Isabella Ferreira is Ready to Lead
⤏ IN CONVERSATION WITH GISSELLE PERNETT
⤏ PHOTOGRAPHY BY CARLY PALMOUR
⤏ STYLING BY BRANDEN RUIZ
⤏ MAKE-UP BY KATIE MANN
Isabella Ferreira is an actor, dancer and possibly a psychic if Rhianna names her baby, Diamond. She describes her roles in Hulu’s “Crush” and “Love, Victor'' as rewarding for incorporating the taboo topics of the Latine community and creating on screen representation of underrepresented communities. Isabella has a simple curl routine I am very jealous of and if she were casted in 10 Things I Hate About You she’d obviously play Kat Stratford.
GISSELLE PERNETT: I’m obsessed with your hair. Do you have a curly hair routine?
ISABELLA FERREIRA: I think I’m just starting to figure out my curly hair routine. I have a wash day once a week and I put in some leave-in conditioner — I’ve been using I think it’s called Miss Jessie’s curl cream and just a little bit of moose and we call it a day.
GP: You’re really talented — you sing, dance and act. Was there anybody that got you into acting or did you always know you wanted to be an actor?
IF: I actually grew up as a dancer so I did that for about 9 years and I think with dance, acting is kind of combined. It’s intertwined, it all kind of connects. I grew up as a shy kid as well, so I think what really drew me to acting was being able to pursue characters that weren't the shy little Isabella. I think I always just loved it.
GP: That’s so interesting. When you’re on screen, how do you do that knowing you’re shy?
IF: I know it’s kind of funny. I think I've definitely grown out of it a little bit, but acting really helped me get to know who I was as a person as well. Obviously, everyone gets nervous, everyone gets shy every once in a while, but being in the industry [for] so long you have to know how to navigate the introvert and extrovert version of yourself.
GP: You’re originally from Philadelphia, do you ever get homesick?
IF: All the time. At the moment I’m currently in LA, so all of my family’s on the east coast. I get home sick all the time. I’m always getting pictures sent from my sisters of my nieces and nephews and it always makes me so sad. I just think this is work, this is what I got to do. At the end of the day it’s to provide for my family and be there for them. They’re all super supportive which helps, obviously. I feel like I’m not alone through it all. Growing up I lived in Philly so for auditions and stuff I had to travel with my mom two hours to New York and two hours back and it was this whole thing. I wouldn’t have done it without her.
GP: That’s so great that your mom is supportive. Do you have a comfort food that reminds you of home?
IF: Probably Puerto Rican food. It sucks because in LA I only know of one Puerto Rican restaurant, but anytime I’m feeling homesick I'll either cook up something that my mom taught me like pollo guisado or I’ll order it from Mofongos, which is the restaurant here in LA.
GP: I feel you! I’m Colombian and sometimes I’m like “There’s nothing out here for me.” Going into your character in the movie Crush, Gabriela’s this openly queer, Latina popular girl. I think we both know there wasn’t representation especially in roles like that when we were growing up. What was it like playing a role that’s usually done by a white heterosexual woman?
IF: It was an amazing feeling. As an actor it’s always rewarding to be a part of projects that are not only entertaining but can also help different communities and help with representation. Being able to finally play a popular it-girl — and at that a queer popular Latina it-girl — was amazing. It was empowering being able to be a part of something that I didn’t really see growing up.
GP: You’re also on Love, Victor which does a great job of incorporating the very real — nand unfortunately still present — issues in our Latine communities. Something that stuck out to me was the strict Catholicism and seeing two Latine parents put their traditional views aside and accept their son for who he is.
IF: Honestly, it really was. Obviously, it’s so rewarding to be able to be a part of projects like these. It’s so important especially now and it’s an amazing experience. I’m glad they’re able to cover all those topics and go through the taboos in the Latinx community.
“Being able to play a popular it girl — and at that a queer, Latina it-girl — was amazing. It was empowering being able to be a part of something that I didn't really see growing up.”
GP: Similar to Love, Victor, Crush isn’t the typical coming out story. You get to see a romantic comedy, but with three queer main characters. It’s amazing.
IF: "That’s also what drew me to Crush, being part of a queer film whose sole purpose wasn’t a coming out story. It was just to celebrate being who you are and figuring out who you love."
