The actress shares Switzerland break, boyfriend visit, and unexpected three-country trip that helped her recharge during the film shoot.
In this radar Entertainment exclusive, Mercedes Cabral pulls back the curtain on a rare pause in the middle of filming “Enjoy Your Stay,” the opening film of this year’s Cinemalaya. What was meant to be a quiet, character-driven break turned into something far more personal, as the actress traded solitude for connection—flying in her boyfriend on short notice, spending Christmas with a longtime friend’s family in Fribourg, and unexpectedly crossing three countries in a single day.
Through candid reflections and personal photos, Cabral recounts how the two-week Swiss escape—from hiking in Sion despite her fear of heights to soaking in the iconic Matterhorn view in Zermatt—became a much-needed reset. In stepping away from her role, she found clarity, returning to set recharged and ready to carry her character through to the finish line.
14-day holiday break
I already knew that I was going to have a 14-day holiday break during the two-and-a-half-month shoot of “Enjoy Your Stay.”
Our break was from December 20, 2024 to January 2, 2025, although we still had a New Year’s Eve night shoot from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the Verbier ski resort for the New Year’s scene in the film.
Initially, I thought I was going to spend the entire break alone. I actually convinced myself that being alone would help me stay connected to Luz and would somehow make me better at my performance.
I was so wrong. Hahahah!
Production gave us the option to either stay in Switzerland or fly back home to the Philippines. (Cast member) Anna Luna and I decided to stay because I didn’t want to deal with the exhaustion and jet lag of flying back and forth. I also felt that traveling home and back would interrupt the momentum I had built with the character.
I later found out that Anna’s family was going to fly to Switzerland to spend the holidays with her. That made me start thinking about my own holiday plans, and that’s when I decided to fly my boyfriend to Switzerland. I realized I would really love to have his company during my break.
The timing was quite stressful because he only had about a week to apply for his visa. Thankfully, our producer was incredibly helpful and wrote a letter to expedite the process. He got his visa in just three days. Impressive, right?
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Christmas in Fribourg
I spent the first part of my break with my European agent, manager, and dear friend, Bianca Zialcita, who lives in Fribourg. She picked me up from Sion (a beautiful ancient town), where production had put me up, and we drove to her home, where I spent Christmas with her family. Bianca is also the daughter of Filipina actress Evelyn Vargas, so I’ve known her family for a long time and it felt very special to spend Christmas with them while I was so far from home.
On Christmas Day, Bianca and I went to Zurich to pick up my boyfriend. She also had some business meetings there, so we managed to combine everything into one trip. After her meetings, she took us around Zurich and we visited some museums.
We spent a few days at her home and then started exploring. One of the places we visited was Vitra, the Swiss family-owned company known for its modern furniture and design. They also have a campus and design-focused spaces, and if you’re a designer or someone who loves modern furniture and architecture, it’s almost like a mecca for designers (both my boyfriend and Bianca are designers), it was a really cool place for me to see.
Crossing borders into France and Italy
We also drove to Basel. At one point, we got a little lost and accidentally crossed the borders into France and Italy. So, completely unintentionally, we managed to be in three countries in one day. We spent the days walking around, visiting museums, window-shopping, having drinks, and finding good restaurants. It was very simple, but that’s exactly what I needed.
Eventually, it was time for me to go back to Sion with my boyfriend so we could have some time to ourselves and explore Switzerland together.
We explored Sion, visited museums, and even hiked up one of the mountains there. I wasn’t expecting the view at the top to be so breathtaking. I’m actually scared of heights, so getting up there was a bit of a challenge, but my boyfriend was incredibly patient and helped me through it.
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Iconic view of the Matterhorn
We also traveled to different places by train, which I really enjoyed. One of my favorite trips was to Zermatt, where you get that iconic view of the Matterhorn, the mountain associated with the Toblerone chocolate. We spent the entire day there, walking around and just enjoying the winter sun. There was no schedule, no character work, no pressure. We were just there.
Eventually, the break was coming to an end and it was time to return to Martigny, which was our base because most of our filming locations were nearby. Before going back to work, I took my boyfriend up to Verbier because I wanted him to see where we had been shooting some of the scenes in the film. It was nice to finally share a small part of the world I had been living in for the past month.
Looking back, that break was probably one of the best decisions I made during the entire production.
I thought I needed to be alone to stay connected to Luz, but what I actually needed was to reconnect with myself.
I had spent so much time carrying this character emotionally and mentally that I needed those two weeks to just be me,to laugh, explore, be with people I love, and experience Switzerland as a person rather than as Luz.
When I went back to set, I felt completely recharged. I had a reset. And I realized that sometimes stepping away from the character is exactly what allows you to return to them with more clarity and energy.
I really needed that break to carry Luz all the way to the finish line.
“Enjoy Your Stay,” directed by Dominik Locher, cowritten by Honeylyn Joy Alipio, had its world premiere in the Panorama section of the 76th Berlin International Film Festival in Germany.
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