The Mother star Leslie Lluvet spent some time in one of her favorite places—sunny Florida. Lluvet, who plays Looper in the movie, shared a picture of herself posing in the water in a blue and white bikini, a hat protecting her face from the bright sunshine. “Florida, you’ll always hold a special place in my heart,” she captioned the post. Lluvet is a writer as well as an actress—here’s how her background in Cuba affected her work as an artist.
Lluvet’s family left Cuba when she was a child, something that deeply affected her as an artist. “At the age of sixteen, I began to write the story (90 Miles) which is a non-fiction about my family’s journey on a twenty-foot boat through the Caribbean, searching for freedom,” she says. “I was only four years old, holding vivid memories of this excursion. Eventually writing the story with the idea of turning it into a feature film. I’m also in the middle of turning it into a franchise Called 90 Miles. Where it will be a book, Television series, and a restaurant along with the movies.”
Lluvet knows exactly what to do when people visit her in Los Angeles. “I would take on some of the greatest Malibu hikes,” she says. “A nice meal at Gracias Madre or even a cute spot like The Ivy. I’d take them surfing over to Huntington Beach if its’ a week long trip. I would show them the beautiful California coast and drive them up to Big Sur.”
Lluvet remembers how hard it was when she first tried to make it in Hollywood. “I remember coming here. I was 20 years old, turned 21 in January, but I remember seeing a lot of my friends that I had just made friends with going back home,” she says. “It became this constant cycle where like months would go by and I could become really close friends with people and then they would have to go back home because it just wasn’t working out. Some kids were sleeping on couches or some kids had roommates that were, … it was one studio, five people. I remember that I was like, wow. I was very fascinated because in my hometown this was not happening. All my friends either lived with their parents, or they got connected with good jobs. Life was so different than living out here on their own, you’re trying to survive. It’s a dream that it’s not in reality with others. It’s way more difficult to achieve.”
Lluvet found writing 90 Miles difficult but therapeutic. “It was a challenge for me to write it because it was very … I just was like, wow,” she says. “I really denied this part of me and this is probably the best side of me. So yeah, that’s kind of what happened. My goal is to film it. I’m trying to find the right production team. I linked up with a really amazing Cuban director. He’s been talking to me about how I should make the movie and all those things. He’s been an asset.”
Lluvet has very straightforward advice for struggling young actors trying to make it like she once was. “Don’t settle for anything less than your artwork and what is true for you,” she says. “Flourish and prosper. Keep going.”