Fashion
All the World's a Stage for Dolly de Leon
Rooted in her Filipina identity, the actress nourishes her soul through her art.
by Em Enriquez
Published on Jul 11, 2025
Dolly de Leon is bad at names, or so she says she is. On her phone, she has a “kodigo” that lists down the names and associations of anyone she’s ever worked with. It’s like a mini dossier of the different people she’s encountered.
However, when she talks about her college days, she instantly recalls the likes of Tony Mabesa, Jose Estrella, and Cris Vetido as her mentors of the craft. She makes sure to also mention Ate Cecil. “[Wala akong] pera dati, so umuutang ako lagi sa tindahan [na malapit] sa may tambayan namin,” she narrates. “Kay Ate Cecil pa ‘yon noon. She's gone now. She passed away seven or eight years ago. Lagi siya nagpapautang dati.”
The constant name-dropping comes naturally when you're in conversation with Dolly de Leon. Names roll off her tongue, each one tied to anecdotes—childhood memories, career milestones (and mishaps), or everyday mundanities. And yet, she insists she’s terrible with names. “But I am good with faces,” she offers.
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DOLLY DE LEON FOR PREVIEW JULY 2025. PHOTO: Charisma Lico.
One can assume that Dolly has dozens of faces stored in her psyche—whether it’s an audience member who had a visceral reaction to one of her performances, or a passerby who once waved at her on a Makati street. And it’s safe to assume the feeling is mutual. For much of her career, Dolly was often remembered not by name, but by role: “maid,” “doctor,” or “mother who wails and slowly slides down the wall in grief.” Only recently has the public begun to recognize her as herself, rather than the nameless, sometimes faceless characters she brought to life.
Putting a name to these faces is at the heart of Dolly de Leon’s work. It’s what she’s been building toward for decades. And with her recent introduction to a broader audience, she’s not about to let any moment slip by. Miss Dolly has always loved the craft; now, the people watching—whether in Cannes or Cubao—are finally loving her back.
By now, it’s only right that Dolly de Leon becomes a name we commit to remembering.
Much Ado About Something
Dolly’s first recollection of wanting to be an actor was through a university production of Floy Quintos’ Gironière. Up until that point, she would watch her peers from the wings, brewing with desire to take center stage one way or another. Making the cut for Gironière was a big deal, and in true Dolly fashion, she remembers everything about it. “Isa lang ang linya ko sa buong play na yun,” she recounts. “But I'll never forget it.”
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Her years as a theater arts major at the University of the Philippines proved to be a formative time. As someone who came of age at a stringent, all-girls, Catholic setting, gaining the freedom that came with collegiate life was cathartic. “I felt so liberated. I was studying a course that I really loved, and my eyes were opened to the world of theater through like-minded people,” she shares. “It was the best time I ever had in my entire life. Nothing can beat it.”
The stage was home for Dolly. It became a space where she could express herself freely, unbothered by the expectations of the outside world. She performed with reckless abandon, surrounded by kindred spirits who revered the craft as deeply as she did. “No one was stopping me from just being myself and going crazy. No one found us weird. Everyone was doing their own thing… I really found my place. I really found my people,” she shares.
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During college, Dolly rented a dorm room along Katipunan Avenue. Getting to class was as easy as hopping on a jeep—far more convenient than commuting all the way from Parañaque. “Nagba-bus pa ako. Wala pang MRT noon,” she recalls from her freshman year. But beyond the ease, it was the independence that thrilled her most. Living on her own and calling the shots brought a kind of euphoria she had never felt before. It felt so good, she could cry—literally.
“I grew up in a house where my mother did not allow me to cry,” she shares. Her mom was a stickler for composure, quick to shut down any signs of vulnerability, so Dolly learned to hold it all in. In hindsight, though, that upbringing shaped her in unexpected ways. The no-tears policy eventually gave her the freedom to break down those walls, which became a hallmark of her acting.
“[Growing up that way] helped me realize that there's nothing wrong with facing your weaknesses and just being vulnerable… For me, it’s powerful if you’re able to let go of your insecurities without caring about what anyone thinks,” she declares.
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PHOTO: Charisma Lico.
“Kaya naaawa ako sa mga lalaki, kasi bawal daw sila umiyak, ‘di ba? Kawawa naman sila. ‘Pag umiyak sila, nakakahiya raw. Pero kaming mga babae, parang okay lang,” Dolly adds, reflecting on what she calls the “gift” of a woman’s emotional openness.
It’s a gift that keeps on giving, especially if you’re an actor. In hindsight, the profession was never about “financial satisfaction” for Dolly. There was a time she juggled five jobs just to stay afloat, waiting for casting directors to call. Acting didn’t always put food on the table, but it gave her a sense of fulfillment that nothing else could.
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PHOTO: Charisma Lico.
All those years of holding back tears had finally found their purpose. And truthfully, she wouldn’t want to be doing anything else. She couldn’t imagine doing anything else. As she puts it, “It’s not meant to feed my body. It’s to feed my soul."
