EP: 667- Isabela Merced Interview (uncensored)

What's good? This Isbela mar said, and you're checking out the Cruise Show podcast. Make sure to subscribe, rate and share.

Hi, how are you good?

I'm happy to be here.

Man, it's been it's been it's been a while. Yeah, right, but you've been busy, been working.

Yeah. It honestly feel like it's been five minutes since I last saw you.

I know, right, yo, Alien Romulus. This is a legendary franchise, right, what an honor to be a part of it?

Do you like Horr?

I do?

Do you like her?

Yeah?

Anybody here doesn't like it, so it's like I have to watch it on my own.

Well, I personally draw the line at like demonic stuff. That's when I'm like, I don't want to film it. I don't want to be a part. When I watch it, I'm missaging the house like That's that's where I draw the line. But anything else like Gore. I watched all the Saw movies in one night in seventh grade and on one night when I say one night in one winter break in seventh grade, so I'm a big fan of Gore and there's a lot of Gore in this as well, Like grow stuff that you're.

Just very gory and very bloody.

Yeah, that popcorn will start tasting weird, but hopefully you get the popcorn by using the popcorn bucket for it.

Yeah, I have.

Lately for popcorn buckets has been a.

Crazy that's the way to go.

I think it's safe to say going to the movies is officially back, like they're.

Making it a back.

Oh yeah, I love it. And you know, Latinos are the biggest immigrants.

Come on.

I like to do like the Tuesdays.

It's like five dollars intry.

Oh yeah, oh my god. And I got the dollar movies now that I got an American Express card, got them stuffs.

That's right.

And I feel so fancy because I'm like, I use all those rewards. And yesterday I got a large popcorn, I got a large drink, and I got candy because I put a bunch of crunch in my popcorn and it was all ten dollars.

Is that amazing?

And you get I got Gallidated parking.

We big backing on a budget, back budget.

I'm always on a budget. I'm from Ohio and the daughter of an immigrants.

We grew up on a budget. We were born into.

Budget, born into born to budget.

But movies are still a magical thing, going to the movies, grabbing the popcorn and red vines, not Twizzlers red vines.

Okay, okay, you said that really controversial.

Tape because I want it with anyone who likes Twizzlers. You feel me like you.

Know what it is, you know, I like to say it's a plastic I like it. I'm full of microplastics, I guess so I guess I like myself then.

But yeah, like going to the movies with your family or even solo, right, Like I've done that before, Nothing wrong with that that because you're in a different world.

Well, what's interesting about going to the movies with people? I think you absorb their sort of energy while watching it. Like like just when you show somebody your favorite movie, you're sort of halfway watching their reaction. You're sort of taking the cue from other people when to laugh. Sometimes I'll start to laugh a lot of times in theaters. Maybe it's not even supposed to be funny, but I'll just do it because it's like a social experiment because

But literally, my boyfriend, I'm like, I was like, I can't know that, and I didn't like.

I didn't come with this, man, I didn't.

Come with this.

Yeah, a lot of people are scared to go along to the theaters.

Yeah, that's all the time. That's silly. Yeah, you should enjoy it. You know, it's cheaper. It's cheaper, you feel me?

Why is your chair so low today?

My standards are.

And that's why he.

Goes he goes alone. You know. Wow, I don't know.

I observed something actually today and it was that all of you guys have J in your names, that right or also if you don't have Jay, your names is DJ.

Yeah, like the shatto is just well he was DJ.

No longer Djattle my middle name, so there is okay.

So I was wondering if the j's were requiring Jeff Garcia, yeah, Jackie JJ.

Yeah.

I didn't know. I tell you to put the DJ because you needed a Jay still, like you know DJ fuse. Yeah, I don't know, just wondering.

You're just loving to have a job at the end of the day.

That's so true.

Like, you, guys, how important is work right, Like to have a job and to be working right.

That's that's especially as a Latina because when you're not working, you feel like you're not doing anything.

Oh yeah, no, there's definitely this thing called actors guilt where you're guilt. You feel guilty when you are working because you don't have a personal life and your families and friends are some somewhat neglected. And then you also feel guilty when you're not working because you're not making any money.

You're not You kind of feel like you hear the voice of your ancestors in the back of your head. You lazy, you're lazy.

It's usually my own voice. Actually, I'm my own biggest hater. So okay, I gotta work on it.

What are the nicest things you're you tell yourself.

Internally, the nicest things. That's That's the thing that when I was talking about earlier with Mama Yaasca, what I repeat now is what she told me, Like it's kind of her voice. Whenever I feel like too much pressure for myself is like I get the resounding this gunsa hita like rests. You know, you're just you're just a baby.

To when I'm stressed out right right right right, you tap into it.

Yeah, it's a very like and something about the whole like I'm just a baby thing. I'm not trying to be infantalizing. I just mean there's something about that takes the pressure off your new spirit, your new soul on this earth. Therefore you can take it a little bit easier on yourself. You don't have to know so many things. You can still be wide eyed and absorb the world as like a newcomer and free. Yeah, less less burdens when you're when you're new here.

