Filipino-Australian actress Martha Millan is overwhelmed on the ongoing success of “The Cleaning Lady”, the Hollywood crime drama series she is a part of.
Created by Canadian-American screenwriter and TV producer Miranda Kwok, “The Cleaning Lady” is about a Cambodian-Filipino family who flew to the U.S. and became undocumented immigrant workers. The show has recorded FOX’s highest-rated new drama premiere in the last two years.
In an exclusive interview with Star FM Baguio, Fil-Aussie actress Millan reveals that she is happy to play the role of Filipino Fiona De La Rosa, and be part of a drama that reflects on the lives of her kababayans abroad.
Born in the Philippines, with her parents originally hailing from Surigao del Sur and Pampanga, Martha moved to Australia at the age of 4 with her family and later immigrated to the U.S.
“Fiona is a very complicated character, but I think the thing I love about her most is her Filipino quality. They were specifically looking for a Filipino woman and [this] was one of the lead roles. She’s passionate in many sense. She is a TNT, or undocumented in America. She’s a single mom, so already being under those extraordinary circumstances, it leads to a life of many struggles and challenges but the way she handles it is in the essence of being Filipino — always finding a way to dance, eat, laugh. I think that’s something I was very proud to share with the world about our culture,” Martha says.
Meanwhile, she is all praises for her co-star and drama lead Elodie Yung, the French-Cambodian actress who is best known as Elektra in Marvel Cinematic Universe’s “Daredevil”. In fact, they became good friends on and off set. On Instagram, you can pretty much see their closeness, with each one of them calling the other “beshie”.
“Elodie Yung, she plays Thony De La Rosa and she’s incredible in this show. She’s Elektra! You’d see so much vulnerability and our connection was very important to me throughout this series. I love that woman, she’s amazing, and we hit it off right away. We’re still very close to this day”, she shares.
Millan is also proud of the cast and crew that include people of her heritage, just like Filipino-Canadian actress Shay Mitchell who is one of the executive producers. Also, Fil-Am rapper Ruby Ibarra’s music is featured on the show. Another talented Filipino filmmaker Marie Jamora directed episode six and Celena Cipriaso is one of the show’s writers. Meanwhile, Filipino guest stars of the series include Tony-nominated Filipino-American actor Lou Diamond Phillips and his daughter Gracie Phillips. There’s huge representation in this drama indeed!
“It’s rewarding. Shay Mitchell — I’m so grateful to her for picking up this series. It’s a really incredible project to be a part of and it’s quite groundbreaking in all sense. It is such an honor to be represented, to be surrounded by so many cultures but Filipino’s primarily, because you don’t get to see that being highlighted that often. There is such a high representation of Filipinos on this project where there’s the writers, the directors, there’s a Filipino director Marie Jamora, and obviously Shay Mitchell. The essence of Filipino spirit is being represented,” she shares.
She also talks about Kwok, the creator who also serves as executive producer for the series.
“Miranda Kwok had developed this series from the original Argentinean show, but she really wanted to focus on marginalized voices, by humanizing them through characters that are dealing with everyday issues of family. Miranda Kwok and Melissa Carter who is the show runner, they all have beautifully shaped this show.”|
Before joining the cast of “The Cleaning Lady”, Millan’s journey in Hollywood was not an easy ride as she also had her fair share of rejections here and there, primarily due to the fact that there weren’t many roles for Filipinos.
“This career path is extremely difficult,” she admits. “You are going in an industry that’s highly competitive. At the same time, you’re really being judged on your physical attributes. Those are the things you can’t change. You just have to trust the work that you’re bringing to the room. It’s very hard. When I first started, there were very few roles for Filipinos in general, and most of the time, they were very stereotypical roles. But you know, you can’t choose when you’re beginning. You just have to accept the jobs that are available, but luckily, [for me] they were in very prominent TV shows, like ‘Law and Order’.”
She is also very much overwhelmed with the support that she is receiving from her family.
“They’re over the moon. Everyday, my dad is like, ‘Okay, what’s the breaking news today?’ It’s so wonderful because there have been many years of me struggling as an actress and then just to actually land a series regular role? And on top of that, it’s actually about my heritage, so to share that with my family and to know that they allowed me to explore my dreams, my passion, everything really paid off for them. Everybody is so excited. My family could not be any happier.”
When asked what Martha’s dream role is, she admitted that she is already living it.
“To be able to go to set everyday, this is my dream role already. Everybody I worked with on set, we are all just so wonderful human beings. We are all just so supportive, and the cast became very close. This is my dream in general. I love going to work, and just love doing what I do.”
After all her experiences in the acting world, the actress shares an advice for Filipinos who also dream of entering the Hollywood industry.
“Really focus on your craft. Don’t think about what judgement are gonna be passed on you. Really focus on the choices that you’re making as an actress, making strong choices and trusting your instinct. That’s all that matters in the room. You can’t change what you look like and where you come from. All that you can really control is what you bring to the table and really convince them that this is your path. Believe in yourself and have confidence. Trust me, it’s a very difficult road. There’s been many years that I was like, ‘I don’t wanna do this anymore’, because of the rejection. Always find fun in it. If you find the fun in it, you’ll also attract that positive energy in the room.”
At the end of the interview, Martha tells us that she is truly honored to share Filipino culture to the world, and is even more excited and is hoping that another season of the show will grace Hollywood’s small screen.
“I’m so excited to share our culture as Filipinos to the world — our spirit, our energy, the way we love life so much no matter how things get us down. I think that is a tribute to who we are as Filipinos. We’re doing really well so far, so we’re fingers crossed, we get to continue this story in another season and that it also gets shown overseas as well as soon as possible because I think everyone is waiting for it. I know Filipinos are!”