All that Glitters Isn't Gold
Making the transition from stage to screen, inadvertently throwing herself into the cutthroat world of show business, was a different ball game altogether. “It was hard,” Dolly says, slightly turning her head away while slowly nodding. “It was really hard,” she repeats with the same cadence.
“It was a lot of awkward moments,” she recalls. “It was going to set with big stars who were already so comfortable with each other. And, you know, when I went inside a tent, it was so awkward because no one knew me. It was the part of taping that I always dreaded when I was younger.”
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A younger Dolly felt like prey in front of all her superiors. “You can tell that they were judging me and thinking, ‘Sino yan? Marunong ba yan umarte?’” she recounts. You really couldn’t blame her for conjuring up these scenarios in her head. A rookie like her couldn’t help but feel like she was nothing; but she acknowledges that, at least for the time, she really was nothing.
It was years and years of feeling like nothing, until she eventually became something in the eyes of directors, producers, and her fellow actors. There were small breakthroughs here and there, thanks to the teleseryes and movies that trusted her with roles. Dolly wasn’t going to let her degree go to waste, so it was a lot of saying “yes” to offers and constantly auditioning for the next big project. No character was too big or too small for her.
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Dolly’s career took an unprecedented turn in 2022 after her stint on satirical black comedy Triangle of Sadness. Upon portraying Abigail, a luxury cruise cleaner who asserts dominance over the haughty people she used to serve, the actress was launched into a state of global admiration. One part psychotic and two parts badass, the role looked for someone who could manifest the complexities of class struggle and defiance. Most of all, it looked for a Filipina. After a face-to-face audition in Manila and a Skype call with director Ruben Östlund, Dolly bagged the part, and things were never the same for her since.
The 56-year-old was no longer seen as a bit player. Her name was mentioned in the same conversations as Hollywood legends Jamie Lee Curtis and Angela Bassett, particularly during the awards circuit of that year. She made history as the first Filipina to ever be nominated for an acting award at the BAFTAs (British Academy Film Awards) and Golden Globes, recognitions that are glued to her name to this day. Broadway's Ariana DeBose gave her a shoutout during an infamous opening song number, much to the Pinay's disbelief.
In what felt like the snap of a finger, Dolly de Leon was the captain. Oh, Dolly, our Dolly.
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PHOTO: Charisma Lico.
Back home in the Philippines, she was touted as a hometown hero, and rightfully so. National pride was at an all-time high after Tinseltown took notice of someone born and raised on our soil. For Dolly, however, it was initially a bit weird. Admittedly, she didn’t like it that much.
“In the beginning, it was hard,” she tells Preview. “I found it really awkward. It was so strange to me ‘cause I've been living my whole life as a complete unknown. And then suddenly, now people know me.” While she’s adjusted to the spike in popularity, Dolly acknowledges that it doesn’t last forever, saying that she tries to “not take it too seriously. This is not permanent, e. It can and will pass someday.”
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Being spoken about in the same regard as her idols, of course, was a surreal honor for Dolly. But truth be told, she didn’t want her name to be said at any function, even if it was to be announced as the winner. “I didn't want to win the Cannes Best Actress. I didn't want to win the BAFTA. I didn't want to win the Golden Globe. I didn't want to win any of it," she enumerates.
For someone like Dolly, winning is certainly not everything. “Gusto ko lang umarte, e,” she emphasizes. In retrospect, she took on the role of Abigail—and those that came before, and even those that came after—not yearning for any recognition. Call it unorthodox if you must, but Dolly just wants to do what Dolly wants to do, which is to act. And if gaining this much traction grants her the opportunities to keep acting—opportunities she once had to practically beg for—then she’ll keep at it.
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“Hindi talaga,” she states. “I just love acting, and if winning an award is going to get me more jobs, then okay, I want to win. Know what I mean?”
Dolly acknowledges the colonial mentality that Filipinos sometimes exhibit when it comes to international recognition. And she doesn’t blame us for thinking that way. She doesn’t exempt herself from that mindset, either. “The more recognition you get out of the country, the more chances you have of getting funding for future work, [which could mean] more chances of getting more jobs,” she articulates. However, she underscores that such leverage shouldn’t trump what we have to offer.
“We were taught that what non-Filipinos say is gospel truth and our opinions don't really matter, but I don't think that the opinion of people from other countries matters more than our opinion on ourselves,” she says matter-of-factly.
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PHOTO: Charisma Lico.
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PHOTO: Charisma Lico.
Like all human beings, she still seeks validation, maybe not from trophies or the press, but from people who matter to her. “Validation matters when it comes from the people who are in the same line of work as I am because they understand it and they get it,” Dolly says, “the opinions of my children and family also matter a lot.” Even with her tenure, she still needs some help assessing her work, mainly because she can’t bear to see herself on screen.
“I don't like watching myself. I see all the flaws when I watch myself, so I don’t really learn,” the thespian explains. The entire world could be watching, and Dolly wouldn’t care as much if her closest kin weren’t.
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“I'd rather have people I trust watch me and give me feedback,” she states.
“That’s what I value most.”
