This 23-year-old Hollywood “It girl” cannot be contained, and the same goes for her career.
Steven Simione
Something happens toIsabela Mercedwhen she hears the word party.
TheAlien: RomulusandMadame Webstar describes it as a chemical reaction.
Isabela Merced, the star of ‘The Last of Us’ and ‘Superman,’ has a big year ahead.Credit:Steven Simione
I need to make it happen, she tellsEntertainment Weekly.
It doesnt matter in what capacity, there needs to be a party.
Or was it overlapping material for both of those episodes?
Isabela Merced poses for photos shot by Steven Simione.Steven Simione
Yes, it was the latter.
I have an ADHD side, the 23-year-old Peruvian-American star jokes of her thought process.
I think in tree branches as opposed to linearly.
Isabela Merced as Kay in ‘Alien: Romulus.'.Courtesy of 20th Century Studios
The one thing she remembers most is the smell.
It was manure, she says.
They were already harvesting and doing the farming things that they do in rural Canada.
We were just playing music and dancing [in between takes].
Music was a huge part of our experience.
The cast would sit around in between takes and perform for one another.
Gabriel Luna, who plays Tommy, would strum on the guitar.
“Playlists,” she says, “are my love language.”
(No spoilers!)
Isabela Merced as Dina, Bella Ramsey as Ellie in ‘The Last of Us’ season 2.Liane Hentscher/HBO
Thats when Merced mentioned a midway-through-production party.
It caught on fire, she recalls.
People started throwing ideas out there.
Isabela Merced’s Dina in ‘The Last of Us’ season 2.Liane Hentscher/HBO
All that was needed was Mazins approval.
Generally when Isabela comes up with an idea, my response is, Okay, he tells EW separately.
That’s too f—ing good.
Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl in ‘Superman’.DC/YouTube
Honestly, shoutout HBO, Merced remarks, because that big daddy came through and paid for that.
Merced is like the social battery of any given group, as her colleagues can attest.
When aura levels collectively deplete, bring in this 5-foot-1 reveler for a recharge.
Isabela Merced poses for photographer Steven Simione.Steven Simione
Courtesy of 20th Century Studios
This energy is contagious.
Isabela has a big heart and an untamable spirit," he adds.
The Dina of the game is pregnant, an element Alvarez would apply to Kay.
True story,he divulged on Twitter/Xlast August.
Merceds journey with Dina began with an ominous phone call or perhaps it was an email, she says.
Memory isnt linear, its branches on a tree.)
Merced had gone through this process before.
Liane Hentscher/HBO
But her energy, as with many filmmakers before, connected with Mazin and Druckmann.
A few more meetings later, and the official offer came through.
Merced was shocked, particularly because she hadnt spent much time with Ramsey before she got to set.
Day 1 for Merced was her first day actually acting with her costar.
We didn’t work on it or do any special sessions.
Its a risk the showrunners had taken before.
Ramsey and Pascal never auditioned together prior to landing the roles.
They approached the adaptation valuing spirit more so than any strict one-to-one recreation of the game.
That also extends to specific story choices.
“Dina in the game doesn’t really have a lot of backstory,” Merced points out.
It’s really beautiful," Merced remarks of that moment.
“We get to expand upon her story a little bit more in this season.
I think the creators, Neil and Craig, will be giving us more of that.
I just can’t say how.
Merced doesnt want to ignore Shannon Woodwards contributions to Dina, either.
Woodwards performance, Merced says, gave her all the material I needed.
She now hopes the hearts of the audience will remain open when the series premieres.
The game was made so long ago.
Gays have existed since the beginning of time, they were always there.
I don’t really see what the problem is.
I don’t see what we’re trying to say or complain about.
Not only that, it’s just a beautiful story.
I guess everything in this story ends with tragedy.
However, in my opinion, this is a successful sapphic story.
It’s beautiful and we win in the end.
There’s a lot of winning for this sapphic couple.
I’m just really, really excited for people to see that.
I don’t know how to describe it.
I’m not scared because the gays have existed since the beginning of time.
The thing is, if you have the gays, you have the world as well.
If you have their support, you are fine.
Merceds presence points to that larger world at play.
Merced is overly cautious about revealing anything that might be perceived as a spoiler.
That response comes from personal experience.
I wasn’t even looking at anything else, she recalls.
I just saw my name and then I saw Hawkgirl, Isabela.
I was like, F— yeah!
I’m going to share this, put it on my [Instagram] Story.
She just didnt connect the dots that the card included a bit more than just her name and character.
I get four calls, she continues.
I was watching a movie, I think, so I didn’t answer.
I was just like, It’smytime.
Then I finally look at my phone and they’re like, You just revealed theSupermanS!
I go back to my story and I’m like, This wasn’t a stock image?!
I was drawing that [S] since middle school.
Cue theArrested Developmentnarration: It wasnota stock image.
It was only up for one hour…I was in trouble,” she says.
“But yeah, it’s fine.
Merced got a taste of what it was like to become a big-screen superhero withMadame Web.
“I got a taste of the super suit, which was not fun,” she admits.
OnSuperman, though, virtually everyone was in a super suit.
“We all were going through it together,” she says.
Merced had one of the more harness-heavy roles out of her colleagues, sans perhaps Corenswet.
“Every scene I’m flying, pretty much,” she notes.
“But it’s cool because I’m an adrenaline seeker.
I like being dropped from really high heights.
It’s actually one of my favorite things.”
Merced doesn’t want to have any expectations for how long this particular party will go.
Again, she’s been through this before, most recently withMadame Web.
“This industry loves to make plans and not follow through,” Merced says.
But very much like her personality, she’s up for anything.
“If it’s an animated series…I love voiceover,” she remarks.
“It’s so much fun and easy and quick and rewarding.
“Not a revival.
I want to do an original [show],” Merced says.
“I love stoner comedies.
However, I just don’t see a lot of women leading them.
And I love weed.
I would be great for this.
And I literally loveBroad City.
To me, that’s a stoner show.”
Something tells us that’d be pretty hard for anyone to do.
