Actresses in general have had a much shorter time span of being offered lead roles than their male counterparts. Tom Cruise could still be a lead romantic and action hero at 60 in Top Gun Maverick but the only way for Kelly McGillis to come back in the Top Gun sequel at 64 would be to play Tom Cruise’s aunt or mother! As the Goldie Hawn character says in First Wives Club: “There are only three ages for women in Hollywood – Babe, District Attorney, and Driving Miss Daisy!” The British actress Lourdes Faberes who is originally from the Philippines, has been acting in cinema, TV and theatre for over 20 years and has landed roles in such high profile movies as the latest Bond film No Time to Die, the critically acclaimed one-take film Boiling Point, the latest Guy Ritchie film Operation Fortune and three Neil Gaiman TV series: Good Omens, The Sandman and The Power.
She has also played in Theatre in London, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Lyon and Croatia. Chances are you’ve seen her in a film or a TV series but are not likely to be familiar with her name. Hopefully with a slate of new high profile TV series and movies coming out soon, this will change. I talked to Lourdes Faberes about her career.
Ali Moosavi, UniversalCinema Magazine (UM): How did you start up in acting?
Lourdes Faberes (LF): I am originally from the Philippines, and I got into acting because my mum took me to various workshops over the summer in the Philippines as she wanted me to try out different things like art appreciation or tennis or whatever and then one and one summer it was acting and I just fell in love with it. So after studying English Literature at university I came to London and went to drama school and I’ve been in London ever since.
(UM): Had you done any professional acting in the Philippines?
(LF): I did act in plays in the National Theatre there but I grew up and really came into my own here in the UK. After I finished drama school here, I started working.
(UM): How did you get your break into cinema and TV?
(LF): With drama school you get an agent after you graduate and then they send you out for auditions. Going up for jobs is actually not the hardest, the hardest part is surviving in between acting jobs so you do other jobs that have nothing to do with acting but you do them to survive, which I did for many years , like working in restaurants, temping in offices, working in events and all these kind of part time jobs that many actors and freelancers get to be flexible with their time so that when a job or an audition comes along you’re able to swerve accordingly. I think a lot of it is persistence and the belief that it’s not a ladder to climb, it’s a road and I keep moving forward because it feels right for me whereas for many as they get older and end up having families, then they just prefer different a life. Many things in life happen that may affect your decision whether to keep going. For me it also takes work to keep going but at the end of the day this is what I love to do.
(UM): Were you at any time tempted to go to Los Angeles and try your luck there?
(LF): I did that many years ago I because I had a few films that I had done and they were all going to come out so I thought I’d go to LA and try my luck over there. But it was very much wrong timing because I got there and it was the week before the now infamous writers’ strike in in LA so everything stopped and it carried on for months and the industry was at a standstill and then just as the writers’ strike was finishing came the actors’ strike. So I thought OK I’m going back to London! The good thing now is that this business has changed so much and you don’t necessarily have to be physically there because all the meetings are online.
(UM): You’ve been in a number of high profile movies like No Time To Die which are widely seen all over the world but I think when the critics write their review, they tend to focus on the stars in the movie.
(LF): I don’t really mind it because what I do this for is the experience the acting and film making. That’s my reward whatever anyone says about it. It’s good if people enjoy it, if critics like it great but that’s not something that I can control and nothing to do with why I act. If I did a great job but it’s not mentioned by critics it doesn’t affect the fact that for me what matters most is that I enjoyed myself doing the film.
(UM): One film that I think you clearly made an impression is Boiling Point, which was filmed in one take and where you played the food critic.
(LF): We all loved it so much. It was terrifying to do because you know the two things that you rely upon when you get on the set are a script and hearing cut! In that movie there was no cut and there was not really a full script so it was it was scary but we had so much fun doing it.
(UM): You have also done some producing, writing and directing. Is that you something that you have a lot of interest in and want to do more?
(LF): I do. I really believe that creativity doesn’t have to be done through just the one outlet. Many people who make their profession by acting use their creative drive for many other things too like cooking, photography, etc. It’s more empowering to be involved in the storytelling rather than waiting for someone to find out if you can fit into the picture that they want to paint. Right now I’m writing a bit more and also with the East Asian community in UK we’re trying to come up with ways to tell our stories in a way that will break the mold and show the variety of the many stories that we have; not just the stereotypes that tend to play out.
