Dolly De Leon On Her ‘Triangle Of Sadness’ Golden Globe Nomination And What It Means To The Filipino Community

Fresh off of her big win at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, Dolly de Leon’s life has significantly changed over the past couple of years. Already receiving major recognition this awards season, including a historic Golden Globe nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category for her exceptional performance as Abigail in the 2022 film Triangle of Sadness, de Leon sees the pressure that comes with this type of worldwide attention but is choosing to enjoy the moment.

Before Triangle of Sadness, a comedy satire film that brilliantly turns wealth, privilege and social class on its head, De Leon was just looking for work as a life-long actor in her native Philippines country.

“I first fell in love with acting when I was in school in the fourth grade,” De Leon tells me during our new conversation over Zoom. “I took it seriously in college – I took it up as a course, theatre arts, at the University of the Philippines and that’s where I really sunk my teeth into acting. From doing plays, I started doing some television and some films and I would usually do background characters until very recently. Shortly before Triangle of Sadness, that’s when I started getting better roles, better character to play. Not so much a background actor anymore, but also not a supporting actor. Characters with lines, roles with lines. It was after Triangle of Sadness, when we filmed in 2020, is when I started doing more meaningful roles, more interesting characters.”

De Leon recalls the time Triangle of Sadness writer/director Ruben Östlund sent his casting director to the Philippines in November 2018 to initially search for the right actor who could effectively embody the smart and rather ruthless character of Abigail. De Leon tells me that after an initial audition, she got on a Skype call with Östlund with the help of one of her four children to prepare for the important video call.

“That was a time when if Zoom ever existed, I didn’t know anything about it,” continues de Leon. “All I knew was Skype or FaceTime to impress Ruben. We really did everything we could to have great lighting and to make me look presentable. I felt that was my only chance to really impress him. When I went into the audition, I didn’t really think that I was going to get it. I just went there to try my luck but I really didn’t go with any expectations whatsoever, but then when I was shortlisted, everything changed. That’s when I felt Okay, I have a shot at this.”

When de Leon was ultimately cast as Abigail, she began filming Triangle of Sadness around Greece with Östlund, her ensemble cast and crew, where she quickly realized some distinct differences between this feature film’s production and her previous acting experiences in the Philippines.

“I know it’s going to sound lame but it was my real first experience where they got my measurements and everything was provided,” De Leon reveals. “All the costumes were provided, even the underwear was provided. In the Philippines, usually when they cast you, you bring your own costume, you bring your own wardrobe – but there, they provided everything. We were given our own rooms in the hotel. Normally in the Philippines, you share a room with another actor. Punctuality was very important. We always started on-time and we always finished on-time. There was collaboration with the director, with Ruben. We often discussed things. There were rehearsals prior to the actual filming, there were workshops prior to the rehearsal. Everything was really planned out carefully and everything was thought through very well. It was really a huge difference. Even the meals were really good! We were taken care of in the best possible way and I never really experienced anything like that here [in the Philippines].”

Without giving too much away for anyone who has (shamefully) not seen the original cinematic storytelling of Triangle of Sadness yet, de Leon’s character Abigail plays a “toilet manager” on a luxury yacht that is filled with social media influencers and eccentrically wealthy businesspeople. After a series of unfortunate events, Abigail finds herself in a reversed role on a deserted island, now leading these privileged passengers with her confident survival abilities. I decided to ask de Leon how she would say that Abigail is different from her and in what ways has she perhaps identified with her Triangle of Sadness character.

“Actually, I have very little in common with Abigail,” De Leon says. “She’s brave, she’s fierce, nothing will stop her. She takes the initiative. She grabbed her leadership by the reins without having any second thoughts about it or without waiting for anyone’s approval. I’m very shy. I’m really a shy person. It takes a lot for me to just come out and stand up for myself. One thing we have in common? We’re both resourceful. I definitely can survive if I were stranded on an island. I’d be able to survive, I’d be able to fend for myself. I’d probably be more of a team player than she was in the film.”

Being a mother of four today and after spending decades getting to this moment in her acting career, I wondered how she was able to find ways to provide for her family when her acting work was not paying the bills.

“I think I’ve done all kinds of jobs,” continues de Leon. “I’ve been a cashier. I’ve been a sales clerk. I’ve been a babysitter. I have also done corporate work – I’ve done PR, I’ve done media relations. I’ve also done facilitation of team building and team development programs. I’ve sold insurance. I’ve done so many things because it’s really not easy being an actor in the Philippines. I don’t really get that much work and when I do, I don’t really get paid very well. I have to find other ways to augment my income, but not to be fully employed because I still wanted to continue acting.”

De Leon adds, “I’ve been through a lot of hardships. I’ve borrowed money. I’ve been in debt. I’ve been hungry, starving for a long time. There was a time when my son had to stop school because I couldn’t pay for his tuition. Thank god, now he’s back. He had to stop for two years. It hasn’t been easy and it hasn’t been easy getting roles, too. It’s been a blood, sweat and tears kind of profession for me – acting. It reached the point where my family was telling me, ‘Maybe you should re-think your career and start doing something else.’ They would send me links to an online teaching job or teaching students online English or things like that. I never really went into that because I didn’t want to really let go of acting. It’s really my passion and it’s really something I really want to never let go of. Thank god, I never did because now the offers are improving. I’m getting more exciting roles to play and it was really worth all the heartache. I suffered for more than 30 years in this profession. Thank god, I stuck with it!”

