Young television and movie star Liza Soberano had to unlearn a few things when she lent her voice to Alexandra Trese, the modern-day babaylan in the upcoming Filipino anime series on Netflix entitled Trese.
Needless to say, the 23-year-old screen belle had to leave her comfort zone to be able to give a “believable” portrayal of a smart, empowered, and kickass lady detective who is out in the streets to solve crimes perpetrated by underworld creatures and malevolent supernatural beings.
Speaking to Manila Standard Entertainment, Liza admitted that playing Trese is a dream come true for her. Although at first, she had to think twice “not wanting to fail anyone’ after not being able to push through with an iconic role before, the Kapamilya star is determined to introduce a new character that a lot of people can look up to.
“When it was finally announced that I will be portraying Trese, a lot of my fans were also saying that because I wasn’t able to push through with [Darna], this is kind of like Lord’s gift to me in a way na kapalit ng previous role,” Liza stated.
“Unfortunately I didn’t get to do that but I feel like I was able to bring that side of me out through Trese. And that kind of made my fans feel proud because they were waiting and anticipating for me to portray that iconic role. Well at least they have this now and see a different side of me and what I am capable of doing,” she carried on.
Delving into her character deeper, Liza said that Trese is not exactly a superhero. She’s a female detective who finds herself head to head with a criminal underworld. And preparing for the role wasn’t an easy task.
“I watched a lot of superhero films even if Trese is not exactly a superhero. I watched Batman. I kind of struggled at first because even if I’m angry I’m still mahinhin. I had to sound authoritative,” Liza said adding that the director instructed her to sound exactly “like me.”
“I modulated my voice and made it a little bit lower because I can be as convulsive if I wouldn’t modulate my voice,” she added.
Trese is Liza’s first project as a voice actor. Apart from having a voice coach, she did her own research on YouTube about voice acting and techniques, including vocal warmups. And since it’s her voice that does all the acting, she had to move as well as if she’s doing the stunts.
“I was trying to imagine myself in that same position. Of course, when you are doing voice-overs, whatever she’s doing, let us say she punches, you have to sound like you’re moving as well. I was trying to do not the exact routine but, in a way, move like her so that it becomes more believable that I’m actually doing something while you hear my voice speaking,” she said.
Set in Manila where the mythical creatures of Philippine folklore live in hiding amongst humans, detective Alexandra Trese finds herself going head to head with a criminal underworld.
This horror Netflix Original Anime series is based on the Philippine graphic novel created by Budjette Tan and KaJO Baldisimo. Created for screen by Jay Oliva (Wonder Woman, The Legend of Korra), Trese is voiced by Shay Mitchell (YOU, Pretty Little Liars) in the English language version and Liza (My Ex and Whys, Alone/Together) in the Filipino language version.
Trese premieres globally on Netflix, June 11.