Isa Briones

Isabella Camille Briones[1] (born January 17, 1999)[2] is an English-born American actor and singer. She is known to web television viewers as Soji, android 'daughter' of Data, in Star Trek: Picard.

Isa Briones
Born
Isabella Camille Briones

(1999-01-17) January 17, 1999
London, England, UK
NationalityAmerican
Occupation
  • Actor
  • singer
Years active2008–present
Notable credit(s)
Parent(s)
RelativesTeo Briones
AwardsOvation Award
Websiteisabriones.com

Briones began her career as a model in New York City at age three; she has acted in feature films and stage productions starting in 2008. She won the Ovation Award for Featured Actress In a Musical for Next to Normal in 2018 in Los Angeles; afterward, she returned to New York and became the youngest performer in the first touring company of Hamilton, playing multiple roles.

Briones was cast in multiple roles in Star Trek: Picard in 2019. In addition to her acting performances, she sang a new arrangement of an Irving Berlin song for the season one finale.

Early life

Isa Briones was born in London, England, to Jon Jon and Megan Briones (née Johnson), and she has a younger brother, Teo. Her family are all musical theatre actors.[1] She is Filipino from her father's side, and Swedish and Irish from her mother.[3]

Her parents met while auditioning for Miss Saigon in Stuttgart;[4] her father was closing its West End theatre production when Briones was born.[1] She was ten months old when her family moved from London to New York City, where she began work as a model at age three. In 2006, when Briones was seven, her family moved to Los Angeles.[2]

Briones learned acting and singing at home from her parents; she also attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, majoring in both theatre and musical theatre.[5]

Career

Film and television

Briones began her acting career as a child in 2008, appearing in television commercials and playing supporting roles in feature films including Takers and Lonely Boy.[6] For a television pilot in 2010, she played one of three children of a single mother moonlighting as a drug kingpin in Beverly Hills; Cutthroat was not picked up as a series.[7]

In 2019, Briones was cast in Star Trek: Picard,[8] playing two sets of synthetic twins: Dahj and Soji, and Jana and Sutra.[9] Briones sent tapes of herself to audition for Picard while she was playing multiple roles on stage in Hamilton, and learned during her final callback that she would portray twins in the series.[10] Briones identified most closely with Soji who, after Romulan attacks, learns she is an android created from a neuron recovered from Data:[11] "I think that's a very relatable story as a mixed person, deciding that you can be ... both Filipino and white, and you can be both synthetic and human, if that's how you feel inside."[3] She trained for a month to perform many of her own stunts.[12]

For the season one finale, "Et In Arcadia Ego, Part 2", Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies" was set to play during Data's final scene as a bookend to his performance in Star Trek: Nemesis. Series composer Jeff Russo wrote a new arrangement and planned to find a vocalist, until Star Trek: Picard co-creator Alex Kurtzman mentioned that "Isa is a singer." Briones said, "it's so right that this is the song" playing at the end of Data's journey.[13]

Theatre

Briones has performed in numerous stage musicals since childhood, including the role of Susan in Miracle on 34th Street, in which Megan Briones played her mother.[14] In 2018, Briones earned three distinct Ovation Award nominations for Featured Actress In a Musical from the LA STAGE Alliance; she won for one of two runs as Natalie in Next to Normal, also topping her portrayal of "Perón's mistress" in Evita.[15]

Briones joined her father when he moved back to New York in January 2018.[15] She was cast in Hamilton following a seven-month audition process, becoming at age 19 the youngest person to join the first national touring company, in which she played both Peggy Schuyler and Maria Reynolds.[16] Briones toured with the company until March 2019;[17] she was cast in Star Trek: Picard in April.[8]

After production wrapped in Los Angeles on the series' first season, Briones returned to the stage, appearing in AJ Rafael's Crazy Talented Asians, and #Hash(tag) America by Anthony Fedorov and Raye Zaragoza.[18] In May 2020, Briones and the cast of Crazy Talented Asians began producing a monthly online performance series.[19]

Music

Briones has recorded several video duets with fellow Filipino-American performer AJ Rafael;[20] their version of "Rewrite the Stars" from The Greatest Showman was released as a single. Her rendition of "Blue Skies" from Star Trek: Picard was released as a single in 2020.[21]

