Isabela Merced takes us behind the scenes of bringingTurtles All the Way Downto living , card filmingThe Last of UsSeason 2 , and apportion her favored books , when she was the most starstruck , and more .
One of the fastest - rising youthful doer might just beIsabela Merced . At only 22 geezerhood former , she already has an impressive calling under her belt , even being part ofTeen Vogue ’s New Hollywood Class of 2023 . After starring in a string of successful kid ’s flick and appearance , likeDora and the Lost City of Gold , she ’s now starring in some of the most buzzy undertaking .
Madame Web , Superman : Legacy , andAlien : Romulusare just a few of her recent and upcoming credits , on top ofjoining the cast forThe Last of UsSeason 2as Dina , one of the most beloved characters from the original video plot .
in good order now , Isabela is star inTurtles All the agency Down , an adaption of John Green ’s beloved 2017 novel . It ’s the 2d time she ’s starred in aJohn Greenadaptation , with this one being a chip of a warmth project as she first auditioned when she was around 17 years previous .
Now that the movie is finally out in the human beings , Isabela sit down with me to discuss bringing this book to the big screen , what drew her to playing Aza , and so much more . And , we even notice prison term to natter about her time onThe Last of UsSeason 2 solidification so far , her best-loved books and musicals , and more .
Here ’s everything we gossip about :
1.First, how did you initially get involved inTurtles All the Way Downand what was it like adapting another John Green book after starring inLet It Snowin 2019?
So , this motion picture has been around for a while . Hannah [ Marks ] was like in her early 20s when she first contract on to be a conductor on it . That was around the first time I believably sent in my first auditory sense . I did two separate auditions , and you could separate that they are a way aside because my haircut is different in each one . I was maybe 17 for the first auditory sense . I reckon like a sister , and that was the one that John see . And then , after the premiere ofLet It Snow , he let me know that he really enjoyed it .
He really wanted me to be Aza . So that was circa 2018 or 2019 . So that was very exciting to get a line . When you ’re in the moment because you ’re like , Okay , people say these things . And then deals fall through all the meter . So I just , you recognize , I took it with a cereal of table salt , but really appreciated that he took the time to say me that .
Then , the 2d time around , the movie had n’t , you know , gotten on its foot the first time . So , the 2nd sentence around , I auditioned again . And again , there was a long stop of time in between that and the third metre , they ended up just calling me and letting me know , " Hey , you do n’t have to try out again . But this clip , the moving-picture show is definitely happening . So we ’d love for you to be a part of it . "
2.What was your favorite John Green book growing up?
I feel like it was definitelyThe Fault In Our wiz . That was my founding to him . So like , that ’s the first book I take of his . And frankly , he came out the gate so incredibly unassailable with , like , his power to just write amazing stories , but also , he has such a skill for putting himself in the mindset and the mentality of a young woman somehow . His power to do that was so impressive . And that resonated with me , especially because I was like , really , really young when I first say the book . It was before the moving-picture show came out . So I was very mad . I was very young . And so that has to be my dearie of his .
3.What is your favorite book-to-movie or book-to-TV adaptation?
frankly , most of late , Poor Things . The book is incredible . And , like , read that before you watch the film is very , very helpful and insightful .
Emma Stone ’s performance and just the ocular design of that whole motion-picture show I still call up about all the time .
I sense like the world was so clique and so just awful . I really , really like it . It just worked . I did n’t even require it to be 100 % patriotic to the book . But like , if it works in tandem with the Scripture , I ’m felicitous .
I finger likeTurtles All the Way Downdoes that , too . We added thing . We added the prof — and I eff a moment in a movie where a character sound out the deed — we add together the Chicago trip . We took aside some stuff . But like , we were mostly loyal to the record book .
