Isabela Merced Shares 15 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About "Turtles All The Way Down," "The Last Of Us" Season 2, And More

One of the fastest-rising young actors might just be Isabela Merced. At only 22 years old, she already has an impressive career under her belt, even being part of Teen Vogue's New Hollywood Class of 2023. After starring in a string of successful children's movies and shows, like Dora and the Lost City of Gold, she's now starring in some of the most buzzy projects.

Madame Web, Superman: Legacy, and Alien: Romulus are just a few of her recent and upcoming credits, on top of joining the cast for The Last of Us Season 2 as Dina, one of the most beloved characters from the original video game.

Right now, Isabela is starring in Turtles All the Way Down, an adaptation of John Green's beloved 2017 novel. It's the second time she's starred in a John Green adaptation, with this one being a bit of a passion project as she first auditioned when she was around 17 years old.

Now that the movie is finally out in the world, Isabela sat down with me to discuss bringing this book to the big screen, what drew her to playing Aza, and so much more. And, we even found time to chat about her time on The Last of Us Season 2 set so far, her favorite books and musicals, and more.

Here's everything we chatted about:

1.First, how did you initially get involved in Turtles All the Way Down and what was it like adapting another John Green book after starring in Let It Snow in 2019?

So, this movie has been around for a while. Hannah [Marks] was like in her early 20s when she first signed on to be a director on it. That was around the first time I probably sent in my first audition. I did two separate auditions, and you can tell that they are a ways apart because my haircut is different in each one. I was maybe 17 for the first audition. I looked like a baby, and that was the one that John saw. And then, after the premiere of Let It Snow, he let me know that he really enjoyed it.

He really wanted me to be Aza. So that was circa 2018 or 2019. So that was very exciting to hear. When you're in the moment because you're like, Okay, people say these things. And then deals fall through all the time. So I just, you know, I took it with a grain of salt, but really appreciated that he took the time to tell me that.

Then, the second time around, the movie hadn't, you know, gotten on its feet the first time. So, the second time around, I auditioned again. And again, there was a long period of time in between that and the third time, they ended up just calling me and letting me know, "Hey, you don't have to audition again. But this time, the movie is definitely happening. So we'd love for you to be a part of it."

2.What was your favorite John Green book growing up?

I feel like it was definitely The Fault In Our Stars. That was my introduction to him. So like, that's the first book I read of his. And honestly, he came out the gate so incredibly strong with, like, his ability to just write amazing stories, but also, he has such a skill for putting himself in the mindset and the mentality of a young woman somehow. His ability to do that was so impressive. And that resonated with me, especially because I was like, really, really young when I first read the book. It was before the movie came out. So I was very excited. I was very young. And so that has to be my favorite of his.

3.What is your favorite book-to-movie or book-to-TV adaptation?

Honestly, most recently, Poor Things. The book is incredible. And, like, reading that before you watch the movie is very, very helpful and insightful.

Emma Stone's performance and just the visual design of that whole movie I still think about all the time.

I feel like the world was so camp and so just amazing. I really, really liked it. It just worked. I didn't even need it to be 100% loyal to the book. But like, if it works in tandem with the book, I'm happy.

I feel like Turtles All the Way Down does that, too. We added things. We added the professor — and I love a moment in a movie where a character says the title — we added the Chicago trip. We took away some stuff. But like, we were mostly loyal to the book.

I think that's a great point because, as a book fan, as long as things are added to the adaptation that expand the world and make sense, I'm happy. Like, I'm a huge fan of Daisy Jones & the Six, and that TV show added so much that I did enjoy that wasn't in the original novel.

Exactly! For Turtles, there are minuscule details that are changed, though. So, like, you'll notice that on Aza's Band-Aid finger, it's not the middle of it. It's actually, like, the pad of her finger. So it changed to that. Oh, also, Davis doesn't have glasses. A lot of people were confused in the trailer because Davis didn't have glasses. Which is so funny. Like, I'm kind of glad they didn't do that, though, because I don't like seeing, like, ultra-hot people in glasses in movies. I feel like, Okay, c'mon. Like, if you're really that hot, you can probably afford contacts.

[Laughing] Right. It's always like, we get it. He's sexy AND smart. We don't need the glasses to tell us.

YES! [Laughing] I just feel like it would have been a little too on the nose. Like, Oh, he's smart. He's–

He's shy.

[Laughing] And then it would've been like, he takes off the glasses, and he's hotter. Like, that's not how it works.

