Written By: Jayme Face
The Cleaning Lady is Fox’s latest hit drama! It is the first American drama centered around Filipinos and we caught up with Martha Millan who plays Fiona De La Rosa. The Cleaning Lady is out now Mondays on Fox!
Photo Credit: Yanina May
upfrontNY: Can you tell us about The Cleaning Lady and your character, Fiona De La Rosa?
Martha Millan: The Cleaning Lady centers on Thony De La Rosa. I play her undocumented sister-in-law. She’s married to my brother. She is trying to save her son’s life from an immunodeficiency disorder. In her plight in doing so she ends up getting involved with the mob and becomes the cleaning lady to the mob to clean up their evidence. I am Fiona who is an emotionally volatile, chaotic, hot mess, but at the same time she is a story of empowerment. She is impulsive and unpredictable, but that stems from her situation of being undocumented, the instability she’s experiencing, and the fact that she just wants to do her best for her family. The way she responds and reacts it stems from that situation, but it’s all about family. So we’re all just trying to do our best and give our best to our children.
upfrontNY: It is based off of an Argentinian show; how does it differ and how does it stay true to the original?
Martha Millan: This show is centered on the Filipino culture. Adan is Mexican and there’s the Armenians. So, in those aspects it’s changed, but I think the bottom line in terms of connections on the show it is about family. How far would you go in terms of those situations trying to save your child, being undocumented. How do you raise children and still maintain the dignity and integrity to show them to be proud of who you are when you’re hiding. So, a lot of those challenges are still very relative in both shows. The way the show is relatable are the issues of family. What would you do in terms of being in transition through immigration or changing to another state. I remember growing up watching my parents go through this transition in order to give us better opportunities. It’s just about relating to the transition on how to immerse yourself in a society that’s different from your culture and still maintaining your identity.
upfrontNY: It is the first American TV show focusing on Filipinos, how does it feel to be a part of that?
Martha Millan: Representation is so important because for me I was so excited. When I read the script I was like ‘No way they’re really doing this on the Filipino culture!’ and that reaction says a lot to how the world is changing. I think it’s a testament to Fox, the producers, our creator, Miranda Kwok. She really wanted to create the show based on a southeast Asian female lead and the issues they deal with at the forefront. My character was actually based on her best friend. I only found that out at the end of the pilot because I would have been like ‘Oh my God those are big shoes to fill!’, but she revealed that to me. I was so happy that she was really pleased with the portrayal and the connection that we found (Thony and I). In terms of Filipino culture at the forefront they get to see how we dance, sing, laugh, eat and it is so important to show that side of our culture. This show is all about putting marginalized voices at the forefront. For me representation of that was extremely important because for me I know growing up I experienced a representation that was not who I was. I remember seeing Crocodile Dundee portraying a southeast Asian woman that was not the best. I was scared that people would think that’s who I was, that’s who my mother was, that’s who my sister was. So, the fact that this show encompasses a representation of these two women who are resilient in their plight to save their family, but also show their passion, their lightheartedness, their fun, their heartbreak, and how they deal with it; it’s real. It’s human and it opens up so many possibilities for their cultures to be included in that.
upfrontNY: Do you feel that it also comes with any kind of responsibility or pressure?
Martha Millan: Wow, that’s a great question! I never thought of that. I think for me I want to be true to who I am and how my parents raised me and true to the experiences that I’ve dealt with growing up in Australia. I was there in the 80s and we were the only Asians in the suburbs and my school and everything. How I dealt with it was taking away my label of who I was and how people judged me and just showing off the best I can give in terms of my talents, my gifts or whatever I can give. I focused more on that than the judgements that were coming at me. If everybody amplifies those qualities that they have it will elevate and rise above any kind of feeling of being anything less. I think that’s a responsibility we have for ourselves.
upfrontNY: What do you feel audiences will identify with most?
Martha Millan: Definitely the relationships that you are going to see throughout the show. Obviously there’s the connection between Adan and Elodie’s characters’. The yin and yang between Fiona and Thony. I am the complete opposite of Thony. She’s the doctor. She’s very stoic and determined and very put together. Fiona, we don’t know where she’s going and I think that’s the fun part of playing her. For me that’s what drew me to her character, but something that I learned while I was working on her was that there’s a lot of darkness that she tries to hide with all of that light heartedness. A lot of people are in denial of their situations until they’re forced to deal with them. You’ll see that empowering moment happen throughout the series.
upfrontNY: What made you want to not only act, but teach children to act?
Martha Millan: It was by chance. I was supposed to be in communications or accounting or I wanted to be a lawyer at one point. Then I took this acting class and I was like ‘Oh my God; this was awesome!’. I was at university doing English and History and I said why don’t I just take a year off and I went to the American Academy for Dramatic Arts just for a summer program. I fell in love with it and I discovered New York. I got bitten from both sides acting and New York. After I graduated from the Academy I started booking work and it snowballed from there in terms of passion for it.
Then when it comes to teaching I think it was something that was always in me. I always wanted to connect with children at the same time I needed to work when I wasn’t working. I wanted to utilize my passion for acting and give it to children in a way that builds their confidence. It wasn’t about creating new child actors or anything like that. Obviously, I would help them in any way, but it was about seeing children’s behavior and self-worth when they expressed themselves through these scenes that allowed them to step out of their shells. I gave them scenes, not just scenes for children, but scenes that were very challenging. I gave them scenes that I auditioned with. I was like ‘Wow that was great! I should have done that choice.’ It was so incredible to see their fearlessness and their unfiltered courage to just be like I got this. I think as adults we forget. It was a constant reminder for me watching them so they helped me a lot.
upfrontNY: You obviously have a lot to teach students, but what is something you have learned from them?
Martha Millan: The confidence and unabashed willingness to dive in or even if they were apprehensive you could see that they wanted to try this. They wanted to experience something. I think as adults we are limited that we are programmed already to act a certain way, to choose certain lifestyles, to choose certain things to fulfill. For my parents it was okay to do what you want, but don’t forget your brain. Follow your heart; don’t forget your brain. Working with children is something everyone should experience because there is a truth to how they function that we have forgotten as adults. I don’t think I’ve lost it too much because a lot of people think I’m immature. Life is a lot easier when you see it from a kid’s point of view. Even Elodie, we would do a scene and she has a daughter who is 3 years old and she would say sometimes when I am with you I feel like I’m with Nina. You start talking and then you see a butterfly and you’re like “Oh a butterfly!”. It’s about being present!
upfrontNY: You are also a New Yorker what is something you love about New York?
Martha Millan: I remember arriving there it was a place where no one judged you for what you looked like or just your appearances. It was about what you can give, stand up for yourself and how you bob and weave things that allows you to challenge yourself to the maximum. How you deal with extremities, weather, even the esthetics of your house. Like how do you maximize your teeny tiny house? There’s so many ways that New York challenged me. Then you step away and see the city and the energy the beauty of that concrete jungle. It is quite magical in a sense where you’re in it, but living it is in you. I live in Brooklyn now, one thing I love is seeing the skyline. When I’m on the plane I’m like there she is. There we go, brace yourself. It’s something that’s in me, a fighter spirit.
upfrontNY: You are a world traveler; where is next on your list?
Martha Millan: I would really love to go to Egypt! I have never seen the pyramids. My sister saw them and I’m so jealous of her experience. There is so much beauty in the creation of that and there’s so much behind it. So, I’d love to go there. And I still haven’t gone to Bora Bora. Everybody talks about Bora Bora, but then again I’ve grown up in Australia and there’s such incredible beaches. I’ve been so many beaches, but I love the beach so something historical and something chill.
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