I retrieve that ’s a great tip because , as a Word fan , as long as things are add together to the adjustment that exposit the world and make sense , I ’m well-chosen . Like , I ’m a huge sports fan ofDaisy Jones & the Six , and that TV show added so much that I did enjoy that was n’t in the original novel .
on the nose ! ForTurtles , there are minuscule point that are changed , though . So , like , you ’ll point out that on Aza ’s Band - Aid finger’s breadth , it ’s not the middle of it . It ’s actually , like , the pad of her finger’s breadth . So it change to that . Oh , also , Davis does n’t have glasses . A lot of citizenry were confused in the trailer because Davis did n’t have glasses . Which is so funny . Like , I ’m kind of glad they did n’t do that , though , because I do n’t like view , like , ultra - spicy masses in glasses in picture show . I experience like , Okay , c’mon . Like , if you ’re really that red-hot , you may in all probability give contacts .
[ Laughing ] Right . It ’s always like , we get it . He ’s sexy AND smart . We do n’t require the glasses to tell us .
YES ! [ Laughing ] I just sense like it would have been a fiddling too on the nose . Like , Oh , he ’s smart . He ’s –
He ’s shy .
[ Laughing ] And then it would ’ve been like , he takes off the drinking glass , and he ’s hotter . Like , that ’s not how it work out .
Also , John said in an interview late , and like to me as well , he was like , " I want to take so much of the book out of the movie . " He ’d be like , " That ’s not a good idea . Where ’s that from ? " And Hannah ’s like , " We kind of have to keep it ‘cause it ’s from the Bible . " He ’s like , " But do we have to ? "
I kind of love that from his perspective . Like he almost gets to go back and redo things if he wants when his books get adapted .
Which is real , though . Like everybody is embarrassed of their work from years ago . The verity is you mature , and you have different perspectives , and even though it might have been everything to someone , that does n’t imply that YOUR write up does n’t get to alter . I get it . I do the same thing with my song .
4.InTurtles All the Way Down, Aza and Davis’ love story is very wholesome. How was it portraying such a sweet relationship alongside Felix Mallard?
I love that , from the start , you know , they say , " You ’re old , raw . " There ’s a variety of familiarity and instant understanding that ’s mostly unspoken . So even with the beautiful actor’s line that they got from the Good Book and put in the moving-picture show , like a lot of that tension that you feel , that connection , that chemical science come from a lot of the words that are unspoken .
The scene where we ’re gaze up at Tau Ceti . That ’s very beautiful to me . And a lot of it is just glance at each other that make us blush . I really liked this romanticism ; it feels very natural . I enjoy that it ’s not like … from the minute you see them , you live they ’re gon na end up together . The writers do n’t think the audience is speechless . The author sleep together the hearing is smart , so they ’re like , You know where this is direct . There ’s that instant association . Now , let ’s make it a slow burn . It ’s really cool to be so upfront about the connexion right aside . That make it all the more exciting , in my opinion .
5.Who were your favorite fictional characters growing up?
I really likedThe Lion , the Witch and the Wardrobe . So , all of those character . They were slap-up books .
That is one of my favorite book serial publication , too .
I really adore the book . I love the cover . I remember the cover , like perfectly from retentiveness . And then the movies are incredible . Prince Caspianwas awe-inspiring . I remember there was a kissing scene or something , and my parents covered my eyes . I was like , You would not BELIEVE the telenovelas Grandma check when you ’re not around .
Are you unrestrained about Greta Gerwig ’s adaptation ?
That ’s gon na be so nerveless . I would n’t necessarily want to be a part of it , though . Sometimes , when I ’m too close to something , like , I just require to be able to watch it as an foreigner . I want to be thrown into the universe again .
6.You and Cree have such incredible chemistry as Aza and Daisy inTurtles All the Way Down. How was it working with her and bringing that friendship to life on screen?
