Olivia Delcán – Warrior Nun

By starrymag | August 12, 2020

By: Lisa Steinberg

 

 

 

Q) We see this perpetual optimism in Camila that reminds us of a certain iconic nun, Maria from the Sound of Music, who although doesn’t wield a weapon quite like Camila. Nuns who join the OCS are either running toward or from something. What was the breakdown for her like that you received? Did anything inspire your character prep as to what drove Camila there?

 

A) I think Camila has always been very religious and I remember episode eight, I think, we finally knew more about Camila’s background.  She has siblings and she grew up with her mom who was Scottish.  I just feel she has never had to make a rough decision about becoming a nun.  It was just something that naturally happened to her.

My preparation, I always approach my characters very physically instead of very psychologically.  It was very helpful to use music because I think Camila is very connected to music.  So, I made a playlist on Spotify about a bunch of songs that I think Camila would like because I love that Camila loves Frank Ocean.  I think that says a lot about her.  Also, I worked a lot with the costumes because they were so perfect in a way.  They really gave each character a solid personality.  It was very good to have those two things.  We had people to help us get into costume, we couldn’t do it by ourselves.  Once they put on the nun’s outfit it was just like we were in character.  That helped a lot.

 

Q) I talked about Camila’s optimism which reminded me of Maria from Sound of Music, but it’s also her musicality that really kind of connects them just as much as well.  I don’t know that all of this was intentional, but that’s my interpretation.

 

A) It happens to me a lot that I don’t try to be funny, it just happens because I am too into the character and everything.  Like I wasn’t trying to be funny, but then I do see how Camila can be very funny.  I mean nuns with weapons is pretty funny.

 

Q) We have this image of nuns and they are very stoic and straight faced because their religion and beliefs are their core and what they are entirely devout to.  Here we see nuns with humor and charisma and a little bit of letting their guard down…

 

A)  And attitude.  So much attitude.

 

Q) We talk about beliefs and religious core to nuns and we have this huge revelation at the end of the season which shocks everyone, but especially Camila.  Do you think Sister Camila’s faith in God will be affected by the revelation with her own devotion with regards to the church?

 

A) Her world is turned upside down. I think for the first time in her life the one thing that she really believes that gave her answers and hope and warmth is torn apart.  So, I think there is going to be a huge shift for Camila because Father Vincent (Tristán Ulloa) was everything to them.  It was like their father in a way and it’s a hard thing to digest, but I think they are going to come through it with more strength and power and grounding because it’s a way of becoming a woman also. I think they are not also nuns, but they are very young girls who are united because of the church and suddenly the church is something that becomes a threat in a way.  I mean the church or Father Vincent more and the angel. There are a lot of questions and a lot of answers.

 

Q) Season Two!

 

A) Yeah, hopefully.

 

Q) You talked about these familial bonds that we see and you mention that Father Vincent is kind of like a father figure to these ladies. What I love is this familial bond we see and, yes, they are Sisters of OCS but some share an even deeper sisterhood. How do these female forward bonds we see within the series really help form the young woman we see on screen and open up the audience to that energy?

 

A) I think we worked the characters as if we were sisters in a way, like real sisters.  Sisters fight and they hate each-other and they just can’t stand each other, but deep down they are still sisters so they have to stick together no matter what.  We just had that very clear in everything and in every scene that we were doing.  Also, the actors Lorena [Andrea], Toya [Turner], Kristina [Tonteri-Young] and Alba [Baptista] – we were really also building a bond so we could visualize it on screen.

 

Q) Like you said, and especially with Lorena and Toya’s characters, they fight like they are hard enemies, but there is all of this love and sisterhood underneath all of that.  They keep coming back to each other regardless of any animosity.  

 

A) Toya’s character Mary, I don’t know if Ava says something like, “But you always fight, how can you want Lilith to come back to the OCS?” Sister Mary is like, “I mean we’re sisters, of course we fight.”

