Liza Soberano opened up about the challenges she faced after moving from the Philippines to the United States to pursue a career in Hollywood in 2022.
In an interview with Karen Davila, the actress admitted that she initially struggled with self-doubt as she questioned whether leaving behind her established career in the Philippines was the right decision.
"It definitely wasn't easy. There was this time that I was full of self-doubt because I didn't know if I was good enough. I didn't know if it was the smart move," she said.
Aside from adjusting to a new career environment, Liza shared that living on her own in the United States for the first time also proved challenging.
"Obviously, it was the first time also living on my own in the States so that was also scary being away from family. And also the way that the entertainment industry works in the States is completely different from the Philippines. Although there are similarities, pero I think the way artists kind of manage themselves is a lot different. Mas hands on po kami sa lahat," she relayed.
Liza acknowledged that taking the leap came with significant risks, especially since she had already built a successful career in the Philippines before deciding to pursue opportunities in Los Angeles.
"It was really difficult because everything was new territory for me and on top of that obviously, there was a lot for me to lose. I would say I was at the top of my game when I left at that time, and so there was a lot of projects that were potentially lined up for me. I had ongoing endorsements. But I decided to kind of put all of that on hold and pursue a career in L.A. not knowing kung ano 'yung kalalabasan nun," she recounted.
According to the actress, one of her biggest struggles during the early stages of her Hollywood journey was building her confidence, particularly when it came to auditioning for roles.
"I would say the biggest challenge when I first moved was really the self-confidence. I would get a lot of auditions that were for projects that were based on genres that I never explored before or may mga character description na I just was like, 'That's not me. I can't do that.' And I would not even like entertain the self-tape or the audition," she said.
She recalled how her management team would encourage her to continuously audition and put herself out there.
"I noticed I was starting to get fricton with my management team because they were like, 'You need to just keep doing auditions. You need to put yourself out there. You need to work hard.' And I felt like I was working hard naman po but it was just a lot different because when I was here, all modesty aside, I would not have to auditon and so that was the biggest adjustment," she said.
Eventually, Liza said she learned to embrace the audition process and realized that constantly doing self-tapes was also a way to sharpen her skills and become more visible to casting directors and producers.
"Eventually I learned na it's kinda just repitition. They encourage you to do all the self-tapes that come your way just so you get to practice also [and] you also kind of putting yourself out there and nare-recognize ka ng casting directors and producers that got to watch the auditions so dun ako pinakahirap," she stated.
Another major adjustment, she said, was learning to take greater control of her career and communicate clearly with her management about the kind of artist she wanted to become.
"Also, just knowing I have to tell my management kung ano gusto ko. I think that was the hardest thing because I kinda of grow up in a household, but also in this industry we have management that's more knowledgeable and educated compared to us when it comes to the industry so we put a lot of trust and faith into the management," she pointed out.
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The Forgotten Island star noted that the system in Hollywood required her to be more proactive in defining her career path.
"Here in the Philippines I feel like they kinda build us, like they build the artist and the branding and everything. But in the States, it's kinda you have to do it and you have to tell your management who you wanna be, what it is you wanna do, what auditions you wanna be getting, what type of roles you wanna be getting," she highlighted.
She added that once she understood how the system worked, the process became easier and even something she learned to enjoy.
"So, when I finally understood that, mas madali na. I enjoy self-tapes now and whenever I get them, I try to find time to squeeze [in my schedule], even today I have a self-tape... So yeah, that's the game," she said.