Recognition

Awards
Ovation Awards
Year Nominated Work Role Category Result
2018 Evita "Perón's Mistress" Featured Actress In a Musical Nominated
2018 Next to Normal (East West Players) Natalie Featured Actress In a Musical Won
2018 Next to Normal (Triage Productions; Standing Room Only Productions) Natalie Featured Actress In a Musical Nominated

Reception

Reviewing Next to Normal in 2016, Cary Ginell of BroadwayWorld wrote, "Briones gives a disquietingly effective, achingly nuanced portrayal" of her character, Natalie.[22] Margaret Gray of the Los Angeles Times called Briones the "breakout star" of the production in May 2017: "Briones played the role before ... and she has a lock on it."[23]

Her dual performances in Hamilton brought praise from Judith Newmark of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: she "effectively plays Peggy Schuyler as a cupcake and Maria Reynolds as a flambé."[24] Cincinnati CityBeat's Rick Pender wrote, "Briones brings a sultry alto to her second role as Maria Reynolds," Hamilton's mistress.[25]

In his review of Star Trek: Picard, Entertainment Weekly's Darren Franich called the plot developments "shock tactics" and her character "vacant".[26] Scott Collura of IGN wrote that Soji is effectively a plot device, but Briones "gives it her all week after week, reacting best she can to Soji’s changing status quo".[27] Keith DeCandido from Tor.com said her performance improved with each episode; "her confused post-activation Soji is her best work".[28]

Personal life

As of 2020, Briones lives in Los Angeles.[2] She has begun making music with her brother Teo.[5]

Briones joined her Star Trek: Picard castmates including Jonathan Frakes, Jeri Ryan and Brent Spiner in a video message of hope to viewers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020.[29]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2008 Brown Soup Thing Cousin Isa Feature film
2010 Takers Sunday Welles Feature film
2013 Lonely Boy Mia Feature film
2018 The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story Elena Cunanan Television series; also starring Jon Jon Briones
2020 Star Trek: Picard Dahj/Soji/Jana/Sutra Web television series
The Ready Room Herself Web television aftershow: "Episode 22"

Discography
Singles
Year Title Artist Label
2018 "Rewrite the Stars" AJ Rafael ft. Isa Briones Atlantic
2020 "Blue Skies" Isa Briones Lakeshore

