Merly Morello debuts in the cinema: how she dealt with fame, harassment in networks and more

Receiving us with a tired voice, loose clothes and a big smile, Trade He met her in the recording studios of the animated film “A Giant Adventure”. In this latest project, Morello gives her voice to the character of Sophia, a young woman who, together with her group of friends, travels along the Nazca Lines and finds gigantic creatures inspired by local mythology.

“I like the story of my character. The girl is left without her archaeologist mother at 8 years old because she dies in an accident on the Lines [de Nazca]. Because of that, she becomes a super tough girl and this guy appears [Sebastián] to drive her crazy and ends up being a little sweeter”, the actress comments to this newspaper.

She confesses that she is excited about her soon debut in theaters with the premiere of the film, and asks her followers to be kind to her work: “I’m very happy, it’s my first film so please don’t hit me so hard, because dubbing is not easy. Do not miss it and go see it this January 12”.

— What was your process to find the right voice for Sophia?

They asked me to try to make a voice very similar to mine, they saw our faces and they thought that, easy, the voice can work. More than anything, my job is to set the intention [del personaje]. It sounds different now because we’re reshooting everything, the trailer was just the casting of the character. So clearly it wasn’t polished or anything like that. It is currently better.

— And did you like the result we heard in the preview?

It could have sounded much better, but you know? She was 15 years old, she’s fine. I had never done dubbing, I had not taken classes, but all in all, when you act it helps you a little with the interpretation. I currently have technique, so maybe it won’t surprise you too much, but I think I’m doing a good job.

— After the success that “De Vuelta al Barrio” meant for you, do you miss the screens?

I was in national productions and recorded two films between last year and this year. In Peruvian productions, I participated in the play “Toc Toc” for three months. And speaking of television, I’m not closed to anything. Although now I’m taking a break from screens, five years exposed in a medium as hard as television, made me need a little rest. Also, TV is not flexible with schedules and this year I wanted to travel, and get to know myself a little better, because I feel like I’ve gotten a little lost. I didn’t have time to know how I felt, not even to go to a psychologist or a psychiatrist and now I’m doing all these things that for five years I couldn’t do, since, between school and the recordings, I was lifeless. If at some point I return, great, but it is not in my first plans. Who knows if a project will appear that reads and says “Wow, how cool is this character!”, And then yes.

— You started on television when you were very young, at the age of 13. How did you manage to combine your time between enjoying your adolescence and work?

In fact, I am one of those who started later in my generation. But she was still small. So clearly going through adolescence with so much public exposure was very difficultI’m not going to lie to you. Insecurities began with things that I felt good about, but everyone told me it was wrong. It was hard, however, I had very good support, I had my psychological therapist and my mother, who is really a wonderful person and I think I would not have been able to do this without her. I also have a group of beautiful friends off screen. Sometimes they think that I only relate to people on television, and it is not true. I have my friends outside the middle, and if I don’t show them it’s because they don’t like it, but they have helped me a lot in those moments when I haven’t known what to do with my life.

— It reminds me that we recently went through Mental Health Day, how has therapy helped you on your way to improving your mental health?

Yes, it was just October 10, it was very nice. I spoke with my psychiatrist that day I wrote to him, because I was surprised by the path we have gone through together. And in general, I think it’s hard to be a teenager in this society and know that taking care of your mental health or taking prescription pills is so frowned upon. For example, I take pills, my psychiatrist has prescribed me two. And sometimes, people don’t understand what they are for and they have a taboo with them because they don’t understand that mental health is just as important as physical health. When you are prescribed pills it is because there is a chemical imbalance in the brain, not just because you have some trauma or something like that, there has to be a clinical reason to take them. This topic is super important, in my networks I talk a lot about mental health and I share content from people who know about the subject. Because I can give my point of view, but I understand that I am not a professional on the subject. I can give my experience, however, I still share a lot of information from psychologists, psychiatrists and therapists in my Stories.

— You should know better than anyone, since you recently revealed that you suffer from a physical illness, chronic tendinitis. And mentally, do you have a diagnosis?

