Why Lana Condor thinks her ‘Ruby Gillman’ and ‘To All the Boys’ characters are similar

Ruby Gillman (right, voiced by Lana Condor) and Grandmamah (Jane Fonda)

For her acting debut in 2016’s “X-Men: Apocalypse,” Lana Condor played Jubilee, a spunky mutant coming to terms with her emerging powers. Thereafter, it didn’t take long before the pretty Vietnamese-American actress was thrust into global stardom after she was cast as lovestruck Lara Jean, a teenager who writes unsent letters to her high school crushes (in 2018’s “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”).

But the 26-year-old actress has got her work cut out for her in her latest film, Universal Pictures International and DreamWorks Animation’s “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken,” which opens in Philippine theaters on Wednesday.

The visually stunning movie, whose themes play out like a crowd-pleasing hybrid of the above-mentioned projects, makes a strong case about the importance of embracing one’s nature and why being different isn’t always a bad thing.

It follows sweet and awkward Ruby Gillman (Lana), a 16-year-old student at Oceanside High who discovers by accident that she’s part of a legendary lineage of royal sea krakens.

The youngster soon realizes that she’s destined to inherit the throne of her Grandmamah (Jane Fonda, who’s fun and exceptionally playful in the role), the Warrior Queen of the Seven Seas who guards the oceans against the sinister and manipulative mermaids in their midst. Unfortunately, she has been estranged from her daughter Agatha (Toni Collette) and her family for 15 years.

Subverting expectations

But Ruby has a lot to sort out for herself even on land, where she’s desperate to fit in and often finds herself feeling invisible on campus. She has a huge crush on Connor (Jaboukie Young-White), the cool skater-boy she wants to invite to the upcoming prom. Problem is, her overprotective mom has forbidden her to go to the “biggest party of the year.”

The film turns age-old notions on its head as it imagines a world where the largely misunderstood krakens have been battling the vain, power-hungry mermaids for eons.

“Our film was such a joy to work on,” Lana told us when we spoke to her for this exclusive interview last Friday. “The story follows this young kraken girl who discovers that she has more powers than she was ever told she had.

“Under the sea, women in her family are 300-feet-tall krakens, but my dad (Emmy winner Colman Domingo), mom and younger brother chose to live on land trying to pretend that we’re human because of all the dangers in the ocean.

“At school, Ruby befriends this mermaid, Chelsea (Emmy winner Annie Murphy), that she believes is her best friend. But she turns out to be superduper evil—and that’s not cool at all! When Chelsea betrays her, Ruby has to fight to save the ocean and the people of Oceanside.

“I’ve been working on it for about three years. This is the first time in my career where I’ve worked on something for so long and had never seen anything at all until a couple of weeks ago (laughs). So I was thrilled when I finally saw how beautiful our film is, so I’m really excited for people to see it.”

Realistic high school life

Lana pointed out that even if Ruby were a kraken, there are many things about her story that can inspire many girls around the world.

“One thing that I loved so much about Ruby is that she goes through a very realistic and relatable high school life,” the actress said. “Like many young people, she’s trying to find herself. She would rather fit in than stand out, which she soon learns is not really the best choice.

Lana Condor at work in the studio —PHOTOS COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL PICTURES INTERNATIONAL

“I hope that viewers, not just girls and young women, can see themselves in Ruby because her overall journey is one of self-discovery. After all, we’re all on different journeys of self-discovery.

“I’m 26 years old, and I feel like I have a pretty good sense of self. But I also know that I’m always going to discover new things about myself for the rest of my life.”

Our Q&A with Lana:

Your portrayal makes Ruby very relatable to viewers. But in what way did you relate to her personally?

She’s a rambler, she’s nervous, she can get overwhelmed very quickly. For better or for worse, I’m a lot like that. I know that I’m an overtalker and, sometimes, an overthinker.

And even when Ruby is scared of putting herself out there, she’s going to do it anyway, because she knows she has to be brave to protect the ones she loves. In my case, my family is everything to me, and I would do anything for them. So I can relate to her sense of loyalty.

What message do you wish the audience to take away from the movie?

Be unapologetically yourself… be brave. Don’t be afraid of the things that make you different because that’s what makes you unique. Embrace your most authentic self because nine times out of 10, people are going to love it. And if there’s 1 percent of them who don’t love it, then you don’t need them in your life anyway.

What was the biggest challenge for you when you recorded your part in the studio?

I recorded solo the entire time, so that was the biggest challenge for me because I never got to hear anyone else’s performance. When we were recording the scenes, I kind of had to guess what the other actors were going to do and what their choices were.

I’m used to being on set and feeding off of my coactors’ choices and having those choices influence my performance. It’s a good thing that our director and producers were so well-versed with the world that we were creating, so they were able to help bring me some clarity every time I got a little confused.

We all went through formative years in our teens. Your costar Annie Murphy said that she was more Ruby than Chelsea growing up. In your case, were you more Ruby, Lara Jean (her character in “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”) or Jubilee (“X-Men: Apocalypse”)?

Oh, oh (laughs). In many ways, I think Ruby and Lara Jean are kind of similar in the sense that they only have a few friends and are initially more of a wallflower. They’re similar that way.

Maybe I’m more Ruby because I was a pretty nervous teenager. I actually went through that whole phase… I didn’t want to stand out, I wanted to go under the radar and just wanted to fit in—that was my mindset in high school. I eventually grew out of that, but I can definitely relate to that.

How different is the satisfaction of voicing a character in animation compared to creating a character in live-action features?

That’s a great question. The difference lies in your level of control [over the material]. In live action, you have a lot more control over the product. But in animation, while you’re lending your voice and your spirit to the role, the animators and filmmakers are the ones who are really creating the world.

They’re doing the heavy lifting, so they can kind of run with it and create whatever they choose. In animation, you just have to trust that the filmmakers are going to bring to life the best story there is and make the best character choices for you.

Your character is in a lot of great scenes with screen legend Jane Fonda. Can you talk about the opportunity of working with her?

I was so excited when I found out that Jane Fonda was cast as Ruby’s Grandmamah. I freaked out (laughs) because I’m a huge fan. She’s such an icon, and so is everyone in this film. So I was just starstruck.

I’ve never really met her or recorded with her, so I am hoping to see her at our film’s premiere. But just knowing that our voices were side by side is very much like a pinch-me-moment. And for that, I’m really, really grateful. INQ