When she was 7 years old—far from her current twenties and from being one of the most sought-after young actresses in Hollywood and a Marvel superhero—Isabela Merced (22) was attending primary school in Huancayo, the hometown of her mother Katherine. Shortly thereafter she returned with her family to Ohio, fluent in Spanish and with the intention of “always” returning to Peru. “I am Peruvian,” she usually says in interviews, since in 2017 she posted her identity card. The daughter of a nurse who emigrated to the United States and an American firefighter, she was born in Cleveland in 2001 and debuted on Broadway with the musical Evita, at age 10. After Dora and the Lost City, she began her career in music and went from Isabela Moner to Merced, as a tribute to her maternal grandmother, whom she never met. “I remember 'Agonía' (the video clip she recorded in Ayacucho with DJ Kayfex), that was a very interesting, exciting time in my life. I am a daughter not of celebrities, I am a daughter who was born in the United States, who is Peruvian, who returns to Peru twice a year and who can represent her country in a big Hollywood blockbuster. That's an amazing story! And I still have opportunities, I can't believe it, she's crazy,” she tells us over Zoom, while we ask her about Madame Web, Marvel's latest blockbuster, in which she plays an immigrant with superpowers.
Like Dakota Johnson, the protagonist of Madame Web, Isabela responded to more than a dozen media outlets this afternoon. “You're my last interview of the day,” she jokes from Los Angeles. Her mother accompanies her, but she is off camera. In SJ Clarkson's film, Isabela plays the teenager Anya Corazon, one of the future spider women. Although the film talks about the Peruvian jungle, it was not filmed in our country. That is not a problem for Isabela, who arrived in Iquitos with Unicef in 2017. Cinema has given him those moments. “There was no signal, there were animals, insects and a lot of ants and also spiders. I went crazy, Peru has a lot to offer, that's why I think it is a place that inspires, a place of magic, where you go and feel a special energy, an energy that gives you creativity. That's why I think it's the center of many Hollywood movies. Fascinates them! And, well, it is an honor to say that I am part of this community.”
Protagonist. She brought to life the popular Nickelodeon character Dora the Explorer and spoke in Quechua. Photo: diffusion
-In the comic, Madame Web does not have the same origin as in the movie. What did you think of the script? Was it a surprise that she was a heroine born in the Peruvian jungle?
-Really, it was a secret and I didn't find out until the last moment. I had to audition and did a lot of sessions with Celeste (O'Connor) and Sydney (Sweeney), we did it in New York. I was in the middle of the movie A Thousand Times Until Forever. They told me, “I want you to be part of this movie and, well, they're not going to mention names until you sign this contract.” And I had my lines, there is only one Latina spider in this universe. But when they confirmed all that, after our conversations, I was very excited. It is an honor and I hope they can bring more characters from this universe to real life.
-Personally, what was it like playing an immigrant who fears being deported?
-It is important. And of course it is a priority for me, but also as a woman, not only as a Latina, as a woman it is important to have a community. The saddest thing about Anya's story, my character, is that she doesn't have her family, they left the United States. It's very sad and I felt that my mother had a story like that, almost. She lost her mother when she was very young, her father also did not live in the United States, she did not have a visa, that's why she was alone. She was a teenager alone in the United States, not speaking English, and she had to learn, she had to adapt and assimilate this place. That's why I think I have enough experience from hearing these stories and seeing my family, almost all of them immigrated from Peru to the United States. That story is very important to a lot of immigrants.
-In fact, as you mention, there is a feminist discourse in the film. There are those who want to eliminate three teenagers who do not yet have powers.
-I believe that in real life there are people—specifically on social networks—who look at women, see their potential and want to destroy them; I don't know why certain people like to ruin certain women's lives. I think this is a story for all women in 2024, because there are people who don't want us to reach that level of power. They want to stop it, before it becomes something they can't control. And I hope that people like this film, because it is going to change a lot, there is a message that says that we need to support each other. I have met a lot of women who say “I don't like (feminists), they are very dramatic” and blah, blah. I think that's ridiculous.
At Madame Web. Like Anya Corazon next to Dakota Johnson. Photo: diffusion
-Your characters have feminist speeches or in favor of LGTBI minorities, do you feel part of a generation of actresses that receives more complex characters than before?
-Well, thanks to Barbie and movies like that, we talk about those topics. The studios only see numbers, they don't really care about the message, they want what works, but as an audience, when we like something, we have to say it, we have to support it. They are going to study that and put numbers on a laptop and send an e-mail. That's the only way for us to make a change. If you like the movie, you have to support it. And if there are people who say they hate it and haven't seen it, ignore them.
-It happened to Barbie, nominated for an Oscar.
-And there are a lot of people who said: “Ah, it was feminist propaganda.” Hey, but she just won a ton of awards and made a ton of money. I can't believe it! There are people who say “it's a bad movie,” but, well, art is very subjective. I think it is a truly great film: structure, dialogues, characters, actors. Congratulations to America Ferrera, really, she inspires me a lot.
Isabela refers to the North American actress, of Honduran parents, who gave a powerful speech at the Golden Globes and is nominated for an Oscar for playing a Mattel employee in Barbie. They tell us that the minutes are up and the actress refers to Peru again. “I just returned in January and I will return when I have some free time.” For now, she is awaiting the release of other films: Turtles All the Way Down, Superman: Legacy, Alien: Romulus and the recordings of the award-winning HBO series 'The last of Us' with Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey.
#Isabela #Merced #Peruvian #represent #country #Hollywood #film
