DOLLY DE LEON
As the youngest of 4 children in a middle-class Catholic family, where a doting and loving father was working mostly and a severely strict mother was hardly home from bowling and mahjong, life was not easy!
I needed someone to play with, so I created my own world, molding cakes from mud, making tacos from leaves and stuffing them with flowers, and feeding them to my dolls. And with my imaginary friend, Uncle Vester, obsessed over the beauty of the moon as we imagined walking its cratered surface.
However, when I was in 4th grade, something changed my life forever. Our teacher asked us to do a skit. My classmates and I acted out as children of a ‘dying’ mother. And there I was, giving it my all, feeling the pain with real tears streaming down my face. I discovered ‘acting’!
At the University of the Philippines (UP), I truly sunk my teeth into acting. I would do play after play. In television, I’d play nameless, lineless parts as I rounded up tv shows broadcast then. After a decade, the lineless parts slowly evolved into speaking parts. Most of these were lines of lawyers, doctors, and psychiatrists, often victims of the villain or neighbors of the lead.
DOLLY DE LEON as Lourdes Magpayo in FOLKLORE: DAYS OF HELL
One day, I was suddenly cast in a lead role in a horror series called ‘Doors,’ entitled ‘Best Before.’ Working with a very talented writer/director, Dodo Dayao, I pinned down my desire to do something as he did, crafting work worth his salt. It was exactly what I wanted to do. The aftermath was most unexpected! Turn-downs and rejections from auditions and VTRs (video tape recordings). I fell tired and broken, asking the Lord, ‘Do you want me to quit?’
God didn’t! I got my first significant role, playing a woman in distress, in an episode of ‘Ipaglaban Mo!’ entitled ‘Angkan.’ After came to a roller coaster of experiences teaching me much about perseverance and determination. I often doubted my capacity to respond to God’s plan. I kept going, though, as along with the challenging times came uptimes of offers and encouragements. I just stayed on the path, finding out why and what happened, trying to fix the problem, and continuing to learn more and explore how I operate as an actor.
Directed by JOSE ESTRELLA
My efforts paid off when I was cast in Raymond Ribay Gutierrez’s ‘Verdict,’ for which I received FAMAS’ Best Supporting Actress award! I never felt I deserved any recognition, yet it served as an affirmation that I was, more or less, doing something right and that I should keep going. In my heart, it was God’s way of saying, ‘Keep at it, Dolly!’
In 2018, I was cast in Ruben Ostlund’s ‘Triangle of Sadness,’ where I played Abigail, a strong yet flawed woman who navigates a world where she’s considered unworthy. Involvement in this filming experience changed my perspective on acting and myself as an actor. God was telling me, ‘You’ve been through a lot. Let me reward you by motivating you!’ My heart was full. And more hope was coming!
‘Triangle of Sadness’ won the highest award for the Palme de Or, Cannes Film Festival. I am hoping that this prestige will establish, around the world, the Filipino actor’s adaptability, resiliency, and talent; that we hold our roots with pride.
God’s will has prevailed, and to this day, He continues to speak to my heart. I listen and trust Him. Everything happens in good time, however late. He knew when the time was right for me. And I embraced the blessings that have come by His grace!