 

Q) Mary has shotguns, Ava has the halo, Beatrice has tech skills and Camila’s power other than this beautiful musicality is that she’s an observer. Where do you think Camila’s power or connection and calling comes in with regards her skills set?

 

A) I think Camila is very good with emotions also.  She has a clear sense of what’s right and wrong.  She is very innocent and whenever she feels that there is something that is not right or not just or someone is not being nice.  I think she has a deep sense of justice.  She’s a great observer, as you said, and I think that’s another quality that relates to the sense of doing what’s right.  I think that’s why she is so disappointed in finding out that Father Vincent betrayed them.  I think she’s very good at creating bonds.  I think sometimes she is the glue between the sisters in a way.  She relates to all of them in such a pure way that I feel like that’s what we talked about with the girls.  We were like, yeah, I believe that Camila is the glue of the Sisterhood.

 

Q) Absolutely. That’s so true.  I mean, we see this in a hallway between Ava and Beatrice and then see Camila walking up and they don’t even seem to notice her.  She suddenly is there smiling at them and she notices way more than they can ever notice between the two of them and the different connections we see between the other sisters as well. It’s like she holds this secret and intuition and it’s like a little treasure in a sense.

 

A) Yeah. Totally.

 

Q) A lot of the girls obviously have a powerful presence and are bold and confident.  Camila has her own kind of confidence and her own intuition which really guides a lot of her actions.  She doesn’t necessarily have to be the leader of the pack, but she has this energy that is all her own.

 

A) Yeah. I think that is very feminine also because we are taught that you can only get things being masculine and harsh and loud. I think Camila represents how you can deal with struggles and life, but through kindness and care and listening and taking care of the people you care about. I think she gets what she wants in a way doing that and not being loud and screaming and being aggressive.

 

Q) Definitely. Empathy is a huge power in itself.

 

Q) Obviously, the series required a lot of extensive rigorous training in many areas. Did the crossbow involve a lot of practice and what was the most challenging or boundary pushing part?

 

A) I had so much fun training. I love to play and I love to fight in a peaceful way; not for real. It was just so much fun. I just found it very playful. I know the last fight was the hardest one because all of us were fighting and there was choreography and you had to be very precise. It was very fun. It was so much fun.

 

Q) Speaking of the last fight, Camila kind of gets a last lick in, well really spit in.  Is that something that was scripted or something you improvised and added in?

 

A) I mean I just felt like spitting.  I told Simon the director, “Could I spit on him at the end?”  We were rehearsing and I was just like I need something more.  I just shot the last arrow, but I am still not at peace.  I just told that to the director and he was like yeah, “Sure, try it.  It was great.”  I also asked the actor, I was like, “Can I spit on you? I’m sorry.  Camila really wants to spit on you.”

 

Q) It does seem like a perfect choice. As we said, Camila is this person who is so devoted in her faith and this is what shatters her. This is such a culminating moment for her and it felt like a really right choice.

 

A) Yeah, exactly. I think there is this big shift for Camila in that scene. She blew up in a way.  So, yeah.  I don’t think Camila is going to be the same person as she was before that episode. For sure.

 

Q) The cinematography with these gorgeous landscapes and scenery really adds to the darkness and dramedy of the series. It’s an exceptional element that plays up the acting and the emotion. Can you talk about how this also helps play up the themes and undertones of the series just as much as if it was a character?

 

A) It was amazing to shoot in a real church and with the whole story of Areala (Guiomar Alonso) and of the angel Adriel (William Miller).  It was painted on the wall.  It was the world of the OCS and it was just so real.  Everywhere you looked.  The art was amazing and it really helped. As I said, the costumes were so real, it had real leather and it was very harsh to put on and it held you up because it was so many layers of costume.  Everything helped so much. Where we shot in Antequera, which there was this village in Malaga and I think it’s like the place with the most churches in Spain.  So, it was amazing also to see all of these different churches. It was very inspiring. It was a real church.  Like we were nuns in a real church, so you felt like a nun.