GP: How do you decide which roles you want to pursue or what projects you want to be a part of?
IF: I read the script and if it clicks, it clicks. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I like to try and have my mind open to all possibilities of characters. I want to be able to explore and play all types.
GP: Do you have a specific character in mind you’d want to play?
IF: I definitely want to play a badass superhero one day! That would be so cool. Latina Superwoman or something. That’d be awesome.
GP: Gabriela and Pilar, are very different. Did you have a ritual when preparing for these roles and channeling their different personalities?
IF: I’ll usually watch movies kind of revolving around the character that I think I could draw some traits from. I like to make playlists of songs I think my character would enjoy hearing. That really puts me in the mood.
GP: What songs are on the playlist for your characters?
IF: Oh my gosh, I have records and records from P!nk for Pilar and “Glamorous” by Fergie was my main one for Gabby.
GP: I read somewhere you said people will DM you about these roles and how much they resonated with your specific character. How does that feel? You could literally be somebody’s role model.
IF: It’s a lot! It’s a lot. That’s part of the process and also, I hate to use the word again, rewarding. Being able to see these messages of people being like, “I really related to your character or I’m so grateful that this was finally something I was able to see on my screen.” It just makes me really happy because this is why I do what I do.
GP: Do you ever feel any pressure to make sure you get these roles right, especially because these roles have such a huge importance.
IF: Yeah, I think obviously there’s always going to be some sort of pressure, but before I definitely felt a lot more of it. When I first joined Love, Victor, it was kind of my first big role in general, so I was definitely nervous for it. I think having a good community around you is most important. I had an amazing cast, an amazing crew, and everyone was just so excited and so ready to make this project what it is. It’s really important to have people around you to support you through it all.
GP: Love, Victor is coming to an end right? How do you feel? It’s been such a big part of your life.
IF: It was so sad. It was very bittersweet. The cast and crew for the past three or four years have been absolutely amazing. We’ve been a big family so it was definitely sad to leave that chapter. I think we closed it off really well. I’m really proud of it. They’re all really proud of it. We’re just excited for viewers to see.
GP: What do you do when you’re not acting?
IF: What do I do? I’m with my dog right now. I’m normally just hanging out with her. Before I was trying to practice guitar — I don’t know how to play the guitar, but we’re trying here, okay, haha. I try to keep myself busy. I like to stretch and dance and sing around my house by myself. I read a lot too.
GP: What are you reading?
IF: Right now I’m reading a series called, A Court of Thorns and Roses.
GP: My best friend reads that book and she tells me about it. It’s really big on TikTok I think.
IF: During the quarantine, I got really into BookTok, and I would have all of these books in my cart and still add a new one every single day. It was really bad, it was a problem.
“It's always rewarding to be a part of projects that are not only entertaining but can also help different communities and help with representation.”
GP: Apart from singing, dancing and acting do you have any other secret talents?
IF: I don’t think so, honestly? I mean, I’ve been cooking a lot more. I always invite my friends over to try out my cooking to make sure I’m not completely awful and they always say I do a good job.
GP: What’s your favorite thing to cook right now?
IF: Probably, pollo guisado. That’s my main dish.
GP: If you could star in any movie that’s already been released what would it be?
IF: 10 Things I Hate About You. That’s my favorite movie.
GP: I love that movie, you’d want to play Kat?
IF: Oh yeah, oh yeah. She was just the boss bitch.
GP: What’s your major goal right now?
IF: I’m really into movies right now, so my goal is to be a lead in a movie. Probably a drama piece would be absolutely amazing. A period piece as well would be fun.
GP: I usually ask what’s the best piece of advice you’ve received, but I want to know what’s the worst piece of advice you’ve received?
IF: Oh gosh, I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. Somebody told me to always share my feelings with people which can be good, but not always. I probably share too much, especially when I’m nervous and trying to express my feelings. So, I guess that. Sharing too much, never share too much.
GP: We have a running joke in the office, what do you think Rhianna’s going to name her baby?
IF: Oh my god I don’t know. Wait, I don’t even know if it’s a boy or girl. It’s going to be something insane. It’s going to be something so cool. I’m just going to say Diamond because what’s that lyric? Shine bright like a diamond? So we’re just going to go with Diamond.