It may sound cliché, but Dolly de Leon means business when she says Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle of Sadness” changed her life.
Because it was.
Filipino audiences have known de Leon from shows such as “Amy’s Mother” and “Mirabella,” while Western audiences may have seen her on the HBO Asia series “Folklore.” But Neon’s release, released on Friday, is what put De Leon on the map. “I get better roles and better offers,” she says.
Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast caught up with de Leon to discuss her role as Abigail, how she built the character, and working with Östlund. Listen below.
“Triangle of Sadness” is a wickedly funny satire and commentary on the ultra-rich, featuring Charlbi Dean (the rising South African actor who died in August), Harris Dickinson, de Leon and Woody Harrelson. Östlund’s first English-language film follows the characters as they set off on a Mediterranean cruise that ends in disaster.
De Leon plays a soaring restroom manager in the film’s third act. When de Leon got the role, “I started out writing a diary from a first-person perspective, writing as Abigail. I had to understand why she knew how to fish and make fire, because not all Filipinos can fish and make fire,” she says. “So I had to look for a reason why she has those skills.”
De Leon also charted Abigail’s life. Was she alone or did she have children? Once de Leon mapped out the character’s backstory, she consulted Östlund. “He was okay with everything, especially the choice to be a single woman,” de Leon said. “We did a workshop together, but he gave me free rein.”
In recent years, there has been a visual increase in Filipino representation on screen and behind the scenes, and the actress has shared her thoughts. In the film, the cruise passengers are Filipino, but their ethnicity is not explicitly mentioned. A scene with the workers cleaning the dining hall is captioned because they speak Tagalog. Says de Leon, “It doesn’t matter because it would be an exaggeration if we call them Filipinos because first of all they speak the language. If people don’t know our language, they just have to research and find out what language it is.
Also in this episode, Variety Clayton Davis chats with Jordan Peele.
Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast, produced by Michael Schneider, who also co-hosts with Clayton Davis, is your one-stop-shop for lively conversations about the best in film and TV. Each week, “Awards Circuit” features interviews with top film and TV talent and creatives; discussions and debates about awards races and industry headlines; And much more. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you download podcasts. New episodes released every week.