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Liza Soberano details traumatic childhood including being called a 'family dog'
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TRIGGER WARNING: This article contains sensitive content including of child abuse, physical abuse, domestic violence, psychological abuse, and substance abuse
In a documentary from Australian photographer Sarah Bahbah titled Can I Come In? Filipina-American actress Liza Soberano makes several shocking revelations.
The actress shared her life story, beginning with her birth in Santa Clara, California to parents, 18-year-old American Jacqulyn Hanley and 22-year-old Filipino John Soberano, who moved to the US.
“They grew up in two different countries. But the one thing that they had in common was they were so misguided,” Liza said, describing her parents.
Liza revealed the hardships she faced growing up, including her mother's struggle with addiction.
“They were working multiple jobs to make ends meet. My mom sadly had, like, a really bad addiction to crystal meth. And my dad, he was a chemist among many other things,” Liza shared.
She described her parents as “Bonnie and Clyde,” saying they were “not really thinking about the consequences for me.”
Liza added that her mother became pregnant with her younger brother, Justin, before Sophia was even a year old.
The actress also recounted her father's complicated past, sharing that he had another child with a girlfriend previously, prompting Liza to file a restraining order against him.
“My dad had visited them, and a big fight ensued, and eventually, my dad got arrested,” she said.
Liza shared more about the challenges she faced growing up, particularly the legal troubles of her father and her mother's addiction.
“And because he had so many different cases filed against him, one was for making drugs, two was for carrying illegal firearms, and three was trespassing and not following the restraining order, my dad eventually got deported," she said.
She added, "And so my mom was left with just me and my brother, not really knowing what to do, not really having a plan.”
Liza revealed that her mother's addiction worsened and she continued using while pregnant, “and so my little brother was born addicted to crystal meth.”
Reflecting on her early years, Liza said that although she was a toddler at the time and does not remember everything, memories come back in flashes during vulnerable moments or when she is triggered.
“A sense will get triggered, and I can remember these moments, and these memories have been validated by the things that a lot of the grown-ups around me have told me.”
Liza Soberano opened up about one of her earliest traumatic memories, recalling a dangerous episode involving her mother's former partner, a man named Michael.
“This guy was really bad news,” Liza said. “And I only know this because my family told me, but I remember specific moments during that experience.”
She recounted how Michael stole a minivan and took her, her sister Jacqueline, and her brother Justin with him. As a toddler, Liza tried to escape her car seat.
“I was like a two-year-old, but obviously I didn't know how to get out of a car seat at that age. So I remember one morning I woke up and I just somehow knew how to unbuckle my car seat,” she said.
Liza attempted to flee because they had been missing for several days. Her mother's family had already filed a missing persons report, and the children had appeared on the news as kidnapping victims.
Michael caught her and brought her back to the van. A heated confrontation followed, with Michael threatening her.
“My mom had made an excuse because he was just screaming at me and screaming at me, and so she was like, 'there's some things we need to buy.'”
“And when she left me, the next thing I remember, he was screaming at me, telling me to hit my brother in the head with my car seat, to use it to bash his head, and he was telling me that over and over, and I was like, 'Why? No, no I'm not going to do that.'”
“And he kept on telling me to do that over and over again. And I just remember being so confused 'cause I was like, 'Why do you want me to hit my brother's head?' Like, I'm a child, I can't even comprehend what's going on. And my brother's a baby. So I was just, I was so lost,” Liza said.
She continued, “I didn't even know what to do, like right now, I don't even know what a two-year-old would even think of when you're telling them this. And then the next thing I know, he hits me in the head with the bottom of a gun that he was holding.”
Liza's mother returned to the minivan shortly before police arrived.
“So Michael had pushed my mom out of the car and I don't remember any of this, but apparently, like he had grabbed onto her hair from the window and my mom's hair and scalp tore a bit because he started driving the car while holding onto her hair,” she said.
Michael and Jacqulyn were eventually arrested. “And the next memory I have is just being in the back of a cop car with my little brother, and I just remember looking at him and thinking, like, 'what's going on?'”
Reflecting on the incident, Liza said she still feels a lot of fear.
“I just feel fear of bringing shame to my mom, even though I know she was the one that did me wrong.”
After Jacqulyn was hospitalized and later imprisoned, Liza Soberano and her brother Justin were left without parental care. Initially, they stayed with their grandmothers, but as they were too old to properly care for the children, Liza and Justin were placed in foster care, moving through several homes. The longest stay was with a woman named Melissa and her family.
“She was supposed to be my mom's, like, high school friend, best friend. But, like, that was really far from the truth, apparently,” Liza said.
Liza recounted that she stayed with Melissa for about eight months. “I remember in the beginning it was like, it was alright. I mean, I didn't feel super happy or excited about the situation, but it was okay,” she added.
However, as weeks went by, Liza said Melissa “started treating me differently.”
