EW talked to the Filipina actress about her experience on the Palme d’Or winner.
Warning: This story contains spoilers forTriangle of Sadness.
As the movie progresses, Filipina actress Dolly de Leon emerges as the breakout star.
Charlbi Dean, Dolly De Leon, and Vicki Berlin in ‘Triangle of Sadness’.Neon/Everett
DOLLY DE LEON:A lot of meditation.
I’m not even exaggerating.
It felt that way every single day.
Dolly de Leon in ‘Triangle of Sadness.'.Neon/Everett
That’s when I realized I had to start meditating.
She is enjoying seeing them suffering a little bit because she was the one suffering before.
Now they’re suffering so she enjoys it.
What was it like working with Ruben as a director?
How did he talk you through the character and the film?
I knew that he would do a lot of takes, but that’s it.
I didn’t really know about his temperament or what his mood was like.
But during our workshops, I was able to get a feel of what kind of person he was.
He’s a very sweet guy!
He’s really thoughtful and caring and obviously very intelligent.
I tend to be too intense or emotional and people can misinterpret it.
I’m not just being angry, it just happens when you’re just so passionate about something.
Working with him was a dream.
It’s really very tiring, physically.
It saves time for the actual filming.
It puts the actors in a very comfortable space.
I wanted to ask you about working with Charlbi.
It’s so sad thatwe lost her shortly after the completion of the movie.
The end of the movie, those final scenes, are really just you and her.
What can you tell us about what working with her was like as an actress?
She was just cheering me on.
The shot is of me, but she’s down there on the foreground, you could’t see her.
That really helps a lot, when your peer is giving you that kind of support.
She was a really great human.
And your character Abigail replies, “I don’t have any kids.”
It’s this moment that shows how much the other characters don’t really understand her.
Did you think about Abigail and where she might have come from?
How did you get into her head?
Why would she not want to go back to civilization?
Why would she want to stay on the island?
Because she has nothing to go back to.
So definitely, yeah, I had to create a backstory of that she doesn’t have any children.
And actually that line was added.
I asked Ruben if we could add that line.
It needed to be said.
Why would she even contemplate on doing what she wanted to do in the end?
And also why can she fish?
Why can she build a fire?
Not everyone in the Philippines can fish and build a fire.
What kind of childhood did she have?
Why does she know these things?
I definitely had a backstory to be able to justify those things.
you might’t just invent these things out of thin air as an actor.
you could’t just do that and just trust the script.
And the back story really helped with that.
Did it make you think about what you might do if you were stuck in a situation like that?
I’d probably be useful, but not as useful as Abigail.
I definitely can build a fire because I learned it when I was younger.
But taking the role of leader is tougher.
I’m a very controlling person, but not when it comes to something like that.
Because I’m a people pleaser, so I want everyone to be happy.
That’s a big difference.
And because of that big difference, then I would also behave very differently.
If that situation happened to me.
I’d probably be very accommodating, serving people, but with a hug.
Yeah, very different.
The film ends on this note of ambiguity, with Abigail walking toward Yaya with that big rock.
Do you think she goes through with the implied violence?
Do you think she pauses?
Or do you like it resting in the ambiguity?
I really like it resting on that.
I think that we can trust the audience enough to come up with their own ending.
But of course, I have my own personal take on it as the actor who played Abigail.
Definitely I know what Abigail’s intention is, and I’m the only one who really knows it.
I would love to answer your question, but the truth is it really changes depending on the date.
When I was in Cannes, I really told them straightforward of course she does.
Of course she does.
But then thinking about it again, maybe she doesn’t.
And she’s not a killer.
She’s never done anything like that to anyone.
I think that it’s really a very difficult decision to make.
It depends on what state of mind you’re in when you’re watching the film.
What was fun about exploring the ways hierarchies get upended in this movie?
You are in a place where nothing is provided.
You have only the bare minimum.
Let’s see how you live with yourself.
That’s really the important thing: How do you live with yourself?
How do you find joy now?
How do you find happiness?
That’s the question there.
And I think that’s a really important question.