Heart on Her Sleeve
With her name launched into global consciousness and inducted in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as an official member, Dolly explores more opportunities to expand her craft. Post-Triangle, she was cast as the lead character in critically-acclaimed Filipino films Iti Mapukpukaw and A Very Good Girl. Among other cross-national projects she’s involved in includes the part of Agnes in Hulu series Nine Perfect Strangers, as well as the dual role of Lo and Li in Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender. Miss D is booked and blessed.
At this point, Dolly is more than accustomed to living out of a suitcase. During the six months she filmed Nine Perfect Strangers (with Nicole Kidman and Henry Golding, by the way), she would retreat alone to an empty apartment after long days in the European Alps. She calls herself a “master packer,” honed by her early days of being called to set last minute. “That’s our job as actors. We get called, we pack our bags. Sometimes we stay there for weeks, sometimes for months,” she explains.
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For someone adjusted to life on the road, the Philippines is and will always still be home base. Majorly because her kids and their families are here, but also because it’s where she’s firmly planted herself in. It’s quite literally her comfort zone. “I know where everything is. I know where to get what I need. It’s so cheap compared to abroad,” she illustrates.
“There are some things that really piss me off about Manila and the Philippines, but no place is perfect naman e. Pero the fact that I'm in a place where I'm comfortable and happy, that's good enough for me.”
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PHOTO: Charisma Lico.
As the adage goes, you can take the girl out of Manila, but you can’t take Manila out of the girl. There are several Manileña qualities to Dolly, like how she can jive with folks passing by the palengke and put her arms around them as if they’ve been longtime chums. Perhaps a characteristic that surfaces the most is being empathetic, which, in her perspective, is a double-edged sword.
“Minsan, you have to call a spade a spade,” she says. She confesses that she has a tendency to give those who’ve wronged her the benefit of the doubt, which, frankly, they don’t always deserve. “I’m too forgiving sometimes,” she puts it. In her rookie days, there were people who weren’t the most pleasant to her, and if we know anything about her by now, it’s that she remembers. But rather than pinning those individuals down for their attitude, Dolly chooses to turn her cheek, perhaps to a fault, but she can’t help it anyway.
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PHOTO: Charisma Lico.
“Maybe [they weren’t warm to me] because they were so tired from shooting all day or something… Iniisip ko na lang na ang laki siguro ng mga problema nila. He or she must hate their life, kaya masungit sya,” she explains. “That's really empathetic of you to say,” I reply, a tad bit in awe that someone of this stature takes the time to consider such things for people who apparently have mistreated her.
“Well, I get it naman, e,” she responds. “Sometimes, napapagod din ako, and I have to tell myself na wag maging masungit. Lahat tayo napapagod… If I'm gonna be affected by every single negative person I meet, I won't survive.”
This degree of empathy allows her to be as detached from herself as she can. And as an actor, being selfless is the most essential of qualities. “Because acting is representing another person's life,” Dolly articulates. In her rulebook, it goes both ways. “If you don’t empathize with your character’s experiences, you [won’t be able to] tell their story in a way that the audience can relate to and connect with. The audience won't believe you. They won’t feel you,” says the actress.
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PHOTO: Charisma Lico.
Beyond the stage or the screen, such philosophy isn’t only an acting tip. It’s Dolly’s way of life. 30 or so years into the game, and every day still feels like she’s just getting started. “I’m just making the most out of things. I’m just enjoying them,” she says nonchalantly, as if any of her feats have been anything less than monumental.
But that’s something you can expect from a talent like Dolly—she’s the first one to take her bow, but also the last one to rise from it. The ovation flies over her head as she smiles in gratitude and exits stage left, awaiting the next chorus line to take place. It’s the theater nerd persisting inside of her, the same one that yearns to keep doing what her heart beats for.
And maybe one day, Dolly’s body will forget all of the accolades and the applause, the sweat and the tears, and the faces and the names that have come before. Memory is a fickle thing. But the things that matter most to her will most probably remain in her heart. And the heart never forgets.
Produced and Styled by the Preview Team
Editor-in-Chief: Marj Ramos-Clemente
Creative Director: Bacs Arcebal
Managing Editor/Producer: Reg Rodriguez
Co-producer: Katrina Maisie Cabral
Assoc. Multimedia Director: Jana Jodloman
Photographed by Charisma Lico. Styled by Paulina Singh, assisted by Kyla Villena. Makeup by Mayesa Delos Santos, assisted by Maia delos Santos. Hairstyle by Apple Villacoba. Nails by Slay Your Nails by Hazel. Cover story by Em Enriquez. Video direction by Jana Jodloman, shot by Teddy Garcia Jr.. BTS photos by Bea Felice Panganiban. Social media coverage by Sophia Rosello. Photographer’s assistants: Ruel Constantino, Cris Soco, Mark De Castro, Erwin Arda. Shot on location in Poblacion, Makati. Special thanks to Havitat Boutique Hotel, Khao Khai Thai Chicken House, Original Pares House Poblacion, Maureen Manuel and Luis Gabriel Guillermo of CreaZion Studios, Rocketsets, Joey Villena, Miko Villena, and Brgy. Poblacion.
Em is queer and probably daydreaming somewhere. They're Preview's associate entertainment editor who's often spotted in cowboy boots and lemon-tinted sunnies.