MANILA — Former Kapamilya actress Liza Soberano has spoken about the difficulties and sacrifices she has faced since leaving her career in the Philippines to pursue opportunities in Hollywood.

In a report, Soberano admitted that she was hurt by remarks calling her “laos” after she shifted her base to the United States to pursue her acting ambitions.

The actress made the remarks during an appearance on the “Painfully Human Podcast” hosted by Edward Barber, where she discussed her transition to working in Los Angeles after leaving the Philippine entertainment industry in 2024.

When asked what she had to give up in making the move, Soberano pointed to financial stability as one of the biggest sacrifices.

“Money,” Liza answered. “For the longest time, this is something that I’ve realized about myself after stepping away from showbiz and kind of the Philippines in general.”

“I don’t mean disrespect by this, but like I was so afraid of looking poor… It’s not like I look down on poor people, I definitely don’t. I was poor growing up. I remember when I joined showbiz, everybody was always saying like ‘Oh, don’t talk too much about your personal life’ that’s why nobody knows much of my upbringing,” Liza said.

She said she had avoided discussing her background in order to maintain a certain public image, adding that many people had wrongly assumed she came from a wealthy family because of her appearance.

“In order to not distract people from the brand that we were carefully curating, I never really went in-depth about my story. But now that I’ve moved to LA, obviously, money is the biggest thing that I’ve sacrificed because I could be here in the Philippines doing the same thing I’ve been doing since I was 12, making lots of money,” the actress said.

Soberano said she felt she was repeating the same work in show business and had become used to an “auto-pilot” routine before deciding to start over in the United States.

“I could be easily just doing that and still making the same amount of money that I used to, but now I don’t. That’s what I sacrificed to be living in LA and discomfort,” she said.

She added that she now takes on smaller jobs and attends workshops to support herself while building her acting career abroad.

“I have to do all these little gigs every now and then because that’s how I pay my bills. That’s the price that I’m paying so that I can fulfill this ambition or dream of mine,” she said. “Money and just the comfort of not having to put in the effort to grow.”

“In America, I do three to four auditions a week and I get rejected constantly. But I’m loving it now because I’m learning and growing so much. All these different roles which is fun, but then I still get rejected because I’m doing the thing I said I wanted to do,” she added.

Soberano made her Hollywood debut in the 2024 horror-comedy film “Lisa Frankenstein,” and later landed another international project as a lead voice actor in the upcoming DreamWorks Animation film “Forgotten Island.”

The animated feature will also include voice performances from H.E.R., Lea Salonga, Manny Jacinto, Dave Franco, and Jenny Slate.