As actress Liza Soberano momentarily steps away from Philippine showbiz, she&rsquo;s sending a message that she will not be caught up in the past and instead will dare to grow and expand her future.

PHOTOGRAPHY Sutthiwat Sangkong
CREATIVE DIRECTION AND STYLING Loris Pe&ntilde;a
Prior to her Zoom chat with L&rsquo;Officiel, actress Liza Soberano was engaged in the task of arranging groceries in her new kitchen. She acquired her own place in Los Angeles, which is a significant departure from a few years ago when several members of her management team and talents in Careless, rented a home in LA where approximately 12 to 15 individuals lived for a few months. She acknowledged that it was inevitable to feel overwhelmed, owing to the absence of personal space and the clash of personalities, as they initially began as colleagues that developed into friends. These inconveniences may seem insignificant compared to the decision of indefinitely letting go of a successful career in the Philippines in order to establish oneself in Hollywood.
Liza didn&rsquo;t just leave on a whim. It was a series of carefully considered decisions that all fell into place. The 26-year-old recognized that it was time to explore new opportunities and step out of her comfort zone, despite the sadness and complications that accompanied this significant change in her life. &ldquo;I thought about it since I got my surgery here in the States, when I got operated on on my finger. I met a lot of people in LA that opened my mind up to possibilities for my career. Ever since, I was thinking about what more I can do for myself and my career and how I can grow even more. The main thing that I struggled with is that I constantly had this feeling that I was hitting a ceiling with my career in the Philippines. I didn&rsquo;t know if there&rsquo;s anything else that I could do that would excite me, help me grow as an artist, and as a person,&rdquo; Liza shares.

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Her acting career began in 2011, initially with minor roles, then progressing to being the &ldquo;third wheel&rdquo; in the now dissolved KathNiel love team. Subsequently, she became half of LizQuen, her own romantic pairing with actor Enrique Gil, and eventually lent her voice to Alexandra Trese in the Netflix adaptation of the graphic novel Trese. When the opportunity presented itself in 2022 and when her contract from her previous management ended, she switched over to Careless, and gained the conviction to pursue a bigger and more ambitious goal. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sure where this mindset came from but I was afraid to talk about my dreams. Although I have mentioned it before, even in interviews I would say &lsquo;Oh, if the opportunity comes, I would like to try Hollywood.&rsquo; I was actually scared to really say, &lsquo;No, I really want to go to Hollywood. I want to pursue an acting career out there.&rsquo;
She adds, &ldquo;I would never be very serious about it because I thought it wasn&rsquo;t possible or I didn&rsquo;t have the resources or the tools to get there or the people that I knew that could bring me there. When I met with Careless, that&rsquo;s the first time when I felt that I have a real chance now because they know people from LA and they also work in a more Western style of management,&rdquo; she explains. When she made the jump, she knew that it wasn&rsquo;t going to be an easy transition. &ldquo;What people don&rsquo;t understand is that I kind of &lsquo;resigned&rsquo; from the love team since 2020 when I didn&rsquo;t continue my show Make It With You,&rdquo; her last series with Enrique. Here&rsquo;s the thing about Liza&mdash;the woman is not a fan of settling. She gets uncomfortable settling for something knowing that she could do something more. &ldquo;I guess that hunger for growth, hunger for excitement, hunger for living my life the way I want to live it for myself was stronger than me wanting to maintain whatever it was that I had, whatever success, whatever fame that I had in the Philippines,&rdquo; she says. By choosing to part for now with her fame in the Philippines and the changes she has made for her career, she lost a significant number of her supporters, individuals with whom she had established personal relationships with, and this proved to be a challenging experience for her. Nevertheless, she&rsquo;s aware that she has to build her own life rather than one centered around others.

