer—a drummer of a rock band.

What’s a ritual that you do before the camera starts rolling?

I don’t really have a ritual. Maybe the most—in terms of preparing as a ritual is I listen to my playlist for that particular character that I’m playing, so when I’m on the makeup chair, I already have my earphones on and it’s playing the songs of the character I’m about to play.

The last one I did was for Sister Agnes in Nine Perfect Strangers, and I was listening to Perry Como and Frank Sinatra because I think that’s the kind of music she’d listen to.

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You’re currently filming for Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender. What has it been like stepping into a universe so beloved—and what excites you the most about it?

For me, Avatar: The Last Airbender is really special because my kids, they’re big fans of that show, so for me, this is like a gift to them—to be able to do something they really love.

It’s been exciting because this is the first time I got to play twins—I’ve never played twins before, so I had so much fun doing that. We wrapped already, by the way, and I find it really exciting that I’m in a fantasy world. I’ve never done fantasy as well, so there are many firsts for Avatar: The Last Airbender.

You’re playing twins on the show. What was the audition like and how did you get the roles?

The roles were offered to me. It’s really exciting for me because I’ve never played twins before, especially in a fantasy series like Avatar: The Last Airbender, so I can’t wait to watch it. I’m so excited—I mean, among all the jobs I’ve done in my whole life, this is the one I’m most excited about because I’m interacting with myself, I’m conversing with myself, and I want to see how that looks like.

I just made them polar opposites, like one is wiser and more mature, while the other one is more playful and childish, so I just played with those two aspects of their characters.

You’ve been into Sunnies long before this campaign. What drew you to the brand and their eyewear?

For the longest time, I’ve always been looking for the aviator frames with the two bars in the middle. No other optical shop had that, but with Sunnies, I found that they had it and they were selling it for a very affordable price, so that’s what drew me to Sunnies initially.

I finally got my dream frames from Sunnies, and since then, I’ve been hooked.

Was there a frame that made you think, “Ah, this feels like me”?

My favorite that I really feel myself [in] are the Noah tints. I love it so much, and this is one thing I also love about Sunnies. I don’t know if other frame shops do this, but you can put tint on your lens, which I love. I have them (Noah) in different colors. I have blue, orange, yellow, pink, and green in this one. Ang arte ko ‘noh? Yeah, that’s why I love it because it’s very versatile.

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Tell us about the line on your Instagram bio: “Once you are real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” — Margery Williams Blanco

The quote is from The Velveteen Rabbit—it’s about toys. I think that’s where Toy Story got their idea about toys that are not being played with by children, but there’s this one toy that was really worn out and almost destroyed. It’d have rips and tears all over it. It was the rabbit, and the horse told the rabbit, “You’re beautiful, because just the fact that you’re so worn out means someone loved you.”

So the reason why I put that quote is because I always see myself as imperfect, and it’s like a struggle being a human being. It’s such a struggle for me, and there’s so much demand for us to be perfect and to be flawless, but I always want to remind myself that that’s what makes being a human being beautiful—the imperfections that we have.

What’s your favorite motto in life?

Never leap on a lying leopard. That’s from Sesame Street.

What was your “I made it” moment?

I guess when the calls for jobs started becoming more rather than less, because mostly, before Triangle of Sadness, it was a waiting game for me. I was always waiting to be called for a job. Sometimes I would go for months on end without any work at all, so that’s the big difference. Now, I get a respectable amount of offers so that I can support my family.