ADRIA ARJONA: Learn more about the ambassador of the brand new My Way perfume.
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How would your family and friends define you?
This is always such a tricky question. I wish I could ask them all directly. If I had to guess, I would say my closest friends would probably define me as someone generous: if I win, they know they’re also winning. What’s mine is everyone’s. They would also say I’m very hardworking and a perfectionist. That’s not always a positive thing. My family and friends mean the world to me, and deep down I just hope they know I am always here for them no matter what. I think they know that.
Where in the world would you say you belong?
I always say I belong to the world. I’ve always loved immersing myself in different cultures and keeping what I can from each culture I come across. I belong on a set. I belong wherever Leslie Torres (my mother) or Ricardo Arjona (my father) may be in the world. That’s where I belong.
You are half Guatemalan and half Puerto Rican – has having roots in two different cultures influenced the way you see the world?
A lot! Coming from Guatemala, I can live in a place like Los Angeles and still understand that I am in a bubble. I live in a bubble and I’m aware of it. I understand what’s going on with the politics around our world, what’s happening with the environment. I go to Guatemala three times a year. I see how people live, what they suffer, the differences in terms of economic wealth, and that’s the same in Puerto Rico. Weather has affected us and destroyed our island, but with good spirit, patience, a good laugh, and good salsa music, we brought that island back together. Being both Guatemalan and Puerto Rican has helped me to see the world and to bear in mind that we’re not all in this tiny little bubble.
Has the ongoing global situation had an impact on how you see traveling?
Traveling now has become something for which we are all longing. I wish I could get on a plane tomorrow and visit my family in Guatemala and in Puerto Rico. Covid-19 has changed my definition of traveling for now. Traveling for me now is reading a book and transporting myself into that author’s world. Reading about different cultures and religions. Watching movies by filmmakers from all over the world. Reconnecting with friends and family.
What kind of travels are you into?
Growing up I didn’t have stability and I still don’t have stability, that’s kind of what I love about my childhood. It was just traveling around and meeting different people, and seeing different cultures, and ethnicities, and social backgrounds. What I love about traveling and exploring is that you broaden your horizons and you realize that the world is so much bigger than just your little bubble. There’s so much more to see. I don’t like feeling comfortable or stable.
What is a perfect travel experience for you?
A perfect travel experience for me is always an immersive one. It’s getting to a city and just walking. Getting lost. Having no plans. Asking locals where to eat. Having a connection with someone from that place. Just taking it all in. I rarely get to do this anymore and I miss it dearly. I now usually travel for work, but I still try to do this. Now wherever I’m filming I pick one spot, whether it’s a coffee shop or a restaurant, and I try to go there as often as I can. Just to build a relationship with someone from there. I just want to feel like a local, feel at home.
What do you find most exciting about traveling?
It’s when you get to meet people, and being open to looking someone in the eye. The most exciting thing is when you first make eye contact with someone and you have no idea who he or she is. You’ve never met, yet you have the impression you can see into that person’s soul. That’s the first introduction to anyone, wherever you go. It doesn’t necessarily require that you are traveling though, it can happen at your local supermarket. You can travel into someone else’s soul almost through his or her eyes. That’s what excites me the most: people.
What do you learn from discovering new places?
I learn that the world is so much bigger. That the world I’ve created for myself is so small. That there are so many different ways to live. That my way or your way is not the only way. That I cannot judge or complain, just accept and learn. I try as much as I can to never live just one way, but to live my way, the way I’ve learned thanks to the people I’ve met along the way.
What would you say to women who do not dare to travel by themselves?
I always like to do things, in a certain way – my way – and I’ve discovered that doing things my way means pushing the boundaries. I would still encourage women to travel by themselves because it’s a unique way to broaden their horizons. Traveling into other people’s souls, making eye contact with people, taking a break from screens, facing someone and saying “Hi, good morning”: that, to me, is also traveling. You’re traveling into someone else’s day. You now have made an impact on someone else’s day and I think that’s really special. But I think there are many other ways to travel. What about traveling in your own city? Pushing yourself to meet new people? Travel outside of your comfort zone.