Yes, I am a person with neurodivergence. I have a couple of things lying around that I’m still processing because I was diagnosed not too long ago, so I started my pill treatment and the whole thing. But I’m fine, please, only sometimes you have to take care of yourself a little more.

— On the other hand, you had a long period where, being a minor, you were tirelessly sexualized and insulted on social media. Now, being of legal age, how do you analyze the situation in retrospect?

I would do it again and again. I have always been told:Oh, you complained about the pure ones, that happens to everyone”. But it doesn’t mean that, because it happens to everyone, I should allow it to happen to me. I know that, thanks to me, several girls have been able to raise their voices and I have helped a lot of people in my networks, I am very happy about that. People blame the victims a lot and sometimes you have to make them understand that they didn’t have to go through that and that it’s okay for them to talk. I’m calmer now, it doesn’t affect me so much anymore. Because yes, obviously it affected me, I was very young, I wasn’t as strong as I am now mentally; but that does not mean that it is still unpleasant or uncomfortable, they make you go through bad times. It doesn’t happen to me as often anymore, because I’ve started to repel the boys, and I’m actually very happy with that.

“About being bisexual, I knew it from a very young age, but I only accepted it as an adult, internally I knew that all my life I have also liked girls and it was time to accept it.”

Merly Morello .

— How has your audience changed now that you venture more into TikTok?

All in all, I think a lot has changed. I think many people who felt offended and attacked by my comments have started to unfollow me.. They called me “crystal”, and although at first it bothered me, now it’s like: “Tell me what you want, I’m not going to break. The one who is breaking his head is you for the things I say”. So it’s pretty fun.

— In fact, you use the TikTok platform as a personal medium, but it is also a job. How do you balance that?

TikTok wasn’t a job, but lately it was; although Instagram is really my source of work. People think I’m super active on TikTok, they say I’m a tiktoker, but I upload like one video a month. I don’t really understand why they relate to me so much, but I accept it. I work a lot on Instagram and they really are very long days, up to 18 hours. It’s a bit exhausting, because after all I’m not a big fan of advertising, but I’ve found how to do it to feel more comfortable, and that’s by choosing brands with which I feel as identified as possible and that I use, so as not to lie. Because before I used to lie a lot, but now I don’t like it.

— It has been 4 years since you publicly declared yourself bisexual, but the controversy over your sexual preference has been very recent. How has that process been?

Horrible. People still have many taboos regarding human sexuality. About being bisexual, I knew it from a very young age, but I only accepted it when I grew up, internally I knew that all my life I have also liked girls and it was time to accept it. I never had to tell my mom or come out to anyone in my circle, everyone already knew that. My mom said I’m a little obvious. But when I decided to do it online, and I uploaded a post on the Pride March, people still didn’t take it very seriously, until I turned 18 and that went viral. I wondered why the fact that she was bisexual or not was so relevant, it was my first shock with reality. Then came the comments of “you’re confused”, “tomboy” and I don’t know how many more things, which were already unpleasant. But starting to do a little activism was not too much. The exposure within everything helped me to give it another approach to inform a little about it.

— I have seen that now you avoid responding to criticism and you have chosen to move away from the networks a bit.

I’m trying to get away. I think I’ve ended up very hurt with the networks. I know it sounds like I’m complaining, but not really, because all in all, they are part of my life and I currently thank the people who follow me a lot. But I do think it’s healthy to start walking away. This year, the people who “boomed” on networks got very confused and now everything is Instagram or TikTok, recording trends or videos at parties. I began to realize that this was not the kind of life I wanted to lead, I wanted to be a person who uses social media, I didn’t want social media to use me. And that is what I have begun to do, be at peace, calm, calm. I don’t read that much anymore [comentarios sobre sí misma]I mean, I do, but I’ve had an amazing word filter for years, and it’s getting bigger and bigger. I have filtered more than anything, those of a sexual nature, because it is very ugly, that has also prohibited me from reading so many things.