If there’s a scene-stealer in Me Time, it’s Ilia Isorelýs Paulino, the fresh-faced Yale School of Drama alum who plays Thelma, Sonny and Huck’s Uber driver, co-conspirator and bodyguard.
Me Time is only Paulino’s third major Hollywood credit, after a stint in Mindy Kaling’s The Sex Lives of College Girls and a turn in the Kristen Bell movie Queenpins. Even so, the Massachusetts native managed to make such a mark on the film’s stars that Mark Wahlberg told Tudum she’s “the best” and Kevin Hart praised her character-building abilities. “Her character and world in this movie was all self-developed,” Hart says. “That stuff was not written, so you’re looking at a performance where she brought a lot to the table. We were able to get so much more out of her after realizing how much she added to those scenes, so from an improv perspective... she did such an amazing job.”
Tudum tracked down Paulino to talk about her movie origins and aspirations, as well as what it’s like to get to call Kevin Hart “a little bitch.”
We just interviewed Mark [Wahlberg] and Kevin [Hart], and they had nothing but wonderful things to say about you. What was it like to work with them?
Oh my God, it was a dream come true. They’re so good. I mean, they’re obviously seasoned pros, but they’re really good scene partners. They’re not afraid to throw the newcomer the ball and let me get in the ring. I think sometimes certain actors might let their egos get in the way of that. Anyone, not just A-listers. But there’s just no egos with them and they just want to tell the story, which is so refreshing and amazing.
So, how did you end up in Hollywood?
I went to the Yale School of Drama, graduated during the pandemic in 2020 and then had plans to go to New York. Literally was about to sign a lease a couple days before shit hit the fan. It was like, “Mayday, Mayday!” I was talking to my team, and they were like, “Well, maybe you shouldn’t do New York,” and my mom was like, “Please don’t go to New York. You’re going to die.” So I ended up going home, and because everything became virtual, it didn’t really matter.
Where’s home?
In Lawrence, Massachusetts. As horrible as COVID is — because it’s horrible — in a way, it became an equalizer because all of a sudden you didn’t have to be in the city and you didn’t have to have mom and dad pay for the rent or worry about a survival job. I was so lucky that I was able to go back home and just work on my auditions and stuff. I ended up booking a small role in Queenpins, and then by December I got The Sex Lives of College Girls. And then shortly after, I got this.
Speaking of survival jobs: In another universe, could you see yourself as an Uber driver?
You don’t want me driving. I have my license because my mother forced me because, and I quote, “If anything should happen to me, you must take me to the hospital because we will not be paying the bill for the ambulance.” Because we live in America, and apparently you have to pay to be sick. But joke’s on her because I have a five-star rating on Uber anyways, so we’re going to take a quick little Uber drive to the hospital.
My sophomore year of college, within six months, I got into five car accidents. None of them were my fault. I was always in the passenger seat, and the drivers were merging onto the highway. So I just get a little [makes nervous sound], and I just feel small. It’s like, “Well, I don’t want to die.”
Where was that? Where’d you go to undergrad?
I went to DeSales University. It’s a small liberal arts college in Center Valley, Pennsylvania. There are cows there. It’s super small, but they have really good teachers and a really good financial aid program.
So Me Time was your second movie. Did you have more confidence coming onto set? Were you like, “OK, I’ve done this before?”
A little bit more. But this whole year, I still felt really green because [people on set] say terms and I have no idea what they mean. As soon as I realized that it was OK to be like, “Run it back” or “Can you use a synonym because I have no idea what that meant,” it was fine. But I definitely still felt a little bit like, “Uh, where do I go?”
And you still managed to build your Me Time character!
Oh, I can fake it. You know what I mean? I’ll get the job done. I might be dying inside and I’ll go home and freak out to my dog, but you won’t catch me sweating.
What was it like to have Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg act as your mentors on this set?
I think it just speaks to the type of guys that they are. They really are down-to-earth. On the last day that I was shooting, I just happened to mention to Kevin that I’d gone in to read for one of his other films, and without missing a beat, he was like, “Why didn’t you call me?” I was like, “I didn’t know that I could?” And he just said, “No, you call me.” They’re just really, really great guys.
Was comedy always what you saw yourself doing?