So this was our first meter really getting to hang out one - on - one and get to know each other on a deep level . I got to watch how she crop because we ’d never worked together before , even though we were on the same web . And so I experience like Cree is just really , really charming , like Daisy , but also extremely intellectual , like Daisy . Extremely quick , like Daisy , too . But there are portion of Cree that also remind me of Aza and vice versa , like there are share of me that remind me of Daisy . So it ’s really cool how we both overlap in some mother wit , and I think that ’s why our alchemy reads so well is because we understand the other person .
7.You and Cree have a very emotional scene where Aza and Daisy get into a car accident right after Daisy is very honest about how she feels about their friendship. How was it filming that moment?
contention are so hard to write , and then , you jazz , if they ’re not well write , it ’s really voiceless to sell them with acting . So I have to give props to Isaac [ Aptaker ] and Elizabeth [ Berger ] for just give over such a beautiful , flawless hand and just great dialogue all around .
That day , specifically , it was very hot . It was in the middle of the summer , and not a lot of multitude be intimate this , but like when you ’re filming car scene , usually the cable car ’s not on , the windows are closed in . There are no air hole of air . And the cars get hot really fast . We ’re like on a carriage being haul by another car in indifferent . So it was very heated . It was n’t concentrated to get at that variety of exhaustion because we were already feeling it . And , like , you’re able to tell , we ’re a little bolshie in the fount , and that ’s because of the heat , babes . Like it was something else , and like Cree ’s such a trooper , Cree never complained . She ’s such a professional .
8.Turtles All the Way Downis one of the first movies Hannah Marks has directed. How was it working with such a young female director on this project?
Studios are constantly come up with ways to relate to the younger audiences . Like because they are usually bunk by a gang of people who ’ve been in this industry for a very long prison term , they ’ve apparently aged out of the demographic that they ’re endeavor to attract to for these untested adult movies . So I mean having her was just awful . I intend , she ’s so voguish . She started off shooting music videos . That was like her first with directing . And she was an actor too . So she knows how to talk to actors . She just screw what ’s cool .
Like , the music , you could tell by the medicine that ’s pick out to be in the movie that she ’s just a cleaning woman of discernment [ laughs ] . in reality , she used one of the songs that I send to her from my Aza play list as the first song that plays in the movie .
Wait , that ’s amazing .
Yeah , it ’s the birdsong " Oh No " by Biig Piig , who I ’ve been a rooter of for year now . Whenever I make a fictitious character play list , she always somehow ends up on one of them , or many of them , at least once . So for this one , it was " Oh No , " and the lyric themselves are so Aza , and this became my Aza Sung dynasty . And Hannah surprise me because she did n’t even tell me she was going to use it .
I always lie with it when role player talk about the music playlist they make for character . It ’s always so interesting to me .
Yeah , I have one for Dina [ fromThe Last of Us ] and one for Hawkgirl [ fromSuperman : Legacy ] .
The Dina one would kill me . I ’m a bigThe Last of Usfan .
Yeah , it ’s a set of kinsfolk music , in reality . And then a band of indie . Some rock , frankly . But then my Hawkgirl one , because it sound like " red-hot girl , " it ’s just hot girls . And then [ the statute title ] is H - O - T - H - A - W - K - G - uracil - R - litre - S in all crown . It features a band of Chappell Roan . Like hyper - pop , just fruitiness on the side .
What ’s your go - to album you ’re heed to on repeat decent now ? Or a Sung you ’re ghost with ?
I ’m really into Chappell Roan . I ’ve been listening to a lot of Cocteau Twins . I ’ve been mind to Jessica Pratt . Those are my top three , I reckon .
9.You obviously can’t say too much aboutThe Last of UsSeason 2, but is there anything you can tease about filming so far and what it has been like working with Bella Ramsey?
It always amazes me how the creators of these thing , like Neil [ Druckman ] and Craig [ Mazin ] , just know thing . Not just when it comes to , like , the chemistry that I have with Bella . But when it comes to everyone in this stamp . Everyone ’s like a gem of a human being , and we all get along really well . It ’s just really impressive to me . And I ’ve been strain to enquire them like , " How do you do it ? What is your secret ? " because when I hopefully start bring out and aim stuff and nonsense , I need to be able-bodied to have that power to vet citizenry so , so well like them .
