Élodie Yung’s most popular role might be Elektra in the Netflix Defenders universe, but she showed her exceptional acting side on Fox’s The Cleaning Lady. She played the lead role of Thony De La Rosa, a former Cambodian-Filipino surgeon, who becomes a cleaner for the mob to procure treatment for her sick son. Fox recently canceled the series after airing four seasons.
Yung’s role in this show was very different from that of Elektra. She was usually stereotyped into action roles, but The Cleaning Lady offered much more scope for her acting abilities. She was extremely happy and surprised by the show championing Southeast Asian representation.
Élodie Yung is an inspiration to Southeast Asian fans despite The Cleaning Lady‘s cancellation
In The Cleaning Lady, Élodie Yung‘s Thony De La Rosa began working as a cleaning lady after she became an illegal immigrant due to her visa issues. When she witnessed a murder by Arman Morales, played by Adan Canto, she was offered a job as the mob’s cleaner. She accepts the job, which can pay for the cutting-edge bone marrow treatment for her son Luca, who suffers from an immunodeficiency disease.
The show initially wrote Yung’s character as a Filipino, but it was changed to include her Cambodian heritage. She told Tatler Asia that she was shocked at the show’s decision. The show portrays her to be a Cambodian who got married to a Filipino while working as a surgeon in the Philippines. The role of her sister is played by Filipino American actress Martha Millan.
During her interview, Yung touched upon the show’s inclusion of Southeast Asian actors and characters. Yung told Tatler that she initially had no pressure when filming. However, she only realized her responsibility of representing an entire community in American television when she started doing the press for the show.
She shared that she had no one to look up to when she grew up watching TV. She hoped to become the inspiration for the future generation of aspiring Southeast Asian actors. She shared:
There was no pressure at the time when I got the part and filmed the series, but it’s only now when I’m doing press that the responsibility hit me! And it comes with extreme joy as well because I never had anyone to look up to or refer to when I was watching TV growing up. That’s something I want that for future generations: to find themselves represented in the public landscape.
It appears that she has achieved her dream after four seasons of The Cleaning Lady. Yung was also happy to work with a diverse cast, as she shared, “It was great to be on a set where the actors had different backgrounds—Filipino, Mexican, American, Argentinian, and would enrich their character from their own perception and experiences.” Unfortunately, Fox announced on June 6, 2025, that the series will not be moving forward for a fifth season.
Élodie Yung explains how Thony in The Cleaning Lady was different from Elektra in Daredevil
Élodie Yung told Tatler that she and her character Thony in The Cleaning Lady shared the same heart. She shared that they both carried the resilience, while admitting that Thony was more calm and courageous than she would be in certain situations. She shared that Thony’s rawness attracted her to the role in the first place.
She shared that she was almost stereotyped into a ninja or fighter role due to her looks, and Thony stayed away from those stereotypes. She explained:
The rawness of the part. Because of my looks, I’ve had to play a lot of characters that were ninjas, fighters…I had a lot of fun doing that but Thony stays away from the stereotypes. She’s a survivor and a fighter in her own way but like any mother would be in her situation. She’s not a superhero, she’s far from perfect, and her strength shows up at her most vulnerable times.
When asked about the differences between Thony and Elektra, she shared, “In this story, my character’s only weapons are her heart and her brain, no swords of any sort!” She added, “I guess ‘vulnerable’ overall is the word I’d use.” Yung has also played the goddess Hathor in Gods of Egypt. Her other projects include The Hitman’s Bodyguard, Secret Society of Second-Born Royals, and Love, Death & Robots.
The Cleaning Lady is now available for streaming on Max.
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