She may not look like it, but Isabela Merced is one tough girl on screen and off it.
For the action thriller Sweet Girl, coming to Netflix tomorrow (Aug. 20), she learned muay thai, wrestling and jiu jitsu. Prior to Sweet Girl though, she already did boxing and some stunt training for her roles in Dora: And the Lost City of Gold and Transformers: The Last Knight.
After the filming of Sweet Girl, Isabela actually got to apply some of these action skills in real life.
When The STAR had a one-on-one interview last Monday night with the 20-year-old actress-singer, it’s not hard to understand the praises her co-star Jason Momoa heaped on her in a separate virtual chat.
In the film directed by Brian Andrew Mendoza, Isabela plays Rachel, the loving daughter of Jason’s character Ray Cooper. While seeking truth and justice from the big pharma responsible for taking off circulation a “life-saving” drug just before he lost his wife to cancer, he will do everything to keep his only child from harm’s way — and vice-versa.
Asked how it was working with her as his onscreen child, Jason told The STAR: “I didn’t have any other choices. I wanted her. I’ve seen her performances and other movies. My makeup artist was her hairdresser. You know, I asked many questions and found out information from mutual friends. And she’s just a phenomenal actress.”
Even the director observed that Jason and Isabela clicked from the get-go that he was “blown away” by how similar they were.
Jason explained, “When we first met, she just felt like family. And then I didn’t know she’d be that good at fighting. So, that was like the proud father moment — when she’s really, really good. And she’s just really giving, she’s been on so many sets. She’s extremely comfortable — almost too comfortable. But we’re just kind of goofballs together. And I would love to continue working with her. I think she’s one of the greatest that I’ve worked with. She’s only going to get better and better. So, she’ll be a superhero someday, I can bet on it. She’s got it. She’s got those skills.”
The feeling was mutual for Isabela when The STAR got to talk to her. Interestingly, however, when she was first offered the role, she hinted as much that it wasn’t an immediate yes. Find out why in these excerpts from our interview with her.
On her first reaction to getting the role and working with Jason:
“So, I know Jason from Aquaman and I adored him. He’s super cool so I was really excited about that opportunity, but I was still like, okay, I need to read the script. As awesome as Jason is, I still need to see what the message is here. The No. 1 thing I look for in scripts is heart. And so as soon as I read it, I felt so much love and light coming from the script and what it’s about. I felt like this is a great opportunity for me as well to show off my action chops, as well as my acting chops.”
On why they worked so well together:
“I don’t know because if we’re looking at horoscopes, it doesn’t make sense. Like, I’m a triple water sign and he’s a triple Leo. It’s quite the opposite, but I really, I really enjoyed (working with) him, it’s almost like, you know, he just kind of wears his heart on his sleeve, and I do, too, in a way, but in a kind of more subtle way.
“But, you know, you learn how to handle Leos, and you know what they need, and you know what they require. As long as you know what you’re dealing with, you can handle any Leo. And he’s just simply a big sweetheart and a big teddy bear that just wants to love and be loved, and it’s very endearing and rare to see that in men in Hollywood specifically, men in general, because you know it’s taught that being cold is cooler and more manlier which doesn’t make any sense.
“Oh yeah, (he treated me like his adopted daughter). I guess he is really like a teddy bear to certain people, you’re right, ‘cause I’ve seen him act a little defensive when it comes to people approaching me in a weird way, or when I talk about people who’ve hurt me in the past.”
On the intense physical training for the show:
“I have done quite a bit on Dora and a few things before that. You know, Transformers really showed me that world where I had access to a lot of green screen stuff, which I think is super hard, but this (Sweet Girl) was really, very physical.
“More than anything, there were less harnesses involved, less, you know, secret panels where we can hide padding or foam so it doesn’t hurt as much. But I was out getting bruised up every day. I have some sets of several bruises as memories from that movie and I love it! I may not look like it but I absolutely love doing my own stunts and action scenes.
“I think that it’s awesome that they allowed a character, like a daughter who normally would stand on the sidelines, to be able to actually fight with her dad and get down and dirty. I was doing MMA, like muay thai, wrestling and some grappling and also some boxing. It was super fun.
“(Although) before Sweet Girl, I’ve been working out but not too much. But they had me working real hard every day, maybe a month before we started training or started shooting. And after that, I have been working out pretty much four times a week, four days a week, and just committed to weight gain, and strength-building and muscles. I’m trying to become a real action star here.”
On using some of the defense skills in real-life situations:
“I tried one of the simpler kinds of defense techniques. Not willingly. It was almost like I had to because some guy was being really creepy and kind of grabbed me, put me in a dark room out of nowhere, and tried to make a move on me. And I used one of the stunts that are in the movie actually, and I got out of that.
“(In the film) there’s a fire hydrant scene and there’s a whole like sequence in the elevator, and then he pins me up to the wall which is what the guy did! He pinned me up to the wall, and then instead of trying to punch me, this guy in real life was trying to make the move on me, probably kissing, and he’s being creepy.
“So, I just did what Rachel does in the movie, which is, you know, when someone’s pushing you against the wall this way, you start to drop this way. And so I dropped down to the floor and then I did like a little roll out of it. And then I pushed him... I think the message was clear at that point.
“I didn’t punch him or anything. I just had to use one of the defense moves that Rachel needed to get out of that awkward situation. I have never talked to him again.”
On how she identified with Rachel’s strong character:
“In order to be, I don’t know a strong woman, but have a strong presence, especially in an industry like this where there’s literally just always a dog-eat-dog world and you’re kind of, no one’s really rooting for you except for people who are already on your team. And even that is kind of sketchy. You just have to have gone through a lot of things in life that kind of builds you to have the strength that you have today. And I think I’ve been through quite a bit. And probably enough, if it were up to me. I’ve been through enough. That has allowed me to have a strong presence and carry out these characters in these stories that have been through hell and back.”
On how she related with the daddy-daughter bond being explored in the film:
“A hundred percent. I mean to me, their relationship is super warm and she’s almost like she’s his mini-me. I totally relate to the fact that if anyone messes with my family, they should be scared. Because I would never let anyone do that and think they can get away with that. I mean, you could mess with me all you want, I won’t care, I won’t get that hurt. But when you mess with my family, it’s over.”