Ilia Isorelýs Paulino is a force. Remember her name, because she’s going to have a long career.
She’s a talented force of positivity.
Sitting down to interview Ilia, I panicked. I am always nervous before an interview, but also, my electricity went out as soon as I was set to be let in the zoom room, and I panicked. I had spent the night before watching her upcoming movie Me Time, and then when doing research on her, fell down a TikTok hole about her. Girl can sing.
As I grabbed my phone and emailed publicists and everyone under the sun from my phone, my power came back on and I immediately ran to my computer. Luckily, I hadn’t missed my spot and within a minute she was on my screen.
Now, I hate interviews. Why? I am awkward and I feel like I never know what to say. Nerves get to me and I stumble. I thought about editing this interview so that it only had her answers, but if there is anything that I learned from 10 minutes with her is that we need to be ourselves.
Show ourselves in the good and the bad and embrace who we are. You’ll see when you see how she answered my first question – which I couldn’t seem to find the words for. But she ran with it and gave answers that made me think – she’s going to be one of those celebrities that even 50 years from now is grateful and humble and not swallowed up by Hollywood and fame.
From the moment that Ilia came onto the screen, you just know that she can command a room. She radiates confidence. She makes you feel comfortable and she adapts to a conversation.
Ilia stars in Me Time, as Thelma. And though I would love to sit here and tell you everything about her character, it would give away a lot and I don’t want to do that. But I will say that Ilia has a presence on the screen, one that makes you focus on her character and what she is doing.
And hey when you hold your own against comedy powerhouse Kevin Hart, that says a lot (and she definitely holds her own).
We spoke about everything from her singing, to body image, to birthdays, to the movie. See the interview below.
We’d like to thank Ilia for being so candid and positive. She made me walk away feeling confident and as though I could do anything. I love an interview where it feels like a conversation – especially an empowering one.
Me Time premieres August 26th on Netflix.
