Adria Arjona Reveals the Worst Note a Director Ever Gave Her

Directors give feedback all the time, but for Adria Arjona, one early-career note crossed a major line. The Andor actress revealed that while on set, she was explicitly told to be “less Latina,” a moment she still ranks as the absolute worst direction she’s ever received.

Adria Arjona Recalls Bizarre “Less Latina” Director’s Note

During her first appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Arjona opened up about an uncomfortable early-career experience when prompted about the worst direction she had ever received.

She immediately warned that the answer was a bad one before recalling the incident.

“Do that with less of an accent and less domesticated,” Arjona remembered being told.

She described the note as “horrible” and explained that it happened while her character was organizing a house before delivering a line.

“It was like a scene where… I was like, you know, organizing or whatever before I said my line, and he was like, ‘Less accent, less domestic, being domesticated.’”

“So I was like, ‘Great, be less Latina is what you’re talking [about], awesome, cool.’”

The actress revealed that while another crew member overheard the exchange and it grew into an issue, she decided against calling out the director at the time.

“I didn’t say nothing. I was like, ‘Okay, whatever.’”

However, the encounter permanently reshaped how she approached the filmmaker’s direction moving forward. When prompted about how their working relationship evolved after the incident, Arjona laughed and noted that she simply stopped taking the director’s guidance seriously.

“Good to know. Notes from you anymore, sir.”

Since then, Arjona has built an impressive portfolio across film and television, headlining projects like Andor, Hit Man, Father of the Bride, Morbius, and Pacific Rim: Uprising. Up next, she is slated to star in Onslaught and The Thomas Crown Affair.