She recalled a birthday party of one of Melissa's sons where she and Justin were told to stay in their room. Another son called them out, and the children began throwing cupcakes at them.
Another painful memory involved family movie nights. “I was the only one that wasn't allowed to participate in family movie nights because I was the family dog,” Liza said.
“So they would literally call me the family dog and I would have to sit in like a big cardboard box behind the sofa. And I actually would just sit there like a dog.”
Liza Soberano opened up about the escalating abuse she endured while staying with her foster family.
“And then after that, like, she started really abusing me, not just psychologically,” Liza said.
One traumatic incident involved a meal. “And this is why I have a phobia of meatballs now. She forced me to eat a meatball and I choked. She didn't do anything, she just watched me. And I think she did it on purpose to, like, make it look like it was an accident,” she recalled.
“But for some reason, her husband would always step in when it got really bad, but he wouldn't do anything when it wasn't that bad. So he had saved me from choking,” Liza added.
The abuse went further. Liza said she was once forced to clean the family dog's feces with her tongue. “And I thought [Melissa] was kidding until she grabbed the back of my head and forced me on the carpet.”
Social workers visited the family monthly. Liza noticed a disturbing pattern: “She would treat me really badly, but whenever it was about time that the social worker was gonna come by, she would all of a sudden treat me really nicely, like extra nicely,” she said. “She would just tell me all the things that I wanted to hear.”
Liza admitted she would lie during those visits. “I'd say everything was fine, that I was happy, that Melissa was so good to me, that the kids were so good to me, that my conditions were fine. I would lie because I would actually believe that she loved me when she said she loved me, because when you're a kid, that's just what you do.”
The abuse worsened over time. Liza was forced to sleep in the garage and was sometimes not given food. “She would not feed me for days and then all of a sudden feed me a lot of food. And it came to a point where she didn't feed me for, like, three days, I think.”
During a surprise visit from the social worker, physical signs of abuse became apparent: bruises, a scratch on her face, and a body that was both skinny and bloated.
“That's when I stopped lying to protect her,” Liza said.
After years of foster care, Liza Soberano and her brother were eventually adopted by their paternal grandparents.
“It was really good. My grandparents took very good care of us. We were actually living a very lavish lifestyle. My grandparents had pretty good jobs. It was the first time that me and my brother were experiencing something like this,” she said.
Despite the improved circumstances, Liza admitted she still longed to be with her mother.
“I was obsessed with my mom, like, my mom was my everything. And it's, like, it's funny because I was very aware of everything that had happened, but I had never built up this, like, hatred or resentment towards her. In fact, it was the opposite, like, I craved and longed to be with her,” she shared.
Her grandparents allowed her mother to visit, and with each visit came new siblings. Liza also spent two months every summer with her mom, creating some of her happiest childhood memories.
“And during these times, my mom was actually doing well too, I believe, because I got to see her for myself, that she wasn't on drugs during those times. But who knows, like, I found out a lot of things later, but everything seemed fine,” Liza said.
Eventually, her grandfather's health declined due to Type 2 diabetes, requiring open-heart surgery. Financial strain followed, and her grandmother quit her job to care for him.
“And because of that, they made the decision to send me and my brother to the Philippines to meet her dad for the first time. And I am strongly opposed to this. I didn't like my dad at all. I didn't grow up with him. I knew of him,” Liza explained.
She and her father had only occasionally spoken on the phone.
“I couldn't ever imagine myself going to the Philippines and living with him full time, but that's what needed to happen. And so at the age of 10, my brother and I migrated to the Philippines to live with our estranged father.”
The transition was challenging, and Liza described it as “uncomfortable” and a culture shock.
“He demanded so much from me as a daughter that I feel was unmerited, because he wasn't around,” she said.
She also recalled an unsettling encounter with her father: “And then out of nowhere, this guy comes up to me and kisses me on the cheek. And it's my father. And I'm just, I pushed him off of me, and I'm disgusted.”
“It's like he expected that we would act like we knew each other all this time when we've only had, like, conversations on the phone that would last, like, three minutes. So, yeah, he just, he didn't know how to take it step by step, and it just made me very uncomfortable,” Liza added.
In the same interview, Liza officially announced her breakup with Enrique Gil and shared that she has been focusing on building an international career.
Liza Soberano recently made her Hollywood debut in the film Lisa Frankenstein, playing the role of Taffy. Her performance earned praise from American film critics.
Beyond film, Liza starred in Thai singer and actor Bright's music video for “Long Showers” and appeared in Eric Nam's digital series, Stop 'N Snack.
She has also been a presence at major international events, including the Gold House Gala, Coachella, and Elton John's Oscars afterparty.
MEANWHILE, LIZA SOBERANO CELEBRATES HER BIRTHDAY WITH AN ARTSY PHOTOSHOOT:
