(Spoiler alert: This article contains frank conversation about the premiere episode of “The Cleaning Lady” Season 2.)
Élodie Yung is aware of your #Armony posts. “The Cleaning Lady” star portrays the titular mother, undocumented immigrant and cleaner who is unwittingly dragged into the criminal underworld of Las Vegas after witnessing a murder in Season 1 of Fox’s hit drama. But in Season 2, the actress teased, her character Thony De La Rosa is more “empowered” in her covert syndicate role, leading her to become further entangled with the charismatic kingpin Arman Morales (Adan Canto).
“He takes a very important place in her life because of the love she has for him and this debt [after] he helped her son,” Yung said in an interview with TheWrap. “She’s going to make decisions — are they the right or the wrong decisions, I let people choose — but I think it’s because of this bond that she’s going to be more active in this criminal world because she wants to support him. Things are slipping in Season 2 between those two characters.”
Yung said that while the series keeps “the same DNA” overall — equal parts crime thriller and “heartfelt” familial drama — its “stakes are higher this year,” with the character’s problems consuming the rest of her family, including Fiona (Martha Millan) and her in-laws.
“Last year, Thony tried to keep separate her family and the [criminal] world that she had to navigate,” the actress said. “Now the lines are crossing, so it is getting very intense because more people are involved, [including] people that she loves.”
Most notably, Thony faces the untimely death of her husband, Marco (Ivan Shaw), in the Season 2 premiere. Last season’s cliffhanger revealed that Marco had taken their son, Luca, in hopes of returning to the Philippines. Now, after locating Marco at a motel, a fight breaks out between the family on top of the stairs, where Chris (Sean Lew) pushes him to his accidental end. All of it, naturally, is caught on security cameras.
“All those events like the death of Marco are events that are impacting deeply Thony and also Fiona and everyone in the family, so we have at the core of this season the whole family … and how they stay together to face all those events that are going to be thrown at them,” Yung said of the “very shocking” start to the season.
The actress added that the loss of Marco will be felt throughout the season and will not be quickly swept aside. “What drives, also, the story is, ‘Let’s have this world that’s not quite real — it’s like an amplified reality — but let’s see how a real human would react to that so we can really see where her heart is,’” Yung said. “And there’s this constant dilemma: Am I doing good? Am I doing bad? [The writers] make my character walk on this fine line of morality. They keep me on my toes.”
Accordingly, this season’s storyline is “more complex and more layered,” as Thony becomes more self-assured in her role as Arman’s trusted worker. Instead of being “reactive” to her life, her character has become “empowered,” Yung said.
“She’s consciously making decisions, not just trying to dodge and react to things,” she said, adding: “Now she knows the codes more and she uses them. So she navigates this criminal world in a more conscious way and in a more active way. That catches my interest as an actor because she’s not just on the back foot reacting to things. She’s leaning into it now.”
Part of Thony’s continued immersion into the dark underbelly of Sin City is her romantic entanglement with Arman. Last season, the duo’s undeniable chemistry sparked waves of jealousy in Arman’s wife Nadia (Eva De Dominici), as well as bewilderment from Fiona. The pair even shared several intimate moments together.
“We could see very subtle changes throughout Season 1 in their relationship, and he helped her doing the most important thing for her, which was helping Luca,” Yung previewed. “In a way, there’s this debt that she has towards him, and that bond has evolved and is thicker and stronger, and that is going to inform her choices in Season 2.”
Most of all, however, Yung said she enjoys portraying the character’s “vulnerability,” as well as the idea that Thony is a simple mother caught up in an impossible situation.
“Sometimes when you’ve got so much [going on] it’s just like, ‘Try to keep going and it’s gonna be good,’ and so I love that because it is a complex thing and a very human thing that I can relate to,” Yung said. “She always remains a human with qualities and with flaws and the struggle and the resilience and all of that that makes her a simple woman, a simple mother — I can relate to all of that. She’s real like you and me.”