Also, John said in an interview recently, and like to me as well, he was like, "I wanted to take so much of the book out of the movie." He'd be like, "That's not a good idea. Where's that from?" And Hannah's like, "We kind of have to keep it 'cause it's from the book." He's like, "But do we have to?"

I kind of love that from his perspective. Like he almost gets to go back and redo things if he wants when his books get adapted.

Which is real, though. Like everybody is embarrassed of their work from years ago. The truth is you grow, and you have different perspectives, and even though it might have been everything to someone, that doesn't mean that YOUR story doesn't get to change. I get it. I do the same thing with my songs.

4.In Turtles All the Way Down, Aza and Davis' love story is very wholesome. How was it portraying such a sweet relationship alongside Felix Mallard?

I love that, from the start, you know, they say, "You're old, new." There's a sort of familiarity and instant understanding that's mostly unspoken. So even with the beautiful words that they got from the book and put in the movie, like a lot of that tension that you feel, that connection, that chemistry comes from a lot of the words that are unspoken.

The scene where we're staring up at Tau Ceti. That's very beautiful to me. And a lot of it is just glances at each other that make us blush. I really liked this romance; it feels very natural. I love that it's not like...from the moment you see them, you know they're gonna end up together. The writers don't think the audience is dumb. The writers know the audience is smart, so they're like, You know where this is headed. There's that instant connection. Now, let's make it a slow burn. It's really cool to be so upfront about the connection right away. That makes it all the more exciting, in my opinion.

5.Who were your favorite fictional characters growing up?

I really liked The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. So, all of those characters. They were great books.

That is one of my favorite book series, too.

I really adore the books. I love the cover. I remember the cover, like perfectly from memory. And then the movies are incredible. Prince Caspian was awesome. I remember there was a kissing scene or something, and my parents covered my eyes. I was like, You would not BELIEVE the telenovelas Grandma watches when you're not around.

Are you excited about Greta Gerwig's adaptation?

That's gonna be so cool. I wouldn't necessarily want to be a part of it, though. Sometimes, when I'm too close to something, like, I just want to be able to watch it as an outsider. I want to be thrown into the world again.

6.You and Cree have such incredible chemistry as Aza and Daisy in Turtles All the Way Down. How was it working with her and bringing that friendship to life on screen?

I have gotten to know Cree for a long time now. Cree and I were both on Nickelodeon growing up. She was in Game Shakers. I was in a show called 100 Things to Do Before High School. It's funny, in the comments of these posts where we're promoting Turtles All the Way Down together, people are like, "Oh, I used to get them confused all the time." I don't think we look alike. But, like, maybe we do. I don't know. But basically, Cree and I knew each other from back then. We had really only hung out in group settings, though, because how we knew each other was through other people.

So this was our first time really getting to hang out one-on-one and get to know each other on a deeper level. I got to watch how she works because we'd never worked together before, even though we were on the same network. And so I feel like Cree is just really, really charming, like Daisy, but also extremely intellectual, like Daisy. Extremely quick, like Daisy, too. But there are parts of Cree that also remind me of Aza and vice versa, like there are parts of me that remind me of Daisy. So it's really cool how we both overlap in some sense, and I think that's why our chemistry reads so well is because we understand the other person.

7.You and Cree have a very emotional scene where Aza and Daisy get into a car accident right after Daisy is very honest about how she feels about their friendship. How was it filming that moment?

Arguments are so hard to write, and then, you know, if they're not well written, it's really hard to sell them with acting. So I have to give props to Isaac [Aptaker] and Elizabeth [Berger] for just handing over such a beautiful, flawless script and just great dialogue all around.

That day, specifically, it was very hot. It was in the middle of the summer, and not a lot of people know this, but like when you're filming car scenes, usually the car's not on, the windows are closed. There are no pockets of air. And the cars get hot really fast. We're like on a rig being dragged by another car in neutral. So it was very heated. It wasn't hard to access that sort of exhaustion because we were already feeling it. And, like, you can tell, we're a little red in the face, and that's because of the heat, babes. Like it was something else, and like Cree's such a trooper, Cree never complained. She's such a professional.

8.Turtles All the Way Down is one of the first movies Hannah Marks has directed. How was it working with such a young female director on this project?

Studios are constantly coming up with ways to relate to the younger audiences. Like because they are usually run by a bunch of people who've been in this industry for a very long time, they've obviously aged out of the demographic that they're trying to appeal to for these young adult movies. So I think having her was just amazing. I mean, she's so trendy. She started off shooting music videos. That was like her start with directing. And she was an actor too. So she knows how to talk to actors. She just knows what's cool.

