MANILA — Actress Liza Soberano took a gamble when she left her career at its peak in the Philippines to pursue Hollywood. Now, she sees her role in DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming “Forgotten Island” as proof that the risk was worth taking.
Soberano, who stars alongside H.E.R. in the animated film, said she hopes the project will also show fellow Filipinos that pursuing an uncertain dream can be worth the sacrifice.
"I definitely feel that when I got that call, and they were like, you're casted in this movie, because I thought this would be the perfect chance to kind of kind of show Filipinos that it's worth it to invest in your dreams. Because I feel like when I started pursuing my career in America, I think there was a lot of questions around why I would leave my career at its peak to pursue something that was uncertain. And for me, I knew the risk that I was taking at the time, but for me, you to have to weigh the pros and the cons of everything you do and for me, I value learning and growing as a human being and as a professional. And so that's kind of what I wanted to prove, I guess, to the Filipino people," Soberano said in the latest vlog of Karen Davila.
YouTube/Karen Davila
Soberano said she also hopes to inspire Filipinos to dream bigger, pointing to the “dreamer mentality” she has come to appreciate in the United States.
"Oone thing that I learned about being in America is, and that I really appreciate about American culture, is there's this strong, like, dreamer mentality. I feel like, in America. No limits. And, like, when people talk about their dreams and they share it with other people, other people encourage them to go after it. No matter how absurd it sounds," she said.
She added: "Here in the Philippines, I feel like when people have dreams, sometimes they're held back. ... and I was trying to decipher, what is that? Like, why is it that we don't have a lot of self belief? I want to encourage people to to keep dreaming big, because even if it doesn't seem like it's possible, because of where you're at right now, as long as you keep, like, putting it out there, just saying what it is that you want, what you what you want to achieve. I feel like the universe and God has a way of, like, bringing it to you.
Soberano was one of the biggest stars in local show business when she decided to venture into the unknown and in 2022 she moved to the US to pursue her dream in Hollywood.
Soberano returned to Philippines to promote "Forgotten Island," which is set to be released in Philippine theaters on September 23.