Martha Millan
M
artha Millan was born in the Philippines and raised in Sydney, Australia. She attended the University of Sydney and then moved to New York City, where she graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She currently plays the emotionally volatile and chaotic ‘Fiona Da La Rosa’ in FOX's highest-rated drama series “The Cleaning Lady”. Martha is an advocate for diversity in the entertainment industry and is proud to be starring on a series portraying Filipinos.
RAINE: What was the spark of creative inspiration that led you to pursue an acting career?
RAINE: What attracted you specifically to the character of Fiona De La Rosa?
MARTHA MILLAN: I was in high school doing a play
MILLAN: The fact that she was Filipino and her fiery
by Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, and I just loved it. That was pretty much it for me, I had to see what acting was all about.
RAINE: Who are your biggest creative and more general inspirations? MILLAN: I don’t have one person or people who in-
spire me, I just have experiences in life to draw from and channel it through scenes and moments I’ve been given to perform. I also think traveling inspires me because you see so many different perspectives from every culture and the many reasons why people respond the way they do.
RAINE: What does it feel like to have a lead role within the first FOX prime time series with an Asian female creative team? MILLAN: Incredibly honored, but humbling, because
you know that they’ve all been working so hard all their lives to achieve such a moment, and you only hope you live up to expectations and do justice to all the work they’ve created.
spirit.
RAINE: How do you hope to see the types of diverse stories told onscreen and behind the cameraexpand even further in the years to come? MILLAN: I only hope that highlighting the need for di-
versity and representation isn’t only a phase, but that it actually becomes normalized because it’s the true representation of how our world is today.
RAINE: Do you have any further exciting projects coming up? MILLAN: I’m appearing in Merry Kiss Cam, a Hulu
movie that’s being released toward the end of the year starring Katie Lowes and Jesse Bradford. I play a completely different character. I’m rich, entitled, obnoxious and comedic. I play an art gallery owner and I use my own accent in this film, which is kind of awesome. I haven’t used my accent in a project since The Great New Wonderful.
RAINE MAGAZINE VOL 39