Which emotions does fragrance evoke for you?
I smell everything and I love to smell everything. Sometimes it’s a virtue but it’s a curse also, because it just reminds me of the good times and the bad times. I use it a lot in acting as well. Every character that I’ve ever played has a different scent, and finding the character’s shoes, finding the character’s scent is the most beautiful journey in creating a character. Someone else’s scent tells you a lot about who they are.
What does My Way’s scent evoke for you, and what do you like most about it?
It’s really refreshing! It’s floral and citrusy, andit has some vanilla as well. The name is what I love the most. It tells the story. It tells a story about this woman who knows her way, and it has to be my way, and I hope that every woman thinks in the same way. It’s my way, because that’s what you deserve. It’s okay to have that in the back of your head: it’s My Way. It’s not being selfish or self-centered, but you have one life and you’ve got to make your own way. When I learned about the fragrance’s philosophy, I had goosebumps and I just fell in love. It just smells so good, and I’ve never really smelt anything like this. It’s unique and kind of timeless.
Are you sensitive to sustainability?
I think that we all share the same home, that’s the most important thing, and I think everyone also shares a responsibility to take care of it. But we’re destroying it and I think each and every single one of us should do something about it on a daily basis. I mean, there are people who have the capacity, the time, the talent, and the passion to talk about it and to really change the world. But if you can’t or if you don’t have that reach, you can pick trash up when you go to the beach. If you see something, just grab a tissue, pick it up. In the street or wherever you may be, you know, to take care of it. And also to encourage other people to take care of it. I think to me, that’s the most important thing. To take care of this planet that gives us oxygen, the planet that gives us water, the two main things that we cannot live without. And we’re so focused on our social media, and we’re so focused on the way we look, and we’re so focused on the vanity of things. But if we don’t have water, if we don’t have oxygen, we’re done, we’re doomed. I’ve had personal experiences of this and I’m still battling to find a way to help with the problem. There’s this beautiful beach in Puerto San Jose and one side of the beach, where there are these beautiful houses, the beach is all perfectly clean, and then on the other side, where the locals live, it’s devastating what you see. I’m still figuring out: do I clean the beach? How do I educate? How do I tell not only this group of people but the whole world to stop thinking in 80-year spans of time. Many of us think like that as we think we’re going to live 80 years old, 90 years old, but I think we need to start thinking about the world that we’re leaving behind for the generations to come. And the way it’s going, it’s not going to last that long, and that’s terrifying. So yes, I think doing little things every day can make a difference, by planting a seed, and then pushing larger companies and larger corporations to pull through, to do their part.
What do you think about its refillable format?
The bottle is beautifully designed and its refill-ability is one of my favorite parts about it. You can buy one perfume and then the other bottle as a refill. By just doing that, you are planting your seed and you’re making a larger impact. Also, all the elements of the bottle can be recycled. Obviously, we would want people to refill it. The glass is 10 percent recycled glass, which is also really cool and special. I love keeping things that have a great meaning to me, especially things that remind me of people or of places, or of adventures. That’s another part that I love about the perfume. There’s the cap that almost looks like a piece of crystal, and I love crystals. It almost feels like a mirroring image. It’s like it’s encapsulating something, and I love that. It could become part of your nightstand table, not just a perfume cap.
How did you react when you first heard about the story?
I was really moved and really excited, because it’s so me in a way, that was a beautiful coincidence! I really connect with the story itself because I love people, and that’s why I’m an actress. I get to be different people. I love watching people. I love meeting people. I love connecting with different people and this is what this story really is about. It’s about this journey that I take throughout the world and along which I connect with other people. By doing so, I’m broadening my horizons, and becoming a better, less judgmental, person. It makes you even accept yourself a little bit more when you travel and you go on these journeys. These are things that I believe so much in my core and my soul. That’s why hearing that the story of the perfume was to take this great trip and to meet different people and cultures was just like a beautiful realization. I realized I would take part in a campaign that is different and that conveys a positive message.