(UM): It seems to me that in the last few years with films like Minari, Crazy Rich Asians, Farewell, Everything Everywhere All at Once, there seems to be more exposure of Asians in mainstream movies.
(LF): Yes, absolutely and we are so ecstatic that this is opening doors for what people perceive of Southeast Asians and Asians but all those movies you mentioned are made in America with American money, so I think there’s work to be done and we are carrying on trying to push the boat forward for having those kinds of stories and films made here in the UK, so that it’s not always looking towards America. There is no reason why it can’t be told from the UK as well.
(UM): The other thing which has happened in the recent years is colour-blind, age-blind, sex-blind casting. You played in a version of Richard II where all the actors were female.
(LF): Yes, and also in Good Omens which is a Neil Gaiman – Terry Pratchett TV series where I played a non-binary character. The way Neil casts is that he doesn’t look at characters as let’s cast female/male and he doesn’t see characters in terms of skin color; it’s more a case of is there any reason why this person can’t do it? No? have her do it because she’s the best and it fits the picture. So that’s a blessing. Also the male parts are the juiciest to play in Shakespeare’s Canon and the female parts are also very rich but there’s always just one or two per production. So to be able to do blind-casting is a huge blessing. Kathryn Hunter is playing King Lear at the Globe Theatre in London, so for us to have a go at those rich treasures of writing is fantastic.
(UM): You’re playing in the TV series The Sandman and Anansi Boys which are also Neil Gaiman productions.
(LF): Yes, I’m doing a Neil Gaiman hat trick! I tend to work with the same people like with the team that made Boiling Point I did a film last year called Surprised by Oxford and it’s looking like I’m working with them again.
(UM): In Surprised by Oxford you play an Oxford Professor called Rutledge. Can you talk about your role?
(LF): I play a professor of romantic literature at Oxford University. It was a lot of fun to play it because it was a very Downton Abbey sounding kind of movie. I got to play that without having to apologize for the fact that I don’t look like what many people would perceive as an Oxford Professor. But that’s great as long as I can play it and have fun with it.
(UM): The description for one of the other TV series you’re playing, called The Power reads “A group of teenage girls mysteriously develop a special power that allows them to electrocute people at will!”
(LF): It was quite fun; I didn’t spend too much time in the part but we had a wonderful female director, Neasa Hardiman. It was kind of fun because you’re walking around going like: guys if I touch does that mean I could kill?! I don’t know when that’s coming out but The Sandman will come out on 5th August on Netflix.
(UM): You’ve also played in theatre productions in many European cities. Is theater work something that you have a lot of interest in and devote a lot of time to it?
(LF): I fell in love with acting via theater and that is kind of home base and I think for a lot of actors in the UK that is where you start and where you keep coming back to. I did a lot of theatre, especially as I was starting out and I do want to find the right project to go back to it. Theater requires a lot of energy and you have to give it your full commitment. It’s a different beast to film and TV and I’m just waiting for the right project to go back to theater.
(UM): Another director whose movies I enjoy is Guy Ritchie. You are in his latest film Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre. Can you talk about that Project?
(LF): I don’t know how much I can tell you but it is basically Team Jason Statham, Aubrey Plaza and Cary Elwes versus Team Hugh Grant, Josh Hartnett & me.
(UM): The one Philippine director that I know his work is Lav Diaz. Is he somebody who you would like to work with in future?
(LF): I would love to work with some of the amazing Filipino directors. I don’t know if they know my work because I’ve been so many years in the UK but hopefully there’s a way that can happen. There are some beautiful films coming from the Philippines.
(UM): What was it like for you during the COVID lockdown? A lot of productions were shut down.
(LF): It’s crazy because that’s actually the busiest I’ve ever been. We shot Boiling Point just before the first lockdown. We only did four takes and were shut down. The third take is the film that you see. After the first lockdown things kind of got quiet for the first five months and then it just got so crazy and I was running from The Sandman to the Guy Ritchie film and then running from that to something else. But I’m very thankful for it, it was stressful because at that time any actor getting COVID could shut the whole film down.