GG shadow bouclé boxy jacket, GG shadow bouclé mini skirt, Dionysus small shoulder bag, GUCCI

GG shadow bouclé boxy jacket, GG shadow bouclé mini skirt, Signoria low-heel slingback pump, GUCCI

Her arduous efforts were vindicated when her debut Hollywood film, the dark comedy Lisa Frankenstein, was released, in which her character Taffy, the gregarious stepsister of Lisa (portrayed by Kathryn Newton), stole the spotlight. A review in Vanity Fair praised Liza&rsquo;s portrayal as &ldquo;one of the film&rsquo;s chief pleasures,&rdquo; while The Wrap referred to her as a &ldquo;breakout star&rdquo; for her hilarious and heartwarming performance. &ldquo;My character played a very significant role in the movie so I was very happy that people took a liking to it, to my performance. I was very encouraged by the reviews. It inspired me and validated my ambitions. It made me feel confident in the decisions that I made, and it made me feel like &lsquo;Oh, I actually have a shot. I can do this here in America,&rsquo;&rdquo; Liza says regarding the positive reviews on her first Hollywood role.
Liza has been making frequent trips between Manila and LA since 2022. She did, however, recently visited Bangkok as a guest at the official launch of Gucci Visions, an exhibition that highlights the most significant moments in the label&rsquo;s extended history, alongside Careless founder and singer James Reid. Liza attended the fashion pop-up at the Emsphere, one of the new trendiest malls in Bangkok, which also included Gucci ambassadors Billkin Putthipong Assaratanakul, Davika Hoorne, and Gulf Kanawut Traipipattanapong. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s truly amazing to see how many people have access to that display and all of the archives. It was interesting to see Gucci&rsquo;s progression from its inception to where it is now, as well as how the creatives have grown over time. It&rsquo;s also nice to see that despite the creative changing over time, there are many elements that have remained true to its core, true to its DNA,&rdquo; Liza said when asked about her experience witnessing the display in Bangkok. She also revealed that she owns a particularly important Gucci piece because of her relationship to its name. &ldquo;My favorite Gucci piece is the Gucci Jackie Notte, a red purse that I happened to use in my L&rsquo;Officiel shoot. It&rsquo;s my favorite since my mother&rsquo;s name is Jackie, and carrying that bag reminds me of her. But it&rsquo;s also quite stylish, and it currently features Gucci Ancora Red, which became my new favorite color when it was released. I even dyed my hair in that color for a while.&rdquo; Liza has been selective when it comes to participating in fashion shows and brand events abroad. However, her admiration for Gucci was so strong that she couldn&rsquo;t resist the opportunity to take part in the inauguration of its exhibit before heading off to LA.

GG double wrap coat, Horsebit 1955 mini top handle bag, and earrings with G motif, GUCCI

Since returning from Bangkok a week ago, Liza has been focused on organizing her home, purchasing furniture, and eagerly establishing a daily routine. Since the release of Lisa Frankenstein, Liza has received a substantial number of requests to audition for roles in the comedy and horror genres, which she is willing to explore. In addition to her scheduled appointments with producers, casting directors, and other industry professionals, Liza will be participating in an acting course, which will consist of classes four times a week. She&rsquo;ll also try her hands on producing soon. Her production outfit will be partnering with established production companies in LA and South Korea. &ldquo;Right now, I have seven projects on my slate ranging from scripted all the way to a reality show type of format. Out of the seven, only three are the ones that I&rsquo;m focused on in the next two or three years. These are the ones with the most traction. All three projects are for the Philippines, for the Filipino audience but our goal is to create for the local market that translates to a global audience,&rdquo; Liza explains.
Her production company will be collaborating with 3AM Collective, an independent studio specializing in the development, production, finance, and sales for innovative filmmakers in the feature film, TV, non-scripted TV, and documentary genres. Additionally, she will collaborate with Third Culture Content, a production company based in Seoul and LA that focuses on creating cross-cultural entertainment, and Transparent Arts, an entertainment agency, acts as Liza&rsquo;s management in the US, and her primary partner in her production company. &ldquo;The goal is to be able to tell stories that are culturally relevant and hit home but is digestible for a global market. We have three projects: one is a series that we&rsquo;re hoping to put on a streaming platform and it involves a full Filipino cast. We already have a Filipino director attached to it, and we&rsquo;re already talking to two streaming platforms for it. The other one is a reality show. My hope for it is to be on free TV. The third one is a movie, which we already attached another actor from the Philippines. I&rsquo;m very excited about this one. It&rsquo;s going to be a co-production between Korea, and hopefully, other Southeast Asian countries,&rdquo; she updates enthusiastically. Liza will receive credit as a producer for the reality show, and she will take on the roles of both actor and producer for the series and movie.

