LOS ANGELES, USA – As Dolly de Leon’s much-awaited Nine Perfect Strangers (Season 2) premieres on Prime Video on May 22, the actress disclosed to Rappler that she is working on another international series.
“I’m doing a series which I already filmed last March,” Dolly shared in a video interview. “I can’t tell you yet what it is because they have not made an announcement yet. But we’ve already started filming last March. And I’m going back in August to continue filming.”
In the meantime, Rappler has seen the first four episodes of Season 2 of Nine Perfect Strangers where the trailblazing Filipina actress makes her mark amid a fine cast — Nicole Kidman, Henry Golding, Mark Strong, Christine Baranski, Lena Olin, Murray Bartlett, Annie Murphy, Lucas Englander, King Princess, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, and Aras Aydin.
In the return of the psychological drama which stars Nicole as a wellness guru, the story takes place this time in a secluded resort up in the Austrian Alps. Again, Nicole as the mysterious Masha Dmitrichenko, invites nine strangers for a week of “transformational wellness retreat” involving psychedelic treatments and immersive therapy.
Nine Perfect Strangers, which premiered in 2021, was based on Liane Moriarty’s novel of the same name and created for Hulu by David E. Kelley, the television icon behind such shows as LA Law, Ally McBeal, Big Little Lies, and The Practice, and John-Henry Butterworth. The Season 1 cast included Melissa McCarthy, Filipino-American Manny Jacinto, Michael Shannon, and Luke Evans.
While Dolly has followed up her groundbreaking triumph in Ruben Ostlund’s Triangle of Sadness with American films, Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson’s Ghostlight, Nathan Silver’s Between the Temples, and Paul Feig’s Jackpot!, she makes her global series debut with Nine Perfect Strangers.
“I was really nervous about working with the cast because I’m a huge fan of all of them,” said Dolly, recalling her trepidations as she flew from Manila to Europe to begin filming the series. “I’ve admired their work for a long time already. So I was really nervous about that.”
The actress admitted, “You never know what kind of personalities you’re going to meet, if they’re easy to work with or maybe they’re a bit hard to reach. So I was really nervous about that and about how they do things in an American set, in a German set. Because it was my first time to work on a series. So that’s what I was nervous about.”
Dolly, who memorably pitted talents with Kathryn Bernardo in Petersen Vargas’ blockbuster drama, A Very Good Girl, need not have worried. As Agnes, an intriguing ex-nun and nurse in Nine Perfect Strangers, Dolly holds her own in the company of the international cast.
Watching the Golden Globe-nominated Filipina in scenes with the other actors, some of whom are Oscar, Golden Globe, and Emmy winners and nominees, Rappler appreciates even more her talents and the significant strides she has made since her breakthrough with Ruben Ostlund’s Palme d’Or winner.
On whether she had an input on the backstory of her Agnes character, who lets out a primal scream in a scene, Dolly answered, “It was really mostly with Jonathan Levine, our director. So when I got there, I sat with Jonathan. We talked about Agnes and her journey as an ex-nun.”
“We worked on her together as a team. And I really valued that a lot because it also gave me some kind of agency towards the character and ownership.”
She added, “Agnes is originally from Manila and joined the convent in Europe. That’s where she entered the convent. And that’s where she studied. That’s where she went through her transition into a nun. But she really grew up in the Philippines.”
The directors took time to flesh out the characters with the actors, she noted.
“Jonathan talked to each of us, one by one, one one-on-one,” Dolly shared. “All of us spent one-on-one time with him. And that’s the great thing about working with Jonathan and also Anthony Byrne, who directed, I believe, the last three episodes. It was a collaboration.”
“They were both super wonderful to work with. They listened to our input, what we thought of our characters and gave us plenty of room to explore and play around with.”
Dolly figures in a gripping, emotional scene at a confessional in a church, and she shares how that scene and her role prompted her to reflect on her faith.
“I was born and raised Catholic. I come from a very religious family. My parents were very religious, especially my father. He read the Bible every night before going to bed,” Dolly said.
“Confession was a big part of my upbringing and culture. Up until very recently, I really believed in the Catholic faith. Although now I’m not practicing, I still was able to relate very much with Agnes because Catholicism is a part of my DNA.”
“You can always take the person out of the religion but not the religion out of the person,” the mother of four continued. “I really relied and leaned more on my own faith. And for me, my faith as a believer in a greater being, an almighty being, really helped me with Agnes.”
“And also going back to my beliefs when I was a student and being a very devout Catholic. I heavily leaned on that.”
Dolly shared it was also a privilege to work with one of Hollywood’s most popular and successful actresses.