References

Footnotes
  1. Grigware, Don (August 19, 2016). "BWW Interview: Isa Briones Opens Up About Next to Normal". BroadwayWorld. New York City. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  2. Nepales, Ruben V. (January 30, 2020). "Fil-Am Isa Briones went from Hamilton to a female lead role in Picard—and she's just 21". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Makati. p. 1. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  3. Jones 2020, p. 28.
  4. "Fans and actors will miss Saigon". Evening Standard. London. October 25, 1999. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  5. Nepales (January 30, 2020), p. 2. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  6. Jones 2020, p. 26.
  7. Terrace 2014, p. 226, entry 2030. Briones and her brother Teo played Lily and Alex Cabrera, respectively. Sarah Wynter played their sister Sophia.
  8. Porter, Rick (April 17, 2019). "Patrick Stewart's Star Trek Series Adds Newsroom, Penny Dreadful Actors". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  9. Pirrello, Phil (March 19, 2020). "11 Star Trek: Picard Easter Eggs as Season 1 Nears the End". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 10, 2020. Jana is presented in a drawing; she was killed prior to the events of Picard.
  10. Spelling 2020, p. 18.
  11. Deb, Sopan (March 6, 2020). "Star Trek: Picard Season 1, Episode 7 Recap: Will Riker Makes Pizza". The New York Times. Retrieved April 26, 2020. Cites identified. Picard establishes that a Romulan shadow group intends to destroy all synthetic life. Soji's twin, Dahj, is killed by Romulans in the premiere episode.
      Kain, Erik (January 28, 2020). "Star Trek: Picard review: Everything I Didn't Know I Wanted It to Be". Forbes. Retrieved May 23, 2020. Cites Data.
  12. "Kicking Butt Came Naturally to Isa Briones". startrek.com. January 24, 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2020. "It was really exciting because I used to do martial arts when I was younger ... and I was one of those kids who was at the dojo seven days a week. ... But I stopped kind of early on because I was like, 'oh, I'm going to do acting, I'm going to stop this.'"
  13. Star Trek: Picard and The Return of "Blue Skies". startrek.com (television production). Retrieved April 3, 2020. This is obviously a bit of a throwback to ... when Data sang 'Blue Skies', so it's really cool that Data's 'daughter' kind of gets to sing it as well. ... in Nemesis, it's the beginning of something. As we sing it this time, it's the end of this chapter; it's a good-bye." A rough cut of the scene played during the recording, "bringing me to tears.
  14. Nepales, Ruben V. (October 7, 2016). "Jon Jon Briones' daughter also rises". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Makati. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  15. Gelt, Jessica (January 30, 2018). "Ovation Awards 2018: Wins for Actors Co-op's 33 Variations, East West Players' Next to Normal". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 10, 2020. Cites award/nominations, commercials.
      Ginell, Cary (October 20, 2016). "BWW Interview: Isa Briones of Evita at Cabrillo Music Theatre". BroadwayWorld. New York City. Retrieved April 10, 2020. Cites Evita, move to New York.
  16. Ang, Walter (April 19, 2018). "Fil-Am Isa Briones is youngest actor in Hamilton nat'l tour". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Makati. Retrieved February 9, 2020. She also understudied for the role of Eliza Hamilton.
  17. @theisabriones (February 10, 2019). "A month from today, March 10, I will be taking my final bow ..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  18. Bronson, Fred (October 15, 2019). "#Hash(tag) America Brings Together Talent From American Idol, Star Trek: Picard & More". Billboard. Retrieved April 17, 2020. [Crazy Talented Asians] was one of my first opportunities to interact one-on-one with fans of Star Trek.
  19. "East West Players Announces Virtual Gala and Weekly Streaming Content Featuring Randall Park & More". BroadwayWorld. New York City. April 30, 2020. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  20. Briong, Ian (February 1, 2020). "YouTube star AJ Rafael thanks 'fans since middle school' in open letter ..." Philippine Daily Inquirer. Makati. Retrieved April 3, 2020. Cites Filipino-American.
      "AJ Rafael (official channel)". YouTube. Retrieved April 3, 2020. Cites videos.
  21. "Search: Isa Briones". Apple Music. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  22. Ginell, Cary (August 24, 2016). "BWW Review: Next To Normal at Pico Playhouse". BroadwayWorld. New York City. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  23. Gray, Margaret (May 25, 2017). "Review: At East West Players, the gut-wrenching emotion of Next to Normal transcends race". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 6, 2020. Gray called Briones "the lovely, impressive newcomer" in her review the year before.
  24. Newmark, Judith (April 5, 2018). "Hamilton rises up to the highest reaches at the Fox Theatre". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  25. Pender, Rick (February 22, 2019). "The Hamilton Cincinnati Staging is on Par with Broadway's Original". Cincinnati CityBeat. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  26. Franich, Darren (January 23, 2020). "Can Star Trek: Picard recover from its bafflingly bad premiere?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  27. Collura, Scott (March 28, 2020). "Star Trek: Picard Episode 9 Recap / Review – 'Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1'". IGN. San Francisco. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  28. DeCandido, Keith R. A. (April 3, 2020). "Regrets, I've Had a Few — Star Trek: Picard First Season Overview". Tor.com. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  29. @startrekcbs (April 8, 2020). "No matter where you are in the galaxy, we're #InThisTogether" (Tweet). Retrieved April 19, 2020 – via Twitter.

Bibliography
  • Spelling, Ian; Stobie, Jay (2020). Jones, Nick (ed.). Star Trek: Picard – Official Collector's Edition. Titan Magazines. ISBN 9781787732438. Cited as Jones 2020.
  • Spelling, Ian (2020). "Star Trek: Picard: Double Trouble". Star Trek: The Official Magazine. Vol. 1 no. 75. Titan Magazines. ISSN 1357-3888. Cited as Spelling 2020.
  • Terrace, Vincent (2014). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786486410. Cited as Terrace 2014.
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