Dolly de Leon honored at L.A. Film Critics Awards
Dolly de Leon formally accepted her Best Supporting Performance award for her work in Triangle of Sadness at the 48th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards in L.A. last Saturday (Sunday morning in Manila).
She was honored alongside Everything, Everywhere All At Once actor Ke Huy Quan for the same category.
During her acceptance speech, a copy of which was furnished to The STAR on Monday, Dolly stressed how grateful and honored she felt to be “accepted in a room like this — filled with artists I’ve admired and respected from afar.”
“This is EVERYTHING to me — being a minority within a minority,” she further said. “Thank you to the Los Angeles Film Critics Association for celebrating diversity and inclusion by welcoming actors like me with open arms.”
Dolly also looked back on her acting journey, a character actor for the longest time before her “breakout success” in the Palme d’Or-winning social class satire, Triangle of Sadness, where she plays a cleaner at a luxury ship, who turns the tables and becomes “captain” after the boat capsizes.
“I’ve been a working actor for 33 years in the Philippines playing nameless and sometimes line-less characters and I’ve been wanting to give up so many times but that’s all changed thanks to Ruben Östlund, our writer and director, for choosing me to lend a voice to a quadruple ‘threat’ that is Abigail — a middle-aged, Asian, immigrant, woman,” she said.
She continued, “To Neon and our producers Erik Hemmendorf and Philippe Bober for opening doors for Filipinos such as myself whose dream is to be represented on the world stage.”
“Our cast Harris, Vicki, Jean Kristoff, Zlatko, Sunnyi, Henrik, Iris and Charlbi my angel, my friend, I share this with you,” she further said, dedicating her win to co-stars, including the film’s female lead Charlbi Dean who passed away in August 2022 due to “bacterial sepsis,” it was later revealed.
“To my children Luccia, Ella, Pepe and Inez who have tolerated my intermittent bouts of lunacy throughout my journey as an actor. You are my constants,” Dolly also said.
She also made sure to offer her prize to fellow actors. “Finally, this is for every actor — Filipino or otherwise, who has trained, studied, worked, succeeded, failed, struggled and is still struggling, fell and stood up again. This is ours.”
The LA Film Critics Association is made up of Los Angeles-based professional film critics from both print and electronic news media. Members stage their annual awards to honor “on- and off-screen excellence.”
Meeting Cate Blanchett
One of the highlights from the night that quickly made the rounds in the local news and social media was Dolly’s picture with Hollywood star Cate Blanchett, who was also at the ceremony to personally accept the Best Actress recognition for her film TAR.
As first shared by her manager in the Philippines, Ferdy Lapuz, the photo had an interesting if not funny story behind it, The STAR learned from Dolly herself.
She and the two-time Oscar winner met after a dash to the restroom after the Best Picture award because “walang break yung program,” she said in a message to this paper.
At that time, Dolly was accompanied by her US rep Jen because she couldn’t zip her jumpsuit by herself. A few seconds later, she would later hear Cate’s voice. After her rep informed Cate that “Dolly’s here!,” she recalled hearing the Australian star go, “Dolly’s here??? DOLLY!!!!”
“Sa taranta ko, ang nasabi ko, ‘I’m coming!!!’ Tapos nakakaloka dahil kita ko yung paa niya sa next cubicle sa sahig. Labas ako na bukas pa zipper ko sa likod. Nakaabang siya sa labas ng cubicle ko. And ayun na, she congratulated me on the film, showered me with compliments. But at that point, wala na ko marinig because I was so starstruck,” she further shared.
“I complimented her as well and told her I’ve been following her career since Elizabeth. Then I asked for a photo. She said where and I said next to this out of order sign is perfect.”
Her recognition at the LA Film Critics ceremony came on the heels of her historic attendance as the first-ever Filipino to be nominated at the Golden Globes, for the Best Supporting Actress award, which went to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star Angela Bassett.
Early this month, it was announced Dolly has been long-listed for Best Supporting Actress at the 2023 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards, after a total of 260 performances were submitted for consideration in this category.
Dolly also received a nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the 27th Satellite Awards by the International Press Academy, a “global media association of domestic and foreign entertainment journalists in print, TV, radio, broadcast and online outlets, including critics, interviewers, reviewers, bloggers and photographers.” Winners will be unveiled in February.
The Philippine film community is hoping that all these will bring Dolly a “historic” nomination at the 2023 Oscars. The list of official nominees will be released on Jan. 24.
Meanwhile, Triangle of Sadness will have a special micro-cinema run at Cinema ‘76 and Cinematheque Centres across the country, especially for those who missed its initial theatrical run and limited QCinema International Film Festival screenings. Also back for screenings are other films nominated and recognized throughout the awards season, such as Everything Everywhere All At Once and Plan 75, locally distributed by TBA Studios (check out their official pages for schedules).
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