 

Q) You talked about the costumes and their details and intricacies are magnificent and so befitting of each character.  You talk about the leather and the emblems and it’s really a huge part of the core of the series because it really turns you into these nuns.  The costume design was spectacular.

 

A) Yeah. Cristina Sopeña was the costume designer and she is just amazing.  I was so grateful.  I couldn’t imagine something better for Camila than her warrior outfit.  I just love it.  I had these leather gloves that were just so perfect.  Also, the weapons were heavy and my crossbow was like a real crossbow, but it was tricked out so I couldn’t shoot real arrows.  That would be very dangerous.  But it was amazing.  Every costume was so perfect and fitting to every character.  It was perfect.  It was great.

 

It was also great to relate to them because you saw them and we were blown away by their outfits.  They looked so badass.

 

Q) They are truly like a direct extension of their embodiment really.

 

A) Yeah.

 

Q) What I love about “Warrior Nun” is it puts these fierce females front and center. They don’t apologize, they are also layered and with great vulnerability. Why is it even more important these days we see more series with these multi-dimensional strong female leads at its forefront?

 

A) I think that we are living in a very important time period right now that everyone we thought were our heroes or our leaders or what we thought our future was going to be like or what we thought was right, it’s just getting smashed to the ground.  It’s not working anymore.  Having these strong female characters like that from their own skin seeing that their whole world is smashing to the ground and what they thought was representing them in a way is no longer working for them. It’s totally happening right now with the situation that we are living in in 2020. I just feel like it’s very important for people to see that the best that you can do in a way and I think that the “Warrior Nun’s” message is to really create a community of people that you really care about and take care of who you love and stick together and you can fight anything in a way.

 

Q) We all have a battle whether it is internally, emotionally, or physically that we are struggling with especially these days.  It’s so relevant right now to see these kinds of core characters that are confident, bold, but also allowing themselves to be vulnerable and not necessarily having to push their emotions down or away.

 

A) Yeah. To feel proud of what you are feeling. Like it’s okay to be mad or be sad, to feel betrayed.  It’s okay because that’s what’s happening.  You might as well feel it and express it and talk about it because when you talk about it you find people who are feeling or living the same story that you are living. I think it’s very important that we create a community and stick together.

 

Q) That’s a lot of what makes “Warrior Nun Wednesdays” so special. It helps create this community and during that brief time tweeting you get to engage with people in that moment who, like you said, can connect with one another and share in a community.  

 

A) I think that is very powerful. That is why I enjoy so much tweeting on “Warrior Nun Wednesday.” Everyone has been so kind with their questions also.  It’s been great.

 

Q) You all have been so generous and kind to share so much behind the scenes content with fans as well, it really solidifies this amazing camaraderie that you as a cast have built together. Are you all keeping in touch and passing around content?

 

A) We have a couple of WhatsApp groups and, yeah, we talk a lot.  We do a Zoom call once a week.  Alba came to visit me in Spain.  Alba is from Lisbon, Portugal so we are pretty close.  It’s amazing. She came to see a play that I did.

 

Q) That’s really cool. I mean, we don’t see too many Ava/Camila scenes this season.

 

A) I know, that’s true. But we were pretty tight when shooting.

 

Q) Is there anything that you really hope fans take away from watching the series or anything you’d like to impart on fans to keep a lasting message?

 

A) I think for me what’s the most important thing of the show is how you can feel free to feel and to listen to what you really want and want to share with the people you love. That you really need to trust yourself and create groups of people that you want to share your life with.

 

Q) Yes, absolutely.  Much of what we talked about is this great community and family sense that the series really brings.  We often forget that family isn’t necessarily the people we are born into by blood.  Family can be people that you choose who end up being your sisters, brothers, father or mother figures, etc.  Community and family can be what you make of it.

 

A) I think the only way that you can fight anything in your life is to stick together. Just take care of each other. If you take care of each other everything will be alright.