Bella and I never did a interpersonal chemistry read . Bella and I never met before we went intoThe Last of Us , so it was a braggy risk . And we were aware of that . But ever since watching the first season , I knew I was in good hands with Bella . Bella ’s super charming , highly personable , a natural thespian . So believable . Like , even if I sucked as an actor , you ’re put to work with someone like that . It ’s hard to look spoilt . I ’m really excited . in person , in my opinion , and from what we ’ve hear from like the studio apartment and Craig and material , I sense like this could potentially be , like , an iconic lesbian TV report .
Oh , I ’m worked up . Ellie and Dina are probably two of my favorite characters across any form of media . I ’m excited to see you both bring their family relationship to living .
It ’s really , really exciting . There ’s a scene in peculiar that I guess is going to be on everyone ’s Twitter feed .
I ’m glad you ’re having merriment with it , too . As a fan , I know taking on Dina is a Brobdingnagian undertaking , so I jazz that it has been so majuscule for you already .
Oh , yeah . give thanks you . I think of , like , I ’m never alone . I ’m always with Bella . Bella and I goof off , and we just have a lovely , lovely prison term .
10.Do you find it different working on big projects, likeMadame Web,Superman: Legacy,orThe Last of Us,compared to smaller projects likeTurtles All the Way Down?
It depend on how collaborative everyone is . There was n’t much collaboration onMadame WWW . However , there is a lot of collaboration onThe Last of Us . A lot of collaboration . I really feel like I am heard , and I commit the people that I ’m wreak with . Like Craig Mazin , he ’s capable to see so many perspectives , and he oversees everything . He ’s always on lot , and on top of that , we have really , really amazing directors . I ’m presently working with Peter Hoar , who worked on the first time of year as well . I worked with Mark Mylod , too . Like very , VERY unbelievable people .
But because I ’ve been work with all kinds of people for a while now , like at least 10 geezerhood of acting now , I actually am really gallant of myself for my power to speak up when I disagree with something regardless of who the person is and how many credits they have on IMDb .
That ’s telling that you ’ve realize that so early in your career . I feel like older thespian talk about how it took them a while to gain the confidence to speak up to a director , manufacturer , or whoever is on hardening .
Well , you acquire by neglecting your instinct and suspicion , and then you see the result , and you ’re like , Oh , I was wrong . I should have done what I thought I should have done . So you get word the difficult way . But then , it ’s easy exit forrad once you do it the first clip . The first few times are a little unenviable and unvoiced . And you kind of recitation in your oral sex what you ’re gon na say to the director , but then the next few metre , I mean , it just comes out of you , like you have to say it or you ’re gon na lose your mind .
It ’s almost like find a mode to get how well you also know your characters and their motivations .
That , and it ’s also mostly just trusting yourself and your intuition , and trust the people that you ’re with , and sometimes you do n’t , but you have to see them out every time because , again , it ’s really important not to get too in your head and have an undecided mindset .
11.Who have you been the most starstruck by?
Oh , god . There ’s a terrible , horribly sticky video — ON THE INTERNET — of me fulfill Jim Carrey , not even by my choice . Like , this lady who was interview me , like … I just have maybe a one - sided gripe with her because I guess she thought she was doing me a favor . But I was mortified . She interrupted an interview that he was IN on a red carpet —
No . No manner .
Nora , I swear . Just to be like , " Do you make out Dora ? "
NO WAY . Stop .
First of all , I have a government name . [ Laughing ] . And , like , I would love for him to know my real name . And she was like , " She ’s inDora . " And he ’s like , " I have n’t learn the volume . " And I ’m thinking , look , what?He has no idea what she ’s babble about . He ’s like , " I ’m sad . I ’m not intimate with your piece of work . " And I was like , " Oh , it ’s okay . " Like , please make this stop because I was a Brobdingnagian devotee of his , and I still am . It ’s just like , that lady totally ruin it .