“Nicole was fun to work with. I was expecting this — you know, serious and intense. I mean, she’s Nicole Kidman. She’s an icon. So I was expecting her to be very stringent and very by the book,” she said.
“But no, she knows how to have fun. She knows how to play around. But while at the same time being in the moment. So I had a lot of fun working with her.”
Dolly also said another co-star, Henry Golding, is quite familiar with our country as the Malaysian-British who, in his previous career as a travel show host, went to the Philippines and learned to cook chicken adobo.
“Henry knows a lot about our culture. We were able to talk about his life as a presenter before. Because he was a presenter, I think in his 20s or 30s. So yeah, we were able to talk about that,” she shared.
“And I share a lot of stuff in common with Henry. I think it’s because we’re both biracial. So I think that’s how we were able to make a connection.”
“I can say that I found a lifelong friend in Henry. He’s such a cool guy, super funny, super down to earth, and easy to get along with,” she added.
Dolly shared that it was a actually a “happy group,”
“I bonded the most with Maisie Richardson-Sellers and also with Aras Aydin, Annie Murphy and also Murray Bartlett, and King Princess,” Dolly shared. “I also bonded with Lucas Englander and Mark Strong.”
“All of them — we were really one big happy group together. And it’s a very diverse group. Each person had something unique to contribute to the group so I took a lot from each of them.”
The University of the Philippines alumna also described the highlight of filming in Europe.
“The most memorable moment for me was walking in the snow in a blizzard with the other seven ‘strangers.’ It was real snow. We worked in real snow and there was a real blizzard,” she said
“And I’m the only one who’s from a tropical country. So I was really, really cold. I can’t forget it. But it was so much fun because I love snow. It’s really fun and it’s very magical to me. So that was a very, very special day for all of us, especially for me.”
Dolly and the cast have many scenes outdoors in the cold. In one such scene, she was swathed in a heavy blanket.
“The production took good care of us,” Dolly, 56, stressed. “We had hot packs on our hands, on our pockets, on our backs. Any body part that we wanted to put hot packs on — even some body parts that you wouldn’t ever think you’d put hot packs on. We had them on them.”
“So we were really protected very well from the conditions there. Because production took really good care of us and there were so many layers (of clothing) inside us.”
Aside from her exhilaration in shooting in the snow, Dolly shared another fun experience. “The funniest moments were dancing around and singing in a scene. Because we were mostly improvising and just having fun with it.”
“One of the most fun times for me was rehearsing the songs, particularly the song of Murray Bartlett, his character. It was really funny. That was so much fun for me,” she shared.
In a previous interview, Jonathan was quoted as saying, “Every character is asking themselves these questions of, am I only my past? Can I be in the moment and just enjoy my life?”
Asked if she relates to being just in the moment instead of delving into the past, Dolly explained, “That’s a challenge for me because I think the past weighs very heavily on the present. I know that wise people have always said, never look back or stop bringing up the past.”
“But for me, the past is a big part of me as a human being. I wouldn’t be who I am today if not for all my experiences in life,” she added.
“So, for me, looking at the past and learning from my mistakes is really very important. So that I can navigate things better with more wisdom in the present.”
This May marks the third year since Dolly made an impact with her portrayal of Abigail, a yacht toilet manager who turns the tables in Triangle of Sadness at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.
She has gone on to several more memorable films and projects, including a brilliant voice acting turn in Carl Joseph Papa’s award-winning The Missing (Iti Mapukpukaw), an acclaimed return to theater in Bobby Garcia’s Request sa Radyo, and, of course, the series, Nine Perfect Strangers.
Dolly also looked back on her Cannes moment — with the festival ongoing and celebrating its 78th anniversary — and how it drastically changed her life and career.
“Cannes will always be special to me. It will always be the ultimate experience. Ever. Because Cannes was my first ever film festival. That’s one,” she said.
“Two, because it (Triangle of Sadness) was also my very first international project. And three, it was my first ever red carpet experience and it is unparalleled. I’ve been to many red carpets after Cannes and nothing beats the red carpet of Cannes.”
Dolly, who won the 2022 Los Angeles Film Critics Best Supporting Performance award (in a tie with Key Huy Quan) and bagged a BAFTA Best Supporting Actress nod for Triangle of Sadness, said it will always be a part of her.
“It’s really something else. It’s so overwhelming and magical at the same time. And it’s a really huge red carpet. So Cannes will always be special to me,” she said. “Nothing beats your first. You never forget your first.”
Looking forward, Dolly feels excited about her second global series for which she has already signed up for two seasons.
“And there are other things in the works that we’re still talking about and working on,” she said. “But for now, for this year, it’s another series.” – Rappler.com
Two episodes of ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ Season 2 will release at launch on May 22, followed by weekly releases.
Content shared from www.rappler.com.