Under the Spanish Sun With Lorena Andrea

Lorena Andrea, who stars in Netflix’s Warrior Nun, talks about her role in the hit series, the importance of inclusive storytelling and the how she is taking the time to slow down.

Lorena was photographed by me on location in Southern Spain at Villa Girasol.

Thank you again for taking the time to get creative and photograph you virtually! It was great to travel to Spain! Did you grow up in Spain?

I was born and raised in London but my mom is from Spain and my dad is from Colombia. 

Did you do a lot of traveling between the two growing up?

I traveled every year to Spain and then maybe every two or three years to Colombia—we would do Christmas there and summer in Spain. I was always back and forth. At some point I lived in Spain for three years when I was a teen, then I went back to London.

How did you first get into acting? 

Since I was young, I was always very creative, I would put on shows and dance, act and puppets was a big thing for me—my sister and I would put on shows for my family. My mom is a dancer but she was also very creative and an artist. She always encouraged me to go to take a class. I was maybe about six when I stepped into my first acting class—I was really young. I was actually very shy in front of all of the other kids, but it definitely brought me out of my shell massively. I met my first agent there and I started doing small jobs here and there on TV or theater, it was so much fun, I just loved it. I met a lot of great people.

Since you have been acting since you were young, was there ever a point when you got older that you had to ask if you wanted to do it as a career? 

This wasn’t something I was going to do, at the same time, whilst I was acting, I was also swimming. I was very athletic; I did a bunch of sports. When I was 12, I got into the swimming team and I started competing all around the country. Time kind of passed me by and I let the acting thing sizzle because I focused on sports. After a few years, it got to the point where I had to decide if I wanted to train to go to the Olympics.  In that moment, I remember being like no, I am an actress—this is what I want to do and what I am a passionate about. It’s all I kept thinking, it was always in the back of my mind. So I called up my old agent and asked, will you take me back? I know I had been slacking for a few years and they said, yes of course. So I slowly got back into auditions with my agent, and I started training again and doing bits of theater, film and TV. It was growing and it was a journey—it has been getting bigger and better ever since. 

In normal times, do you usually call Los Angeles home?

So I moved to LA last year. I figured out that I would be moving between London and LA, it felt like the right fit because I was getting a lot of opportunities there. There is something about the lifestyle in LA that just really agreed with me, it was the exact opposite of London, but sometimes you just need that. It’s very chill and zen. You can live more in the present when you are there. London has so many amazing things that are very unique to London, but there is a pace there and it’s something that LA is the opposite of. I think I realized that when I was filming Warrior Nun actually. I was living in the south of Spain for almost five months and it was very chill. At the beginning, I was adapting to the new change and people were really slow, you go to a restaurant and they wait ten minutes to come and take your order, that would never fly in London. However, when I left and got back to London, it was almost a culture shock. I was like, everyone is moving so fast. When I am not on set, I need to be chill and relaxed and that was when I knew it was a proper time to move to LA. I had been thinking about it for so long. 

Lorena is wearing a Dolores Promesas dress. 

Congratulations on the success of the show! Can you share a little bit more about your character?  

So my character is one of the Warrior Nuns, she is part of secret order called the OCS and she’s actually a legacy nun, which means she has been groomed for the halo. The halo, as you know, is this device that gives you super powers. My character, Lilith has been groomed for the halo and she comes from a long line of warrior nuns but she doesn’t get the halo. She is passionate, ambitious, very loyal and dedicated to this order. She is ride or die for the mission. She loves her sisters above anything else because they are her only family.

Since you were an athlete before, did you have to step back into that mode to prepare for all of the action scenes? 

I think every project is different, even if it has action or even if it’s physical. I had just come from doing a film where I played an MMA fighter so I was quite fit. I wouldn’t say I was prepared but when we arrived the training was five-hours a day at the beginning—it was really intense. It was unlike any other training I had done, we didn’t have a ton of time, so on our days off, it would mean a full-day of training. When you are shooting and training at the same time, you have to have a mindset of just keep going.

Since you shot the series around Andalusia and southern spain, did you have a favorite location?

All of the churches were pretty amazing. I hadn’t really seen anything like it, I don’t step into churches a lot (laughs) so when I was going into these grand buildings, the architecture was beautiful and there were so many medieval towns.

When it comes to your work, which types of projects speak to you the most?

I am very excited about roles that call for me to change physically, maybe like a massive physical change or something that really requires me to fully embody the character and completely leave who I am. Also, I think roles that I really connect with on a deep level. There have been many people around me and I never saw their stories reflected on screen. I think storytelling has the power to showcase the world that you want to see. That is something that I have always been passionate about. I am always drawn to things that I have never seen before—I think that’s a good way to put it.

I think people want something that is unique and different.

I think we are headed in that direction and I am excited about it.

I’ve noticed you aren’t dedicated to posting on social media—I respect that so much. When it comes to the platform, how do you approach it?

I am working on social media. I find I am lacking the balance of sharing myself with the world because outside of social media, I can be a bit of an introvert. I have my extroverted side but I feel like when it comes to social media, I just need to give myself that push. I have a lot that I do and a lot that I want to share with people and I am just figuring out how to go about that especially with the fans. 

Given everything that has been going on how have you stayed grounded?

Well in all honesty, I am trying to not think about it too much and just focus on what I can do. I feel like a lot is out of my hands. If I put a lot of energy towards it, all it does is drain you. I have tried to do a lot of inner work like self-care and self-love and really just explore who I am and the deeper parts of myself. A lot of the time, you don’t give yourself the focus when you are busy. I have been doing a lot of journaling, meditating, reading and having a lot of conversations with family and friends. We obviously have been discussing topics, world events and things going on right now. I am also learning about myself and I am sharing it and seeing how I can help other people and encourage them to do that as well. I think it is an important time, it’s a bit like hitting a reset button.

Follow Lorena Andrea on Instagram

Stream Season One of ‘Warrior Nun’ Now on Netflix

A heartfelt thank you to Sarah Alcaide for assisting on this shoot and Natalia Ronda for styling.