Like, the music, you can tell by the music that's selected to be in the movie that she's just a woman of taste [laughs]. Actually, she used one of the songs that I sent to her from my Aza playlist as the first song that plays in the movie.

Wait, that's awesome.

Yeah, it's the song "Oh No" by Biig Piig, who I've been a fan of for years now. Whenever I make a character playlist, she always somehow ends up on one of them, or many of them, at least once. So for this one, it was "Oh No," and the lyrics themselves are so Aza, and this became my Aza song. And Hannah surprised me because she didn't even tell me she was going to use it.

I always love it when actors talk about the music playlists they create for characters. It's always so interesting to me.

Yeah, I have one for Dina [from The Last of Us] and one for Hawkgirl [from Superman: Legacy].

The Dina one would kill me. I'm a big The Last of Us fan.

Yeah, it's a lot of folk music, actually. And then a lot of indie. Some rock, honestly. But then my Hawkgirl one, because it sounds like "hot girl," it's just hot girls. And then [the title] is H-O-T-H-A-W-K-G-U-R-L-S in all caps. It features a lot of Chappell Roan. Like hyper-pop, just fruitiness on the side.

What's your go-to album you're listening to on repeat right now? Or a song you're obsessed with?

I'm really into Chappell Roan. I've been listening to a lot of Cocteau Twins. I've been listening to Jessica Pratt. Those are my top three, I think.

David Livingston / Getty Images, Naughty Dog / Via youtube.com

9.You obviously can't say too much about The Last of Us Season 2, but is there anything you can tease about filming so far and what it has been like working with Bella Ramsey?

It always amazes me how the creators of these things, like Neil [Druckman] and Craig [Mazin], just know things. Not just when it comes to, like, the chemistry that I have with Bella. But when it comes to everyone in this cast. Everyone's like a gem of a human being, and we all get along really well. It's just really impressive to me. And I've been trying to ask them like, "How do you do it? What is your secret?" because when I hopefully start producing and directing stuff, I want to be able to have that ability to vet people so, so well like them.

Bella and I never did a chemistry read. Bella and I never met before we went into The Last of Us, so it was a big risk. And we were aware of that. But ever since watching the first season, I knew I was in good hands with Bella. Bella's extremely charming, extremely personable, a natural actor. So believable. Like, even if I sucked as an actor, you're working with someone like that. It's hard to look bad. I'm really excited. Personally, in my opinion, and from what we've heard from like the studio and Craig and stuff, I feel like this could potentially be, like, an iconic sapphic television story.

Oh, I'm excited. Ellie and Dina are probably two of my favorite characters across any form of media. I'm excited to see you both bring their relationship to life.

It's really, really exciting. There's a scene in particular that I think is going to be on everyone's Twitter feed.

I'm glad you're having fun with it, too. As a fan, I know taking on Dina is a HUGE undertaking, so I love that it has been so great for you already.

Oh, yeah. Thank you. I mean, like, I'm never alone. I'm always with Bella. Bella and I goof off, and we just have a lovely, lovely time.

Phillip Faraone / Getty Images for ELLE, Naughty Dog / Via youtube.com

10.Do you find it different working on big projects, like Madame Web, Superman: Legacy, or The Last of Us, compared to smaller projects like Turtles All the Way Down?

It depends on how collaborative everyone is. There wasn't much collaboration on Madame Web. However, there is a lot of collaboration on The Last of Us. A lot of collaboration. I really feel like I am heard, and I trust the people that I'm working with. Like Craig Mazin, he's able to see so many perspectives, and he oversees everything. He's always on set, and on top of that, we have really, really amazing directors. I'm currently working with Peter Hoar, who worked on the first season as well. I worked with Mark Mylod, too. Like very, VERY incredible people.

But because I've been working with all kinds of people for a while now, like at least 10 years of acting now, I actually am really proud of myself for my ability to speak up when I disagree with something regardless of who the person is and how many credits they have on IMDb.

That's impressive that you've realized that so early in your career. I feel like older actors talk about how it took them a while to gain the confidence to speak up to a director, producer, or whoever is on set.

Well, you learn by neglecting your instincts and intuition, and then you see the result, and you're like, Oh, I was wrong. I should have done what I thought I should have done. So you learn the hard way. But then, it's easier going forward once you do it the first time. The first few times are a little awkward and hard. And you kind of practice in your head what you're gonna say to the director, but then the next few times, I mean, it just comes out of you, like you have to say it or you're gonna lose your mind.

