James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad features a stacked cast of very talented, accomplished actors including Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena and so many more. But do you know who winds up being a major Suicide Squad standout? Hollywood newcomer Daniela Melchior.
Melchior plays Ratcatcher II in the film. She’s got the ability to communicate with and control rats. When she attempts a bank heist with those rats, she's caught and thrown into Belle Reve Federal Penitentiary. However, now she’s getting the opportunity to reduce her sentence. All she’s got to do is take Amanda Waller’s (Viola Davis) offer and join her Suicide Squad for an extremely dangerous mission.
Given that I’m betting Melchior is going to wind up being a Suicide Squad favorite and the fact that I have very high hopes that the film will send her star soaring in the industry, having her as a guest on Collider Ladies Night was an absolute must. During our chat, we covered what inspired her to pursue acting and what it was like making the leap from the film and television industry in Portugal to Hollywood.
During that portion of the conversation, Melchior mentioned that there was some apprehension when submitting a self-tape for The Suicide Squad, having opted out of two other self-tape opportunities prior. When asked if she passed on those other two because the roles didn’t speak to her, Melchior laughed and admitted that she passed because she was on vacation. But she also added:
“It was really hard to tape in hotels. But the true reason was, I was so afraid of acting in English and learning the lines and everything that everything was reason for me not to tape because, yeah, I was really afraid to not do a good job and to send tapes that wouldn’t represent me and I would be feeling ashamed for. So yeah, I would just say, ‘Sorry, I don’t have blank walls here in the hotel that I’m in right now!’ [Laughs]”
Yes, Melchior did eventually submit that tape and clearly she wound up booking the role, but she insists that that tape was “the worst tape I ever did.” She further explained:
“I was actually reading. That emotional scene, the biggest scene [where] I’m talking about my backstory [for] Ratcatcher, I taped that scene too and I was reading the whole time. I had the paper. The frame was this, and I had the paper right here. And they loved it! I don’t know why! They saw something there. My manager called me to fly to Atlanta and to do the screen test and the chemistry test with the rats, and I was like, ‘Really? They liked that? That crap that I did?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, it looks like [it]!’ So I flew to Atlanta. I had a meeting with Peter Safran and James Gunn. They asked me some questions about me. They told me about the character and what they wanted for the next day [from] Ratcatcher, and in the end they asked me, ‘Daniela, I really want to ask you, were you reading in your tape?’ And I was like, ‘Um, I love Marlon Brando and I know that he would read sometimes too so I was feeling really inspired by him!’ And then I told him, ‘But don’t worry. Now I know my lines and I know what I’m doing, so tomorrow will be fine.’ [Laughs]”
After her Atlanta audition, Melchior took some time to fly to Hollywood to meet her manager in person for the first time and to do a little sightseeing.
“I went to the Walk of Fame and I bought many, many souvenirs. At that time I didn’t know that I booked the role. James Gunn only called me a few days later, so I was like, ‘Even if nothing happens, I’ve gotta have proof that I was in the United States,' and to show my family I was there."
But of course, Melchior didn’t wind up needing any proof. She may have taken home some Hollywood souvenirs to remember the trip, but she also left her own mark on the US in the process because now there are countless gigantic billboards with her face on them all across the country!
When she called her loved ones to deliver the news that she booked the role, she promised them “to not doubt myself or to feel like I don’t have value as an actor.” While revisiting that period, Melchior also recalled:
“My manager asked me, ‘So, what are you going to do while you’re here in Hollywood? Do you want me to get you in those tours that you can see the mansions and the famous peoples’ houses?’ And I was like, ‘Nah, they will be my colleagues some day, so I don’t want to spy on them.’ [Laughs]”
Self-doubt be gone! Calling some of the most well known individuals in the film industry her peers is clearly what’s happening for Melchior right now, and I’m a big believer she’ll continue to be in such a position for many years to come.
If you’re looking for even more from Melchior about her journey from her earliest TV shows in Portugal to being part of one of the biggest releases of 2021, The Suicide Squad, you can catch our chat in the video at the top of this article or listen to our uncut conversation in podcast form below. We went deep on her experience working with real rats, her next-level ability to nap, a whole bunch of Suicide Squad spoilers and loads more!