Since her filmmaking experience with Triangle of Sadness and the international attention she continues to receive now, I was curious if de Leon’s mentality toward business and the acting industry has evolved at all for her in recent years.

She responds, “I’ve learned so much, but if there’s one thing I can say, I would not change anything about my past. I have no regrets, whatsoever. I learned that it’s really a business – before I thought it was art. It’s still art but it’s a business, you know? Having to deal with producers and talking about script development, story development and all that. That’s one element that I’m learning late in my career. It’s a lot of ‘push and pull’ between script writers and filmmakers. Before it was just taking the job and just going there and doing it. Now, it’s a lot of collaborating and brainstorming. Now, I’m really having fun with it because I’m part of the process of creating and that’s really exciting for me.”

De Leon is well-aware that her Golden Globe nomination makes her the first Filipino to ever be nominated in this Best Supporting Actress category, so I asked her if she feels the pressure of being in this prestigious position today or if she is truly able to enjoy the moment and see how this all may positively impact her career ahead.

“You know, that’s a very good question because it’s a combination of both,” says de Leon. “Yeah, I am overwhelmed. I feel like that there is so much pressure on me but then when I’m in my good days, I shrug it off and think I have put in the work. The film is done, we all put in the work and at this point, the work just speaks for itself. If I’m receiving recognition for it, I appreciate it and I’m very honored. It’s very daunting but then I just have to let go and just enjoy the moment. It’s happening for the first time in our history. Like you said, no Filipino has ever been nominated for this kind of an award, so I’m just enjoying it.”

Being such a significant moment in de Leon’s life, I wondered where she was when she first heard the news of her Golden Globe nomination when it was first announced on December 12.

“I was actually having dinner with my designer,” De Leon reveals. “It was 5am in LA and it was 10pm [in the Philippines]. We were together and I heard the news from him actually, his partner, and we just jumped up and down with joy. We were acting like crazy people there and the waiters were just laughing at us. Before I knew it, tears just started streaming down my face. I was just crying because you know, Jeff, I have been ignored for the longest time. To be acknowledged for the hard work that I put into that character – into Abigail. We really put so much work into her and it’s not just me, it was also Ruben. I really owe this all to him. He wrote that character and I breathed life into Abigail because of him. We both developed her together. For our hard work to be noticed and recognized and to be acknowledged, it’s like a love letter to me to say that You did good, girl. You did good, kid.”

Knowing this Golden Globe nomination is not only important to de Leon but to the entire Filipino community around the world, I wondered what types of comments and well-wishes she has received from people over the past few weeks.

De Leon says, “A lot of people have sent me messages, emails, texts. They feel, and I feel it too, that it’s also their victory – this nomination. I’ve been getting so many messages that they’re inspired by everything that’s happening right now. A lot of them are motivated again to get back on the horse and to get back to work and to go to auditions and to keep continuing their dream of being an actor in Hollywood. A lot of Filipinos are already based in LA and New York and trying their luck there. They’ve been going to auditions and it’s been really hard for them.”

So, what does de Leon hope that this awards season recognition will mean in Hollywood for not only the industry seeing her acting abilities, but in giving a more fair chance to other Filipino actors moving forward?

“This really means a lot to all of us,” says de Leon. “I hope that it’s going to open doors for a lot of our artists, not just here in the Philippines but who are all over the world and who have real talent and who want to get in there and to tell stories. I hope that this opens more opportunities for stories to be written about us, not just in a supporting capacity but hopefully in an all-encompassing capacity, where we are really the focus of the story and all of our challenges and all of our trials as people are shared with the world.”

De Leon tells me that she will be bringing her older brother with her as her date to the 80th Golden Globe Awards ceremony coming up on January 10, but has yet to decide on what she will wear to the globally televised event, saying, “It’s going to feel right when I see the outfits – the formals. I have a few to choose from. I never had a choice before, but now I do, so it feels good to be able to choose.”

Beyond awards season, de Leon has already new Hollywood projects in the works and even greater aspirations of what she still wants to accomplish on one day soon.

De Leon reveals, “I would really love to do Broadway. I would love to do a play in the states. Right now, I am filming in March. I’m doing a comedy. I am playing Jason Schwartzman’s stepmom. Nathan Silver is directing. I am really excited about that. I am also doing a romantic comedy, probably some time in the fall, also in the states. I’m looking forward to doing more work there. I would really love to learn more from you guys and to learn how the filmmaking process works there, because it’s really very different from how we do things here [in the Philippines]. I really believe that growth and development never ends, no matter what age you are.”

Today, de Leon is an award winner, a Golden Globe nominee and a steadily working actor with many new opportunities on the horizon. As we began to conclude our conversation together, I asked de Leon what message she might have for her Triangle of Sadness writer/director Ruben Östlund, the 2022 Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or-winning filmmaker who took a chance on her nearly four years ago and has helped put her life, both personally and professionally, on a new trajectory, full of endless possibilities.

“Thank you for changing my life. Thank you for giving me a voice, for listening to me and giving me an opportunity to collaborate in this very special film. For changing my whole view about the possibilities about what the world can bring and what we can bring in also to the culture and the arts. Thank you for choosing me. I’ll forever be indebted to him. He will always have a special place in my heart.”