And I think when you're a baby, your sponge you absorb, so I think I think it's also looking at that way, like mm hmm, you got a whole new learn so.

No pressure, do you know what I mean? Like be open to whatever, because I truly believe like whatever you're meant to learn, you will learn. You don't have to go out of your way to do it. Yeah.

Ye Alien Romulus out Friday, scary ass movie. Yeah, yeah, there's there's some moments. I've seen so much of it I believe I've seen it all. Okay, at this point, you know what I mean.

But doesn't like Fedna doesn't like spoilers FETI the director. Sorry he I'm sure the studio is probably pushing him to release more. But at the same time, I think, what, at least my favorite moments of the movie aren't in the spoiler or like aren't in the teasers or the trailers, or like what people are saying are spoilers. But I really, I really think this happens every time a movie comes out. Absolutely, yeah, I know a few, a few, yeah.

Yeah.

There was a jump scare that I didn't even know was coming because I wasn't you know, I wasn't in that particular scene, and I, oh my god, I jumped out of my seat, like physically out of my seat, and that I don't think I remember the last time a movie has done that to me, right right, Yeah, I'm pretty like used to it at this point. I guess. I guess because I like scary stuff and I'm usually the in a haunted house I'm the first one that leads the group, you know, like I'm ready, I'm like,

Yeah no, I mean that's great, right when you can be surprised by your own work or the work that you're a part of.

Yeah, A lot of that's props to Fede though. Like he he's very in charge, very like hands on. He edits the trailers, he edits the tasers, edit, he put together you know, a lot of the San Diego Comic Con experience as well. I think we're dealing with somebody who works really, really hard, and he's Latinos, so I'm rooting for him and was the DP and so there was a lot of like dialogue on set that was like in Spanish. So that was pretty cool.

He would give you my Spanish. Yeah, yeah, that was cool.

I never had that experience.

Like, I guess, it's got to make you feel seen and included.

That's that's kind of what it is. Yeah, I think it was. It also has the opposite effect, sorry, not the opposite effect, but the same effect on the other person. I think suddenly certain barriers are down, like the ability to communicate. I know they're fitted and Gallo's first languages are Spanish, so you know, there's a sort of switch that happens when they realized like, oh, this is one of my people, like I could be comfortable with open.

So a few sentences back, you mentioned like, uh, I guess movie terms, like certain things can you allow, like can you teach us like movie set LINGO.

Like like yeah, yeah, okay, So ten one means I gotta go pee? Yeah, okay, And then can I say what I say?

I say.

No.

They got like my favorite thing to hear is Martini BRKINI because that means that's the last shot of the day. But I call it margarita margarito, and I'm trying to let it catch on to other people because that's way more fun than a martinie, Like you're trying to make fetch happen there. Yeah, it works. It works on a Friday. On a Friday, everybody's like, yeah, the margarita. But the other day of the week they're like, we still got to go to work tomorrow.

Yeah it's a school night. Yeah that's cool. I don't know that Martini. Yeah. What else?

There's the Abbey, which is the second to last shot or second last setup. I guess, sorry, second last setup, because you have different setups and then within that you have, however many shots until you get that set up. What's another thing that pertains to film? I swear I make movies.

I mean, you're a part of it every day, right, so a lot of this stuff is just second nature and it's just common to you.

I guess what does that mean?

Right?

Yeah?

I think the coolest thing for me on this one, at least that I'd never experienced before, was all the practical effects that I got to see, Like they built a spaceship inside of the sound stages.

A lot.

I mean, all the monsters that you see in Miss we saw all of it. Like, it's not CGI in that aspect space Obviously it has to be CGI for sure, unless they that Disney can afford that. Maybe they did, I don't know, maybe they don't they could, but even the even the VFX, the CGI have the space like it's just beautiful. The visuals are incredible. Anyways, I'm getting distracted.

Did you see stuff for the first time in your career making this movie? Yeah?

Yeah, yeah, I mean my career is not that long. In retrospect, but I do feel like, uh, like yeah, very new to this in the sense that I hopefully maybe this will start a trend of bringing back practical effects. You know, I think it's a lost art form.

I think sometimes CGI it's great, right, but you can tell sometimes well.

Also as an actor, in my personal experience, you can feel the presence of something. In that specific trailer shot that I was talking about where I'm crawling on the crates and he's above me, I felt that weight and that body of this creature over me, and you hear it and it rattles the room around you, and it's

Tool you get more natural reaction. Yeah, a movie feeling.

Yeah, yeah, every day was like that. I mean, eventually walking onto the spaceship and like seeing all the buttons and the I call it the boot boop bee boop like, like you just all the technology that's there, you know, it's very cool.

How did you prepare personally for this kind of movie.

When mentally right, because you don't really I didn't really know what I was getting into, to be honest. I mean, you have this script, but there's so many other elements that you're sort of thrown into. I think I think kay my character was the most work I did, where she's like very she's very innocent, she's very young, and she's just she's literally just a baby and she's the youngest crewmember on on board.

Yeah.

So I thought that was really fun because I've never gotten to play like that vulnerable of a character. I think I played generally strong characters that can hold their own or for some reason can beat up like sixty grown men. So I'm like, I'm I'm really honored to be able to represent somebody who's so vulnerable and like who is sort of a vessel for the audience. And I think I would react similarly to her in a lot of these situations.

