Posted in: Lionsgate, Movies | Tagged: Diablo

Diablo: De La Rossa on Embracing Her New Acting Frontier in Hollywood

Alanna De La Rossa (Dominique) spoke to Bleeding Cool about her latest Lionsgate action thriller Diablo, Scott Adkins, aspirations, and more.

Columbian sensation Alanna De La Rossa has always embraced the spotlight since emerging as a child star at the age of two. With 14 projects under her belt, she garnered attention with international audiences in the 2024 Lionsgate action thriller Dominique as Abril. Her latest is playing opposite stars Scott Adkins and Marko Zaror in Lionsgate's Diablo. She spoke to Bleeding Cool about how she developed her character of Elisa with writer-director Ernesto Díaz Espinoza and Adkins to show her range, the grueling shoot of the film's climactic scene, and why one of her goals in acclimating to Hollywood is to follow in the path of Ballerina star Ana de Armas.

Diablo follows an ex-convict, Kris Chaney (Adkins), who makes it his mission to right a terrible wrong by revealing a secret that could end his life. He is a warrior who seizes the daughter (De La Rossa) of a Colombian gangster to fulfill a noble promise to the young girl's mother. When her father enlists both the criminal underworld and the terrifying psychotic killer El Corvo (Zaror) to exact his revenge, Kris will need to draw upon everything he has ever learned — in and out of lockup — to stay alive and keep his word.

Diablo Star Alanna De La Rossa on Creative Freedom, Bonding, Ana de Armas, and More

Bleeding Cool: What intrigued you about 'Diablo?'

It was the action, for sure. When I got the casting, they told me that they were looking for a girl for an action movie. They didn't tell me that it was with Marko Zaror. I didn't know anything. I did the audition and the four scenes. Ernesto told me that he would give me some freedom to interpret the character of Elisa. He didn't want to give me a description of her. He wanted to do whatever I wanted to do, and I got cast, and they loved it. That's how I get into 'Diablo.' When I got the script, it was 1 a.m., and I couldn't stop reading, because it was so interesting. I was like, "I can't stop."

What's it like working with Ernesto on set, and what did you like most about the script?

Ernesto is such a talented and great guy. He's super free and chill, and I love that and the way we made this great connection. How he directs is really good, he's so open-minded, whatever ideas and new things that I wanted to put into my character, put into the movie, he would say, "Yes," and I love how he trusted me since day one.

What resonated with you about Elisa, and did you put anything extra did you put into the role?

There were two cultural things I put into my character if we're talking about Alanna and Elisa. When I was creating Elisa with Ernesto and Scott [Adkins], we worked on the way she acts and how her personality is such a strong mind and strong character. That's one of the things. She's also super mature and doesn't think like a 15-year-old girl in the way she handled the whole situation and drama in her life in general. I wanted her to be ready for everything, and also, I don't know if you noticed in the movie, but she's cursing all the time. That's another thing I put into the character also with Ernesto, because if she hates Kris, that's like a little juicy part of her character. She could be dying, but she's cursing and making fun of it. She tries to find the humor in everything, so that's one of the things I put into Elisa.

What was the most difficult scene for you to shoot?

I would say the climactic scene, because it was a long sequence. It was two days straight shooting the scene, and it was super hard. We had a lot of people, I'm not going to lie, it was a little overwhelming. First, I was tired, and I was also yelling so much, I was dying, and it was a lot of emotion in the scene. I was tired of crying, yelling, and I was done, but I hadn't seen the movie. The little shortcuts they've been releasing are crazy, and it looks great. Also, the fights were super long, but at the same time, interesting, and I try to learn all the time.

I see you've done a lot of TV. Is there much adjustment when you get opportunities to do films? What's it like for you?

I got my first movie when I was nine years old. All the time, they ask me, "What is the difference?" It's different, but it's not. It's a whole different world in TV novellas and in TV series, there are a lot of different productions of how people work. I prefer movies and how they work. Movie people are such professionals, but they are two different worlds.

How do you like working with Scott, and did you have like a favorite scene with him?

With Scott, I had a great connection, and he's such a teddy bear. You can see him and [assume] he's scary or rude with his face, but he's not. He's a sweet guy, and we made this great connection between not only our characters, but we also developed a great rapport as actors. It felt like I'd known him for a long time. He's part of my family now.

I don't have a favorite scene, because I loved all my scenes with him all the time in the movie. I would say maybe the one scene where we are at the table and eating, and it's the fight after that. I say that one because that was one of my auditions, and I knew the script so well. I remember shooting that scene, and I was like, "I want to do something different," like I wanted to do something to interpret Elissa way better, and we changed the whole scene. That was my favorite scene.

What are your thoughts about working in the US, and are there any dream actors you want to work with?

I moved to Miami a year ago, so I'm trying to look at this new world in the US, try to look for new opportunities, and new projects here in LA too, with the premiere of 'Diablo.' I have a lot of references, actors' references, also Ana de Armas' with 'Ballerina' and everything, she's such a queen! I love her so much, she's such a professional. I want to be her when I grow up. I have a lot of actors in my mind, and all the time when I get new characters, new work, new projects, I try to find references and actors to inspire myself so I can create my character.

Diablo is currently in theaters, digital, and on demand.

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