DreamWorks’ Forgotten Island sends Liza Soberano’s Raissa and her longtime bestie Jo (H.E.R.) to a mysterious tropical hideaway — a fantastical place where they feel nostalgic for their past and reckon with their nerves about the future, as Raissa plans to leave the Philippines to attend college in the United States.
In theaters now, Forgotten Island is the kind of animated adventure that will make you tear up if you’re facing your own big pivot — and the film was particularly timely for Soberano. “For the past few years, I’ve been taking life really seriously, especially with my move to America from the Philippines,” the 28-year-old tells Bustle. “I was really trying to grind everything out and focus on work, that at times I forgot to just take a step back and appreciate how far I’ve come.”
Indeed, Soberano’s acting career is already well established. Her credits in the Philippines include leading the romantic drama Forevermore, a record-setting television series whose finale was viewed by nearly two-thirds of Filipino viewers, before earning additional acclaim in films like My Ex and Whys and Alone/Together.
Starring in a movie about girlhood let Soberano “remember the little kid inside,” she says. The actor spent the early part of her life between the Bay Area and Visalia, California, where she and her brother, Justin, would build pretend houses near the city’s residential construction sites.
“We would take some of the scrap wood that we could find and build little forts and stuff,” Soberano says, acknowledging with a laugh that it “sounds kind of dangerous,” looking back. “I remember feeling so creative but also so brave, because we felt like we were doing big-kid stuff.”
That kind of play would soon turn to make-believe on a global scale. After relocating to the Philippines at age 13, Soberano achieved success in acting as a teen and young adult, ultimately being named one of Asia’s most influential stars by Tatler Asia.
In recent years, she’s moved her life and career stateside, making her American film debut in 2024’s Lisa Frankenstein. She keeps the Philippines close, whether through roles like Raissa or her production company, Funny Face Films, where she focuses on projects that find the “truth in beauty” and often feature Filipino talent and creatives.
When it comes to her craft as an actor, she’s nothing if not prepared, turning to comfort watches like 50 First Dates and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and enlisting acting classes and coaches to help hone her voice as a performer. “It actually has also helped me in my personal life,” she says. “Because I find whenever I’m meeting with people at events and I’m making small talk or banter, I sometimes don’t get American jokes … Like, they’ll say a joke with a very straight face.”
Although Soberano is busy embracing the moment, she keeps things low-key when she isn’t working. She’s mom to a Samoyed, Yuna, and three rescue cats named Mowgli, Marie, and HP, who is “named after my printer because he likes to sleep on it.”
As for what’s next? After an injury prevented her planned turn as Darna — a legendary Wonder Woman-esque character in the Philippines — Soberano’s got heroes on her mind. “I did have the training for it, and I was very eager to portray a superhero but just never really had another opportunity to do so,” she says. “That’s definitely something I’d love to explore.” Like Raissa, the world’s at her feet.
Learn more about Soberano in her Bustle Booth questionnaire below.
In The Bustle Booth
What’s your coffee order?
Iced latte with salted caramel.
What are the saved weather locations on your phone?
LA, New York, Florida, Cupertino, Manila, Seoul, Singapore.
What’s your sign?
Capricorn.
Favorite overused movie quote?
“I like that boulder. That is a NICE boulder.” — Donkey from Shrek.
What was your favorite cartoon as a kid?
Scooby-Doo or Totally Spies.
What’s one movie or TV show you’re currently obsessed with?
Jujutsu Kaisen and Black Torch.
Who is your celeb idol?
Angelina Jolie and Audrey Hepburn.
If you had to be on a reality TV show, what would it be?
Probably the Overcooked reality show. I love cooking, and I love obstacle courses!
Go-to karaoke song?
“Love the Way You Lie.”
What’s something that’s inspiring you lately?
My childhood. Working on an animation allowed me to be a big kid again, and I find myself really reminiscing these days.
What is something you would want people to say about you?
That I’m a good person.
