LOS ANGELES (AP) — Adria Arjona’s mom is her largest fan — and her followers’ largest supporter.
Whereas on the town for Paris Trend Week this 12 months, Arjona recollects the second her mom stood exterior their lodge, tearfully thanking a crowd of followers who had been armed with “Andor” and “Father of the Bride” posters and screaming “Adria!”
“She didn’t stop crying for 40 minutes,” Arjona recounts. “She was like, ‘Remember when you started? That’s all you wanted was to be in a movie. All you wanted was to tell the story, and here you are.’”
Arjona, 32, has remodeled from the reserved woman for whom performing wasn’t a positive guess whereas rising up throughout Latin America to the fascinating actor reserving a number of scene-stealing roles.
“I always thought I was going to be too shy to actually do it, but once I did it, something switched … and then I became obsessed,” Arjona says.
Arjona has been named considered one of The Related Press’ Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024, however her tv debut got here a decade in the past, with a pair spots on community procedurals. Since then, she’s secured notable roles in initiatives like “Narcos,” “True Detective,” and “Andor,” crescendoing right into a wildly productive 2024 with main roles alongside A-list colleagues.
“The best actors understand the importance of patience and the journey within a film, and Adria embodies that,” Glen Powell, Arjona’s “Hit Man” co-star, wrote in an e-mail.
Beside the Richard Linklater film, this 12 months alone she starred in “The Absence of Eden,” alongside Zoe Saldaña, and was solid in Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut “Blink Twice” and the upcoming “Los Frikis” from administrators Michael Schwartz and Tyler Nilson.
Rising up, she describes herself as “very hyper, but quiet and a little shy.”
“I wanted to learn to do so many things that my dad was like, ‘I think you might be an actress,’” she mentioned.
Arjona would carry out for her members of the family, nevertheless it was in her adolescent years that artwork courses gave her confidence in her craft. Nonetheless, the actor of Puerto Rican and Guatemalan descent continuously tried to show herself as an artist and an actor. Arjona doesn’t take it frivolously that she is among the few Latina actors solid in multidimensional roles.
“I always put this pressure on myself of making a difference for Latin Americans in cinema, just playing different roles and trying not to get stereotyped … it took me a long time,” she mentioned.
Her long-term dream is to see extra diverse Latin American tales on display. That is what drew her to “Los Frikis,” the coming-of-age story a few punk rock group set in early Nineties Cuba that she co-stars in and government produces.
“I just hope that it gets less and less complicated and that the opportunities of playing real dimensional characters just doesn’t stop,” she mentioned.
She shortly discovered to advocate for herself in Hollywood and credit collaborators like Linklater for believing in her and presenting her the chance to flex her writing expertise. Whereas engaged on “Hit Man,” Arjona contributed to the second a part of the comedy’s script — one thing Powell additionally famous.
“She’s also incredibly generous as an actor; her off-camera takes were just as electric as her on-camera moments,” he wrote.
Arjona is at a pivotal second in her profession. With a number of initiatives on the horizon, like “Splitsville” and A24’s “Onslaught,” she is having fun with appearing and producing and says she’s open to writing and directing if introduced with the correct alternative.
She attributes her openness to some early recommendation from her father, Grammy-winning recording artist Ricardo Arjona, who reminded her to by no means cease studying.
“You can’t pretend that you know what you’re doing,” he instructed her. “That’s the biggest mistake you can do. Always ask for help and ask questions and you’ll learn faster that way instead of pretending.”
She’s taken her father’s recommendation, soaking in each second on set and repeatedly falling in love with the method. She nonetheless will get butterflies on her first day.
“I still feel nervous,” she mentioned. “I hope I always stay nervous. I think it’s a sign that I really care, and I still really enjoy what I’m doing.”
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For extra on AP’s 2024 class of Breakthrough Entertainers, go to https://apnews.com/hub/ap-breakthrough-entertainers