It's almost like finding a way to convey how well you also know your characters and their motivations.

That, and it's also mostly just trusting yourself and your intuition, and trusting the people that you're with, and sometimes you don't, but you have to hear them out every time because, again, it's really important not to get too in your head and have an open mindset.

11.Who have you been the most starstruck by?

Oh, god. There's a terrible, horribly embarrassing video — ON THE INTERNET — of me meeting Jim Carrey, not even by my choice. Like, this lady who was interviewing me, like...I just have maybe a one-sided beef with her because I think she thought she was doing me a favor. But I was mortified. She interrupted an interview that he was IN on a red carpet—

No. No way.

Nora, I swear. Just to be like, "Do you know Dora?"

NO WAY. Stop.

First of all, I have a government name. [Laughing]. And, like, I would love for him to know my real name. And she was like, "She's in Dora." And he's like, "I haven't read the books." And I'm thinking, Wait, what? He has no idea what she's talking about. He's like, "I'm sorry. I'm not familiar with your work." And I was like, "Oh, it's okay." Like, please make this stop because I was a huge fan of his, and I still am. It's just like, that lady completely ruined it.

We're going to have to get you a redo. We'll get you a redo with him. I'll make it happen. It'll be fine.

I know. Like, I definitely haven't gotten over that because then, on top of that, IT'S ON THE INTERNET. Of course, like my teenage embarrassing moment is on the internet. And, like, I'm sure there'll be more to come, but hopefully, not because of someone else. Like, I hope it's just my fault.

12.A big aspect of Turtles All the Way Down is watching Aza's obsessive-compulsive disorder and how it affects all of her relationships. How was it having so many scenes with no dialogue but having to get to a very emotional place?

Well, there are a few ways that I guess I think about it, and one of them is that that happens to me a lot all the time. Like, I find that I have multiple voices in my head. They all have their own opinions. And, one probably thinks that they make more sense than the other in the current moment. However, it's very useful when you're acting because you're able to, like, put yourself instantly in another mentality by accessing one voice more than the other.

I find that it's easier to access those extreme states of emotion when you try to do less instead of more. I find that I try to stay goofy in between takes. I tried to keep it light-hearted. And because, you know, I've been doing this for a very long time now and because I honestly feel like it's a survival instinct at this point, like, Babe, you do it, or you're fired, and you do it well, or your career's going to be over. So, that kicks in for me regardless because you just don't want to [whispers] mess it up. Like, every 10 minutes cost so much money on set.

13.Do you have a dream actor or director you'd love to work with in the future?

Oh, Richard Linklater. I'm a big fan. I actually auditioned for Merrily We Roll Along.

Oh, really?

Yeah, they ended up casting a really close friend of mine, Mallory Bechtel, who's amazing. I get it, like a different look completely. But I am a musical theater kid at heart, and I would have loved to [do that movie]. I mean, just in general would love to be a part of a movie musical or just a musical. One day, I'll go back to Broadway, but like I am truly such a theater kid at my core. I'm very excited for that movie to happen and I think it's a beautiful story.

As for dream actor, if he were still alive, I would have said Robin Williams. He's definitely my favorite actor. Also, probably because I would like to study her or like get to know her more, I really feel like Meryl Streep or someone similar to that, like Rosamund Pike. I really admire Rosamund Pike. I just want to watch their processes. They just access another state of being whenever I see them in a movie. It's out of this world.

14.Do you have a favorite Broadway musical?

A Chorus Line. Company. Even Thoroughly Modern Millie is great. Oh my god, The Drowsy Chaperone. Like, okay—

Oh, I LOVE The Drowsy Chaperone. My family went and saw it on Broadway when I was younger, and my little brother was obsessed with it.

YES. YES. Like, favorite Broadway actress, Sutton Foster, FOR SURE. I miss going to Broadway. I want to see The Great Gatsby. I want to see The Notebook. Merrily We Roll Along. I missed Sweeney Todd!

We have to get you back to New York.

I know! I know!

15.And finally, have you ever caught someone on a flight or anywhere in public watching a TV show or movie you're in?

Saying anything or being caught around them as they were watching it would be my biggest nightmare, so I have never said anything. But I have walked to the bathroom during a flight and seen someone watching Instant Family. Yeah, Instant Family was mostly watched on a plane, I think [laughing]. I feel like I saw that on the plane a lot. And it was very awkward for me, like, my face would go red and I would sink into my seat.

You can watch Isabela in Turtles All the Way Down, which is streaming now on Max.

This interview has been edited for length and/or clarity.