Fil-Am actress Camille Mana is on a roll with 'The Equalizer' and 'Scrambled'

LOS ANGELES — Camille Mana is one of those rare Fil-Am Hollywood actresses who have stayed grounded all these years.

We still remember when we did our first interview with her and she did not hesitate to come to our downtown apartment then for the interview.

Then we watched her in New York where she portrayed the title role in no less than Jesse Eisenberg's play, "Asuncion" and acted opposite Eisenberg and Justin Bartha at The Cherry Lane Theatre.

A humble and smart actress, the UC Berkeley alum once told us how she finished her economics course in three years so she can pursue her first love, acting!

Now Mana is portraying Ruby, the sister to Mel Bayani (Liza Lapira) on CBS' crime drama series, "The Equalizer."

She is also set to appear in the Leah McKendrick-helmed comedy "Scrambled" which also stars Yvonne Strahovski and June Diane Raphael. It is about a broke, single millennial who unleashes an existential crisis when she freezes her eggs.

Photo courtesy of Camille Mana

Below is our e-mail interview with Mana.

Congratulations on your role in "The Equalizer". Can you please tell us how you got the part?

Thank you. It was a very standard audition process. I had read for the casting director previously. This role, Mel's sister, came up and I read on tape and received the offer from that.

The non-traditional part was that I was coming off a seven-week stint of COVID sickness, and this was the first audition I was able to complete in that entire period. It was a boon to receive it after a challenging period.

Can you please tell us more about this very special Filipino episode on "The Equalizer" where the Bayanis have a reunion?

The show has been on CBS for three seasons now and has done such a lovely job of developing backstories for the other leads.

Mel Bayani (Liza Lapira) has had her love story explored throughout the seasons, since Harry (Adam Goldberg) and she fight crimes together, but this was the first establishment of who her family is.

It is such a lovely gift to have CBS primetime give a three-dimensional history to a character who happens to be a Filipina female. Liza does an incredible job, and I'm grateful to be supporting that storyline.

Camilla Mana as Ruby in "The Equalizer." Photo: Jocelyn Prescod © 2022 CBS Broadcasting, Inc.

How is it working with Liza Lapira and Trevor Salter? Have you worked with them before?

They were both lovely, and we had a nice bond from the get-go. This was the first time any of us had worked together.

Why is representation in Hollywood so important and do you think there has been some improvement in terms of representation?

Representation matters! Hollywood has such a powerful impact on how we as individuals and mass culture perceive things as "normal."

Growing up, I didn't even know how "other" I was perceived until I started acting. It was then that I realized that I couldn't (at that time) play roles that were not defined as categorically Asian or specified as "open ethnicity". There wasn't room for it... yet.

The past few years have seen a sea change. This is reflected in beautiful moments such as Mel's family storyline having a scene that references turon and kare-kare on a mainstream CBS program.

Similarly, NBC's "New Amsterdam" devoted a storyline to a Filipina character being assaulted in a hate crime due to pandemic flares in AAPI violence. I was honored to get to participate in that vulnerable storyline, as the real-time statistics have been alarming.

The beautiful thing is that storyline also featured Dr. Kao (Christine Chang) Chinese American female doctor treating Rose Castillo, so NBC explored what happens when two Asian women are alone in a room, sharing vulnerably their experiences as AAPI.

Photo by Heather LeRoy

The scary thing was, the day the episode aired, was the exact same day a Filipina woman was assaulted near Times Square. The news footage was airing during commercial breaks, while the fictional storyline was airing onscreen.

It was eerie and a very important moment. The producers and AAPI cast went on to do a Q&A and press about that episode to raise awareness for the realities of this. I feel grateful to have been in two recent storylines portraying Filipina American characters in this way.

What do you think should be done to improve representation in Hollywood?

It is unfolding in the most exciting way.

Ten years ago, this could never have been a reality. The nuance continues in trying to bring as much truth to it as is reflective of our changing society.

Viewers can write to networks, content creators, and gatekeepers by letting them know they enjoy seeing themselves represented onscreen, and or what makes them feel good. If you enjoy seeing yourself or a version of your life reflected onscreen, you can let it be known! That is a power we all have as consumers.

What other projects are you involved with?

I am very excited about "Scrambled," a comedy feature film that Lionsgate will be distributing.

It is one of only eight films that will be having its World Premiere in the Narrative Competition at SXSW (South by Southwest) next month. The ensemble cast is female-driven and there are some incredible people involved. My character in it is very different from "The Equalizer!"

—MGP, GMA Integrated News