Ah yeah, so you put yourself in that position, and.

It's interesting because like the fear, I've never had to like feel fear throughout a whole production, Right, it has to go somewhere, so like it started, it has to start at level one and the eventually end on ten, so that exploration of it. Luckily, we shot it chronologically, so I didn't have to keep track of which levels

Yeah, with that kind of intensity and fear in the air right.

And in the script and yeah, Welle would also play pranks on us, like not not funny pranks, like it was very scary. It's just scare.

I was gonna say, was there a lot of method acting going on?

And maybe on accident? I don't know, I'd never met that on. Yeah, I don't method on purpose, but I do feel like I saw times I'll read about a certain method Actually I'm like, wait, I do that, And I'm like, oh, maybe I'm on accidentally doing method.

And I'm glad. I love Kaylee Spainey. I think she's had to pronounce her name right. Yeah, she's a great actress.

I think both of you have a great opportunity with this movie, and you guys seem to vibe really well to you guys have been seeing some of the social from Comic Con and stuff like that.

Was it cool working with her? Yeah?

Yeah, No, she's a pro. She's had a lot of time in this industry as well, and like her career has been a slow bird as well. You know, she's she's been doing it for a long time with people you know, are just now kind of giving her the hype that I think she deserves. She had probably the most difficult, challenging sequences in this movie that were a lot more physically demanding than mine. So I think this will really hopefully prove to people you know that she

Behind the movie, you know, which happens.

Yeah, absolutely a lot.

Yeah, what's up Jack?

Before you know you started interviews and your career, did you ever do like fake interviews with yourself?

Yeah, all the time. Yeah, absolutely, Like I'm weird as shit.

What would you ask yourself?

Well, it's interesting. I would explore different professions, right, So, like I would explore makeup artists, I would explore like singer I was rarely. Rarely I would do the actor thing honestly, really like it was very much. I don't know, Like I would see other people's interviews that start to mimic them, And I think a lot of a lot of why I became an actors because I like to mimic people. So I would I would mimic like a makeup artist getting interviewed, Yeah, like a singer.

You know.

I feel like with the younger like generation of actors now, like you guys, don't take yourself too seriously, Like I feel like there's so much more behind the scenes that are is shown on social media that you guys are just literally like making content and everyone loves to see that. I feel like this younger group of actors is just completely different now.

I think what's cool about it is I think there's less I think there's a lot at least in my experience from the actors that I worked with, there's a lot more like homegrown, blue collar family like hard workers that really work their way to get here. There's less, like there's actually more options and more availability in this industry for people to find a space. I think people are looking for fresh new faces and there's less like in the like the nebel babies, like I don't see

That's right. Yeah, Isabelle, according to you, your favorite scene in this movie Alien?

I can't say. It's at the end, and I think everybody will mostly everybody will agree. I think it's at the end, and it's.

It's so messed up.

Yeah, it's so messed up.

M M. Yeah.

Yeah, that's why I'm like, I don't think they're spoiling anything because the goods are at the end, you know yourself, Oh, like what do you mean?

I don't know, it's just is it if you're asking, is it gonna make your pants?

Oh?

Ten?

Two?

Yeah?

Oh I was like today, Oh, I thank you. That was good. That was good. I just missed I misheard it. It was Yeah, maybe I think it'll mostly be like a more one, more like an upper reaction, you know, like a you know, like a vile, vile situation.

The movie is vile, right, the movie is very very gruesome.

Aarez there for you. I mean he wrote it with his writing partner though, h and it was more like I like to say, it's like a what pad fan fiction, you know, he wrote it. He wrote it as like a fan and he like emailed it to Ridley's team and then got an email and a response and they were like, we like, this was make another movie after Redly said he wasn't.

Gonna make it.

How many fan fictions have you read? I read a lot as a kid, Like I was that kid with Tumblr with what pas, which was toxic. I'm glad I have been on the dark side because it was I wasn't posting. I was merely an observer, that's right, Yeah, yeah, but yeah, I was definitely one of those kids.

Yeah yeah. How do you prepare your face for certain scenes and very scary scenes where you have to portray this person that's just scared out of their mind.

I don't know.

I put myself in I try to feel it fully. I guess you start with yeah, you kind of start with raising your heart, right, I think, honestly, I'm very in the moment, Like I really, I really go off of how I felt waking up that morning, my information and knowledge on the script. But then like in the moment, there just might be certain elements that you didn't predict that that actually help you or hurt you. And yeah, I'm very just like in the moment when it comes

No, yeah, exactly, it is burden, right because you got to carry it with you and you got to pull from it, and you know, but it also helps in a tremendous way. And then you know the audience gets to feel it, not only see it, but feel it, which I hope they feel it. Yeah, they gonna feel it. They're gonna feel it.

Man Alien Romulus ol friday Isabellmer said, you're the best.

Thank you so much, thank you, and that's a.

Hey, Jack your rich from the Cruise Show. Thanks for listening to The Cruise Show podcast.

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