Dolly de Leon dissects 'Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed' character's ambiguity, future
MANILA, Philippines — Filipino actress Dolly de Leon is holding out hope that Apple TV series "Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed" gets renewed for a second season and fleshes out her ambiguous character Detective Sofia Gonzalez.
The show ended with Tatiana Maslany's Paula being exonorated, paving the way to win her custody battle over daughter Hazel (young Nola Wallace).
Dolly's Gonzalez is not convinced by how events turned out but Paula has already closed the door on the issue — that is until the shadowy organization she's been trying to find dangles blackmail against her over a past incident.
Philstar.com spoke with Dolly in an exclusive interview to discuss the characterization for Gonzalez, particularly how the police detective rarely unveils information about her own life apart from her gambling habits.
"'Yung pagkasugalera ni Detective Gonzalez is primarily how she also approaches her detective work," the actress explained. "For her, gambling is all about luck, and her job is also all about luck."
She cited examples of luck like finding clues, picking up information about a person of interest, or obtaining evidence.
"[Gonzalez] believes luck plays a very big part in detective work. Sometimes, kailangan maniwala ka, nasusuwertehin ka at makukuha mo yung information na kailangan," Dolly added, reiterating it wasn't an addiction but a way of experimenting with how big a part luck plays in the choices her character makes.
One ambiguous aspect about Gonzalez is her relationship with cats, given that she treats a feline rescued by her partner Baxter (Jon Michael Hill).
Dolly credited that interpretation to showrunner David J. Rosen and one of the show's director Dan Sackheim.
"They wanted it to be ambiguous. Does she like cats? Does she hate cats? Kasi in real life, I love cats. I have five cats," the actress shared, with one of them walking across her early in the interview.
RELATED: Dolly de Leon addresses Fil-Am portrayal in 'Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed'
She noted how Gonzalez initially took in the cat to obtain information from a witness, only to drop the animal at the shelter, where Baxter rescued her anew.
Philstar.com and Dolly shared a laugh over a line Rosen wrote for Gonzalez, teasing Baxter to name the cat after his ex — "You're so used to calling out her name in the middle of the night and her not coming."
Another unanswered topic about Gonzalez is whether she is a divorced parent like Paula, only that she shared commiserations about an ex-husband in the premiere episode, though Dolly teased she knows the real background on that front.
"I think at the end of the day all [Gonzalez] really cares for is the truth," said the actress. "It doesn't matter to her whether you're a man, woman, cat, or dog. For her, the truth must prevail and she has this constant desire to search for the truth."
For Dolly, that unyielding search for truth is her character's main struggle, which may carry on in potential future seasons, particularly to help Paula come to terms with the challenges she now faces.
"Only Rosen can answer [about a second season] but I would hope Detective G would be more on board with really helping Paula," she shared, pointing out Maslany's character is being misinterpreted and misunderstood.
"[Paula] really means well, she's a good person. I hope that comes to light but I think that it's gonna be a struggle for her," Dolly added. "The way it is in real life, we're always misjudging people and never really knowing who they really are. So, let's see what happens."
To close the interview, Philstar.com asked Dolly how she would react if a shadowy organization was keeping tabs on her with intentions to blackmail her.
The actress would dare a said entity to reveal all her secrets if authorities don't come to her aid, acknowledging that she was a flawed and imperfect human being who has done horrible things like anyone else.
"Ang belief ko diyan, shame on you for revealing private stuff about me, not shame on me for being the human being that I am," Dolly ended. "Pero ang daling sabihin, di ba? Malay mo, pag nangyari sa akin, hindi ko kaya, ewan ko."
RELATED: Dolly de Leon gushes over 'Maximum Pleasure' co-stars Tatiana Maslany, Murray Bartlett
- Latest
- Trending
