“Ghostlight,” arriving in theaters Friday, stars Dolly de Leon in a valentine to live theater, no matter how humble.

This feel-good Sundance hit, where an amateur Chicago acting troupe presents “Romeo and Juliet,” has a way of surprising audience expectations.

Which is true for de Leon’s career. A working actor for three decades in her native Philippines, her global breakthrough came at Cannes in 2022 when “Triumph of Sadness” won the Palme d’Or, the festival’s highest prize.

Set on a luxury yacht that crashes and strands everyone on a jungle beach, de Leon’s toilet cleaner takes over as ruler with practical skills in this blackly comic look at the haves and have nots.

Numerous awards followed. She made history as the first-ever Filipina nominated for a BAFTA and a Golden Globe and vividly illustrates how one role can change everything.

“My whole career, and my whole life, has been all about waiting for jobs to come. Just saying yes to everything so I could pay the bills,” de Leon, 55, began in a Zoom interview.

“Now, it’s different. I am working more — and I’m tired more. Which is good; it means that I’m productive.”

She has yet to fully adjust to fame.

“I really don’t like that kind of attention. I don’t think actors need that, because sometimes it takes away from the characters that we play.

“Before when I would play characters, I’m invisible. In fact, when I would play lawyers in the Philippines, people would ask me if I’m really a lawyer.  Now that illusion is gone.

“Now I’m an actor where there’s a label on me. So I’m working harder than I ever did before. Because that’s the only way I can protect the characters I play.

“If not, they’re just going to see me. And that’s not what I want them to see. I want them to see the character.

“Rita,” she decided, “has always felt like an outsider wherever she went. Even when she was pursuing her career in New York, she always felt like an outsider, because she’s also an immigrant.

“When she moved to Chicago, she also felt that way. But Filipinos are very strong people. We tend to fight whatever insecurities we have and put up this facade.

“That’s what she does. That’s why she has such a strong personality. She’s protecting herself from being attacked, criticized, judged.  That’s her shield to protect herself.

“That’s how she get things done. Because at this point in her career, she has nothing to lose. Working in a small theater, she’s just making the most of what she has and focusing on art.”

“Ghostlight” opens Friday