Funnily enough, I grew up believing that I wasn’t funny. I know, I know. You can’t even picture it. But the world tears you down. And it’s not that I didn’t think I was funny growing up. It was more like I didn’t know how to apply my sense of rhythm to other people’s words quite yet, and so any time I’d get a script and someone was like, “You should do this,” I would fail because I didn’t quite understand how to translate my time signature quite yet. But that’s why you train and you go to school.
I just picture you being in the Yale School of Drama doing Shakespeare…
Oh, yes. I’m such a theater nerd. I’m the bitch that’s like, “Oh my god, he used the word sun. Now, is this sun like the actual sun and what does it mean? Should I feel the sun while I’m saying the lines about the sun?” And they’re like, “Just say the lines, bitch. Oh my God, girl.”
Is that what you want to keep doing? What do you want for yourself now, careerwise?
I think by virtue of me being who I am, any role I do will have some layer of comedy to it because I’ll be bringing myself. I’m a riot at funerals because it’s just what happens when I’m in situations like that. I’m cracking jokes.
There are definitely other roles that I’d love. We joked in undergrad that my type was “mother with dead child” because... I don’t know what it says about me, but I played maybe eight different moms who all had dead children. Beautifully, might I add. Inspirationally.
What do you do for your “me time”?
There’s so many things. My favorite thing is probably just to lounge by the pool and look at the cuties that are walking by with my friends. Maybe there’s some White Claws, because we’re on our fitness journey, whatever that means.
What’s it like to call Kevin Hart a little bitch?
It feels natural. It feels right. It feels specifically chosen. It just rolls off the tongue.
There was this one moment where, in between takes, [writer-director] John [Hamburg] was like, “So, do you want to pick him up?” I was like, “Hell yes, I want to pick him up.” And so I picked him up and said, “140?” He said, “138.” I was like, “There we go. There you go, you little bitch.”
What did you do after you filmed Me Time? What’s on the horizon?
After Me Time, we started working on Season 2 of The Sex Lives of College Girls. We actually just wrapped up not too long ago. And now, I’m heading back to South Africa for another Netflix project, One Piece.
Are you the type of person that’s like, “I’ve got to get my next thing, I’ve got to be working?”
At least right now, I’m definitely coming from a place of privilege in terms of having a job. I’m just so lucky to have the people around me that I have, because I can really just let go and let the universe decide. I’m doing what I’m supposed to do. I can really just not sweat it. I’m like, “The jobs will come.” I’ve only been in the business for two years outside of grad school, so, I don’t know, maybe that will change. But right now, I’m just chilling by the pool until they call me to set. And then when I’m not on set, I’m writing. I feel very creative.
Is that something you want to do?
Oh, a hundred percent.
I’ve talked to a lot of women who are like, “There’s nothing out there for me, I have to write it myself.” Is that something that you’re doing?
A hundred percent. When you look at what Quinta [Brunson’s] doing or you look at Issa Rae and all these women... they looked at the situation, and they were like, “OK, sit down. I’ve got an idea for you.” You know what I mean? It’s just so inspirational. That’s definitely the dream.
Do you have any directing aspirations?
Oh, yes. All of it. I want to produce, I want to direct and I want to keep acting for sure. Yes.
What kinds of stories do you want to tell?
One of my dream roles is to adapt [Euripides’] Medea. It’s full of characters that, on paper, you should not be rooting for. This woman literally kills her children, which is not good. We can all agree that’s objectively not good. Yet as the actor, your job isn’t to make them like you, but your job is to, “At least can you empathize with how I got here?” And so, if I can make you empathize with the woman who can murder her own children, then maybe I can lead you to empathy toward other people day-to-day. I think that speaks to the higher calling of what artistry is. Through my empathy, you can have empathy, and then maybe we can all fucking stop being children and get our shit together.
And then sometimes the art is calling Kevin Hart a little bitch.
Exactly, because it’s all about the art.
Last question: What are you watching on Netflix right now?
Oh my God. I just binge-watched The Sandman. So good. How to Build a Sex Room. So good. Part of me wants to lie and say Squid Game, but I was totally rewatching 365 Days.
I love it. It’s a little steamy, a little sexy.
Hey, I’m young and I’m happy, what can I say?
Reporting by Jean Bentley