We ’re locomote to have to get you a redo . We ’ll get you a redo with him . I ’ll make it happen . It ’ll be fine .
I know . Like , I definitely have n’t gotten over that because then , on top of that , IT ‘S ON THE INTERNET . Of of course , like my teenage embarrassing moment is on the internet . And , like , I ’m indisputable there ’ll be more to come , but hopefully , not because of someone else . Like , I hope it ’s just my faulting .
12.A big aspect ofTurtles All the Way Downis watching Aza’s obsessive-compulsive disorder and how it affects all of her relationships. How was it having so many scenes with no dialogue but having to get to a very emotional place?
Well , there are a few way that I guess I think about it , and one of them is that that happens to me a lot all the time . Like , I find that I have multiple voices in my head . They all have their own opinions . And , one probably think that they make more gumption than the other in the current moment . However , it ’s very utilitarian when you ’re act because you ’re able to , like , put yourself instantly in another mind-set by accessing one voice more than the other .
I find that it ’s easier to access those extreme states of emotion when you endeavor to do less instead of more . I see that I endeavor to remain goofy in between proceeds . I tried to keep it wanton - hearted . And because , you have it off , I ’ve been doing this for a very retentive time now and because I frankly feel like it ’s a survival of the fittest instinct at this point , like , Babe , you do it , or you ’re fired , and you do it well , or your career ’s going to be over . So , that complain in for me disregarding because you just do n’t need to [ rustling ] mess it up . Like , every 10 minutes be so much money on curing .
13.Do you have a dream actor or director you’d love to work with in the future?
Oh , Richard Linklater . I ’m a fully grown lover . I actually auditioned forMerrily We roam Along .
Oh , really ?
Yeah , they ended upcastinga really close friend of mine , Mallory Bechtel , who ’s amazing . I get it , like a different look entirely . But I am a melodic theatre of operations kid at spirit , and I would have love to [ do that moving picture ] . I mean , just in ecumenical would have it off to be a part of a movie melodic or just a musical . One daytime , I ’ll go back to Broadway , but like I am truly such a theater kid at my core . I ’m very activated for that movie to happen and I think it ’s a beautiful story .
As for pipe dream role player , if he were still alive , I would have say Robin Williams . He ’s definitely my favorite worker . Also , credibly because I would like to study her or like get to bang her more , I really experience like Meryl Streep or someone standardized to that , like Rosamund Pike . I really admire Rosamund Pike . I just want to watch their operation . They just access another state of being whenever I see them in a motion picture . It ’s out of this world .
14.Do you have a favorite Broadway musical?
A Chorus Line . ship’s company . EvenThoroughly Modern Millieis great . Oh my god , The Drowsy Chaperone . Like , okay —
Oh , I LOVEThe Drowsy Chaperone . My category went and go through it on Broadway when I was younger , and my trivial sidekick was haunt with it .
YES . YES . Like , pet Broadway actress , Sutton Foster , FOR SURE . I overlook going to Broadway . I need to seeThe Great Gatsby . I need to roll Notebook . Merrily We revolve Along . I missedSweeney Todd !
We have to get you back to New York .
I sleep together ! I bed !
15.And finally, have you ever caught someone on a flight or anywhere in public watching a TV show or movie you’re in?
Saying anything or being get around them as they were watching it would be my biggest nightmare , so I have never allege anything . But I have walk to the bathroom during a trajectory and seen someone watchingInstant Family . Yeah , Instant Familywas mostly watched on a plane , I believe [ laugh ] . I feel like I saw that on the plane a lot . And it was very awkward for me , like , my face would go red and I would sink into my bum .
You can watch Isabela inTurtles All the Way Down, which isstreaming now on Max.
This audience has been edited for length and/or clarity .
