MANILA – Dolly de Leon admitted she felt bad when she was not included in the list of nominees for Best Supporting Actress in the 95th Academy Awards.
In an interview on ANC’s “Headstart” on Monday, de Leon explained that all she wanted was simply for her performance in “Triangle of Sadness” to be recognized.
“That I wasn’t nominated for the Academy, I cried about that,” she said. “I just wanted a nomination. That’s all I wanted. And honestly, the Golden Globes, that’s why my heart didn’t go because I was just so happy to be nominated. That’s why I didn’t feel bad at the Globes,” she said.
While ultimately getting the accolade would be a welcome bonus, de Leon confessed getting snubbed by the Oscars was painful.
Explaining how she processed that news, de Leon said she was in the United States when her daughter who was in Manila then told her about it.
“I was in my brother’s house because he lives there. Usually it’s my daughter who tells me if I’m nominated or if I won. Always like that. Usually the announcements are at 5 am so she usually wakes me up. I said the night before, if Lucia calls, it means I am nominated. If she doesn’t, I am not,” she recalled.
“So I was sleeping, around 5 am, I felt that my phone was vibrating but there was no call. Just texts. So I said, ‘I was not nominated. It’s okay,’” she added.
It wasn’t until a few hours later that she actually felt emotional about not being nominated.
“It really sunk in and that’s when I got a little emotional because my older brother was with me. He’s very supportive of me. I love him so much. He’s been my rock through this whole thing. He is the only loved one with me in America. We processed it together and that’s when I got emotional. We talked about it. It’s not just that I’m in the room [at humagulgol],” she said.
De Leon said that went on and off for about three days until she got back to the Philippines.
“Because the process was, I was in the States, that was my last day there so the next day, I will fly to Manila. I was on the plane, I cried again. When I landed, I was in a different environment again. I was in the Philippines with my kids, that’s the third time and then I’m okay after that,” she said.
Despite not getting a personal nomination, de Leon was thrilled to share that she is still going to the Oscars on March 13 because “Triangle of Sadness” got several nominations, including Best Picture.
“I messaged [our director] and said congratulations. He said, ‘Congratulations to us.’ So it seems for me, I’m also included in that nomination. I also feel like I am nominated because of the team.”
In “Triangle of Sadness,” de Leon played Abigail, a toilet cleaner at a luxury yacht who, thanks to her skills, becomes the leader figure among the mega-privileged passengers when they get stranded on an island.
Since the Cannes premiere of “Triangle of Sadness,” de Leon has been earning non-stop raves from film pundits, winning the supporting-role categories of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, North Dakota Film Society Awards, and most recently, Guldbagge Awards .
Countless doors have also opened for de Leon, a stage veteran who had mostly been known for her supporting roles on the small and big screens. For one, she signed up with a US talent agency in mid-2022, and is expected to essay more international roles.
Source: ABS-CBN News