Camila Perez
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“I just feel you don't need language to connect. I think it's just about a show that makes you feel good.”
Interview by Nolwen Cifuentes
Photography by Justin J Wee
Styling by Emily Bogner @Exclusive Artists
Makeup by Lisa Houghton @Walter Schupfer
Hair by Pascale Poma @ Celestine Agency
Acapulco on Apple TV+ paints a vibrant tableau of the 1980s in Mexico, encapsulating the allure of the era through the eyes of Máximo Gallardo, whose dreams come dramatically to life when he lands a job at the hottest resort in Acapulco. The series is a colorful, comedic journey into a world of luxury and opulence, contrasted sharply with the personal and economic challenges faced by the staff behind the scenes.
We got to chat with the show’s female lead, Camila Perez, who plays Julia, an employee at the resort. Julia embodies the ambitions and complexities of a young woman navigating her career and personal life within the resort. Throughout the series, Julia finds herself often entangled in a love triangle involving Máximo and another character, Chad. As the series progresses, Julia’s character development is marked by her evolving aspirations and the choices she makes in pursuit of her dreams. Julia navigates her career and personal life with a depth that goes beyond traditional stereotypes often seen in media representations of Latina women.
Camila discusses her expanding role in the series 'Acapulco,' as well as her journey into acting — a hobby that unfolded into a burgeoning career. As Acapulco gears up to premiere its third season, Camila delves into the evolution of her character, the vibrant new dynamics of the show, and her thoughts on the changing landscape of television that embraces multilingual storytelling.
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July Magazine: You were born in Colombia, when did you come out to the states?
Camila Perez: I was born in Colombia and moved to New York when I was eight years old. I moved with my mom. She didn't like New York, so we moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where her family lived. I lived there for about five and a half years, then I moved back to New York. I consider myself a New Yorker. This is where I've been. But I'm also very Colombian as well.
And what brought you into acting?
I tell everybody the same story because I don't remember before that — when I was 16, I went on a school trip to the theater, and I saw a play, The House of Bernard Alba. It was my first time at the theater in America because my mom used to take me when I was younger, but they were mostly comedies and stand-ups. This was my first formal play. And I remember after seeing that, I was like, “wow, what they're doing is really awesome.” But I never considered it a career. I didn't even know it was a thing because I didn't grow up on films or anything like that. I just needed a hobby. So after that play, I started looking into classes just to be occupied after school. I signed up for a few classes, started taking weekend courses, but I still didn't even consider it a thing.
I graduated high school, and then my guidance counselor was like, “Hey, so what are you gonna do?” And I just felt like I wasn’t really passionate about anything. That was frustrating at the time. You know, usually people are leaning towards something. So, I went to community college, and wasn’t doing well with my grades. Again, the guidance counselor was like, “Hey, you're not doing that well. Are you passionate about anything?” I told her, “No, but I have this hobby.” And she told me to lean into that. So I auditioned for a theater school — The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. I got in. I got half a scholarship, and I was like, okay, maybe this is it. During that year, I went to an event, and I met a manager in the bathroom.
She gave me her card and told me to call her. I did and I’ve been working ever since. I had to leave drama school.
Wow! That’s amazing, so did you drop out to start auditioning and really pursue acting?
So… I didn't really drop out. I was not accepted to the second year. But even before I knew that, I was already offered a three year contract. So I was like, “Okay, which one's better? … my three year contract.” Anyway, I’m more someone that learns by doing.
I agree, I mean if you’re already in the job position you were going to school for, it doesn't make sense to stay! It's really cool that your guidance counselor encouraged you to take this path. What about your family, were they supportive of this?
I know. I don't remember her name, but I owe her a lot. I mean, I can't see myself doing anything else. My family was not really supportive. I lied to them for a while. I told them I was going to school for marketing. It was hard, but I only kept it up for six months. And then my grandma saw me on TV, and she was like, what is this? I told her for the first time, “I'm actually an actress.” She just started cracking up.
How about now that you've got, you know, the third season of the show and a lot of experience under your belt, how does your family feel about it now?
Oh, I'm their pride and joy now [Laughs]. I'm their pride and joy now. I always make fun of them, but, you know, it's family. They'll support you. They're just concerned about your future, your happiness, what your life is going to look like.
