The Sex Lives of College Girls breakout Ilia Isorelýs Paulino talks Lila's new job and those hilarious one-liners
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Warning: This post contains spoilers from season 2, episode 6 of The Sex Lives of College Girls.
Lila (Ilia Isorelýs Paulino) has always been a boss ... but now she's the boss.
During season 2 of The Sex Lives of College Girls, Lila has found herself more in the fold, whether she's helping Bela (Amrit Kaur) launch a comedy magazine or being promoted to manager at Sips. EW spoke with star Ilia Isorelýs Paulino about her breakout first season, those killer one-liners, and all the Lila love.
Katrina Marcinowski/HBO Max Ilia Isorelýs Paulino and Amrit Kaur on 'The Sex Lives of College Girls'
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Let's start at the beginning. How did you find this show?
ILIA ISORELYS PAULINO: I was on my way back from my first gig ever, which was I was a small part opposite Kristen Bell in a film called Queenpins, and on my way back, I got the breakdown. Lila's gone through different iterations and the first iterations were more like punk alternative kind of vibes, but when I read the scripts I was like, "I think I know exactly who she is, let me show them." So I played her way closer to the Lila that you see now. They gave me the callback and this was during the pandemic so everything was in my living room, in my childhood home. My mother was in her bedroom trying to listen in. I would crack jokes and you'd hear a distant chuckle. At the end, she thought I was done and she comes in the room, she's like, "Did you do it mija?" And I was like, "Mommy they're still on Zoom." [Laughs] Then I ended up booking!
How much improv is there with Lila?
I definitely have a lot of freedom compared to the other girls. If we're being mathematical, and I'm very bad at math so maybe I'm not the best person, but I'd say it's 70-30, maybe 60-40. Sometimes at the end of a scene, I'll just kind of go off and do my own thing. In a group sometimes the energy is there and we're talking about dick and you know what it is to talk about dick, you know what I mean? Say what you gotta say! As long as we're having fun, oftentimes they'll include it in the cut because it's real. They let me get away with a lot of stuff on this show. [Laughs]
What was the season 1 reaction to Lila?
It was a lot of love. It was a lot of people really feeling like they knew me, and that is always such a compliment. It was so much love and excitement. A big question I get is, "How much are you like Lila? She's an exaggerated part of me, but it's a lot. [Laughs]
I about died when she talked about Eric (Mekki Leeper) getting caught in the cupid shuffle.
When I first read the script I didn't put it together that it'd be the actual Cupid Shuffle. I thought she meant it metaphorically, I don't know. And then when we were shooting they were like, "Bring in the extras," and then they start doing the Cupid Shuffle I was like, "This is f---ing funny." I broke a couple times.
Okay, we have to talk about Lila becoming the manager of Sips!
When I read the script I was like, "Do I have to wear the little T-shirts? No, thank god." They were like, "You're professional," and I was like, "Yes, but it's Lila being professional so I'm like, can we unbutton just like one more button?" They're like, "She's a manager!" I was like," But it's LILA being the manager. She wants her titties out. This is HBO." [Laughs]
Does her new position change any dynamics with friends?
I think even before she was a manager she was already a boss, you know what I mean? I think the only difference is the name tag, the pay raise, and the clothing. Otherwise she was always the boss. When you needed something to get done, you'd go to Lila.
I also have to call out your delivery of the foot fetishists line!
That was an ADR line! The fun part about being Lila is nine times out of 10, she'll get the button line on the scene, and most of the time they don't really know what they want to do so, that specific line, that was ADR, and I think they had me do like 10 different options or something and they're all ridiculous. So when I saw that that was the one they went with I was like, "That was a good one."
Do you have a favorite episode for the rest of the season?
I love the way it ends. I'm a big fan of it. And also the parties at the end are a little ratchet. [Laughs]
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
New episodes of The Sex Lives of College Girls hit HBO Max on Thursdays.
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