Bouclé jacket with GG buttons, bouclé pencil midi skirt with pockets, GG Marmont small multi-pocket bag, and Gucci Signoria high heel slingback pump, GUCCI

Despite being away from the country where she initially gained recognition, aside from her personal ambitions, what she is currently undertaking in the States is in preparation for a grander scheme for the Philippines, a more fruitful objective upon her return. It is no secret that behind that pretty face lies a fervent and determined woman who is itching for change in the industry that she loves. &ldquo;I want the Philippines to thrive. Whenever I say something or whenever I do American interviews and I&rsquo;m criticizing certain things about the way we do things, people think that I&rsquo;m shitting on the Philippines; I&rsquo;m hating on the Philippines. No! I want certain things that are not right or are not working correctly to change,&rdquo; Liza admits. Currently, she resembles the protagonist in your beloved video game who begins at the lowest level without any exceptional arsenals or tools, relying solely on her abilities. However, as she conquers each level and acquires the necessary weaponry, she will become prepared and well-equipped to confront the formidable &ldquo;big bosses.&rdquo; &ldquo;Right now, I do think my voice is influential but I don&rsquo;t know how serious people take what I say...By going to Hollywood, I want to encourage other artists to have standards for themselves, and to encourage them to think bigger, to have confidence in themselves that they can dream, they can be ambitious, they can set bigger goals,&rdquo; she says.

Evening dress with crystal embroidery, Gucci Link to Love mirrored rings, Gucci Link to Love diamond ring, and Gucci Flora 18K rose gold ring, GUCCI

She is fully aware of the fact that there is a great possibility that her every word could be misinterpreted...yet again. Though, it is somewhat astonishing that she accepts this reality, even finding amusement in it, and declares, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t need to be understood. I don&rsquo;t care anymore.&rdquo; Liza has always been ferocious; you can see it slip through some interviews and her social media posts. &ldquo;I never really talked about this on interviews, but I really had a rough childhood. All of those experiences molded me into this person who is brave. I&rsquo;m an older sister to a lot of younger siblings, so I learned how to protect my own, my people at a very young age. But I would say, in the industry, I had to be a certain way so I would be relatable and more palatable to certain people. I kind of dimmed and suppressed that side of me a little bit. I really did because that&rsquo;s what asked of me,&rdquo; she admits.
Yet, this Liza, who appeared without any makeup, donning thick-rimmed spectacles, and endured about two hours to express her thoughts and emotions, exhibited no restraint. It&rsquo;s refreshing to listen to someone who has learned to embrace who she is and no longer allows herself to be influenced by the noise and biases of the media. &ldquo;I no longer need validation. I think that&rsquo;s one thing that held my personality back then. Being in showbiz, you always want to please people, you want people to understand you, you want people to always be on your side. Now, I&rsquo;ve come to terms with the fact that not everyone&rsquo;s going to understand me, not everyone&rsquo;s going to think I&rsquo;m right, and that&rsquo;s okay.&rdquo;

Pre-fall evening dress with crystals embroidery, Marina chain bracelet, Dionysus small shoulder bag, and Signoria high heel slingback pump, GUCCI

PRODUCER Parichat Panjeing
MAKEUP Mickey See&nbsp;
HAIR Renz Pangilinan
ASSISTANT PHOTOGRAPHER Anop Chapakdee, Chotitud Jainkiatfu, Danuwat Benjakhan 
ASSISTANT PRODUCER Sabaithip Thanaviwattanakul&nbsp;
FASHION Gucci&nbsp;
SHOT IN Bangkok, Thailand&nbsp;
SPECIAL THANKS TO Careless, John Lozano, and Kimi Felices

Step Forward: Liza Soberano

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