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At the time of this interview, season 3 of Acapulco is days aways from airing. Without spoiling anything, tell us a little bit more about what we have in store.
This season, you get to have fun with the characters. I feel like the first two were more like an introduction to them. And for Julia specifically, you know, she was stuck in a love triangle. This season, we get to see this love story with Maximo finally unfold. We get to see a lot of dreams come true for her. You get to see her mind, because I feel like other seasons, she didn't really have someone to talk to. You get to hear her thoughts out loud now and see more of a human instead of this employee at the resort. But overall, you're gonna get to learn more about each character. You're gonna have more fun. There's a little bit more Spanish this season. More color, bigger hair. It's just more fun.
Talking about Spanish speaking — there was a time in the US where audiences didn't want to read subtitles. Now we’re seeing so much foreign language TV and films make their mark on US audiences. How do you feel about being a part of a bilingual show and bringing Spanish to American audiences?
I mean, a majority of the population in America are Latinos. But, also, I watch a lot of Korean shows, and imagine if I didn't read the subtitles, I would miss out on such great content. I also watch a lot of anime, and I never watch it in my language. I don't want to miss out on the feeling it gives you. I think it's great that people are opening up more to foreign shows, even though our show is American, but I just feel you don't need language to connect. I think it's just about a show that makes you feel good. I love that people are more, like I said, open to just connecting with the show, how it was filmed, how it was recorded. I think it's beautiful. It’s universal.
You would definitely miss out on so much cinema if you weren’t open to subtitles.
Yeah, you just limit yourself to only your language. Just read [Laughs]!
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Your character, Julia, as the series progresses, there’s lots of changes going on with her — her relationship from Chad to Maximo, her friendships and more. Can you talk about your approach to playing her and how that's evolved or if there were any pivotal moments that felt significant to you?
You know, although Julia is the female lead of the show, I think we only got to see little glimpses of her the first two seasons. I feel like season three, I'm very grateful my character got promoted. I got to do a lot of physical comedy this season. I've never really done comedy in my career, this is the first time that I’ve been able to do it. I worked with an acting coach, and he really taught me about the music notes in comedy work. I got to play with that. I got to play with a lot of drama as well. This season was a lot of working in and out of comedy, in and out of drama. Bringing those two together was a big challenge, but it was a huge learning experience for me as an actor.
Tell me a little bit more about the musical notes of comedy, what’s one thing you can share that you’ve learned about that, the beats of comedy?
There’s this thing called the sandwich. Sometimes when you have, for example, three sentences, you don't deliver them all the same. You play. So the first one will be delivered dry, the second one will be delivered more straightforward, and the third one is the unexpected. You can deliver it as a joke or something. So it's little things — playing with words and how you deliver them, that makes the difference.
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During your career, have you felt typecast at all being a Latina actress?
When I first started, I definitely did. I built my way up in this career. I started with co-star roles, guest star roles, then moved into recurring roles, and then to lead. The co-star and guest star roles were a lot of typical Latina stereotypes. The young Latina mom, the young Latina overdosing on drugs, etc. I'm very grateful, though, I have a great manager today. Her name is Lisa Wright. She gets me, and I never get auditions just for a “Latina character,” because you have to understand, although I'm very supportive of my community, I'm also an actor. And I think every actor feels this way — we're actors, we want to be able to play anything. Even if I have to play a tree, I want to play a tree. I don't want to be in a box of the “Latina actress.” I am Latina, but I'm an actress as well that wants to play a lot of things. So I'm trying to find a balance of supporting my community, but also leaning into all the possibilities. I feel like it's very easy to be typecast in Hollywood.
You need a good team that really gets you and fights for those roles for you.
Oh, for example, Ana de Armas played Marilyn Monroe. I think that's beautiful. I don't want to be in a box. And Penelope Cruz, my muse, she’s never been typecast. I’m sure she has a good team and must be very smart. But, yeah, to answer your question, I've been typecast. I probably still am being typecast, but my team really just tries their best to pull me out of that.
I know you’re doing press and everything for Acapulco now, but is there anything next in the pipeline?
We got hit hard with the strike and with contracts and everything. I'm very limited to things that I can do. We’re hoping for a season four. Fingers crossed. But as of now, we got Acapulco, and that's what I want to focus on. It's beautiful. It comes out very soon, and I'm just excited for everybody to see it.
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