Dolly de Leon reveals how she injected Filipino quirks in Oscar-nominated 'Triangle of Sadness'

MANILA, Philippines — Award-winning Filipina actress Dolly de Leon praised "Triangle of Sadness" director Ruben Östlund for giving her and her co-stars the freedom to improvise his Oscar-nominated script.

De Leon portrays toilet manager-turned-captain Abigail in the 2022 Palme d'Or winning film, which is nominated for Best Picture at the 2023 Academy Awards; apart from Best Original Screenplay, Östlund is also nominated for Best Director.

At an intimate conversation at the University of the Philippines - Diliman's University Hotel yesterday, De Leon recounted to Philstar.com the moments she injected distinctively Filipino terms like "cutiepie" and "wiwi" into the script, among other improvisations.

"Ruben is such a great director to work with, he's very open and accepting of kung anuman nilalagay namin," De Leon said. "Naisip ko lang actually 'yung noong moment na 'yun, hindi ko plinano, it just happened."

Award-winning actress Dolly de Leon says that for “Triangle of Sadness,” Oscar-nominated director Ruben Östlund let her improvise portions of the script such as being able to say Filipino terms like “cutiepie” and “I need to wiwi.” | via @kjpurneIIpic.twitter.com/SbzHqROB8Z

— PhilstarShowbiz (@PhilstarShowbiz) February 1, 2023

De Leon even shared that she didn't say such words in every take, only twice or thrice, but Östlund decided to include the clips where she did.

"Ibig sabihin nag-work, nagustuhan niya 'yung 'I'll just make wiwi'," De Leon continued, to the laughter of everyone in attendance.

Another scene that De Leon improvised was spraying the Evian bottle into her mouth and onto the chest of her co-star Harris Dickinson which she only did because she was nervous.

"Hindi siya nakalimit sa isang kahon, wala siyang set way of doing things, kung nakita niya may contributions 'yung actors [ay] wine-welcome niya," De Leon concluded to Philstar.com of Östlund.

De Leon will be flying to London in a few days to attend the 2023 BAFTAs where she is nominated for Best Supporting Actress, and hopes to also attend the 2023 Academy Awards in March.

RELATED: 'Triangle of Sadness' nominated for Oscars Best Picture; Dolly de Leon not nominated