Exclusive: The Stories of the Filipino Cast Members of Netflix's Danish Series 'Secrets We Keep'

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Exclusive: The Stories of the Filipino Cast Members of Netflix's Danish Series 'Secrets We Keep'

Grace Libero

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Updated May 30, 2025 09:05 PM PHT

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Marie Bach Hansen as Cecilie and Danica Curcic as Katarina in "Secrets We Keep" | Photo from Jasper Spanning/Netflix


Danish series Secrets We Keep (Danish title: Reservatet) is currently the top 4 show on Netflix Philippines. The disturbing yet engrossing show is set in Denmark’s wealthiest neighborhood, with a plot that narrows in on Filipino au pairs and the mysterious disappearance of one.

In a Netflix Nordic interview, director Per Fly described the series, saying, “Secrets We Keep is about some residents up in the reserve, as they call that area, where the rich people live north of Copenhagen. It’s about a couple of families who have au pair girls. And suddenly, an au pair girl disappears. Then you start to see the family, how they slowly fall apart around this disappearance. What happened to this girl? Who did something, if anyone did anything? And it should be exciting until the last minute.”





An au pair is not categorized as an overseas Filipino worker. It is a term used for individuals between 18 and 30, unmarried and without children, who will be placed under a cultural exchange arrangement with a European host family, typically for a maximum stay of two years.

The au pairs in Secrets We Keep were portrayed by Filipinos who had experience as au pairs in Denmark. Their casting in the series helped depict that beautiful sense of Filipino community in this part of Europe. For authenticity, the Filipino cast members even had lines in their native language and—spoiler alert—they sang Color It Red’s “Paglisan.”  

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In this Metro.Style exclusive, meet four of the Filipino actors in Secrets We Keep, a gripping series from creator Ingeborg Topsøe: Here, Excel Busano (Angel), Gel Andersen (Kim), Nilda Aclon Stehr (Ona), and Donna Levkovski (Ruby) share their stories from the Philippines to Denmark.




Excel Busano as Angel

Excel plays the role of Angel, the au pair for Cecilie (Marie Bach Hansen) and Mike (Simon Sears), who have a toddler and a teen son, Viggo (Lukas Zuperka).

Excel was born and raised in Bohol, Philippines. She learned about the au pair scheme through her sister, who was already in Denmark. “She introduced me to the au pair scheme in Denmark, and at first, I had no idea what it meant. So, she explained to me that I would be helping a family with their children. And since I love to be with children and want to try a different culture at the same time, I did try it,” Excel told Metro.Style.

Little did she know that her experience as an au pair would play a role in her landing a Netflix series. Recalling how she chanced upon the call for auditions for Secrets We Keep, Excel shared, “I was at work at the time. I was on lunch break, if I remember right. I was just checking my phone, and then I saw the announcement. It was on Facebook. One of the groups shared it. They were looking for a Filipina who lives in Denmark, who can play an au pair for an upcoming TV series. And knowing that I had the experience of being an au pair—I also live in Denmark—so I was thinking, ‘Should I give it a try?’ But of course, part of me was not so sure if I would give too much time for this one, especially knowing that the casting would be in Copenhagen, which is about a three-hour drive away from where I live now.” 


Excel Busano in "Secrets We Keep" | Photo from Tine Harden/Netflix


She told her husband about it, and he encouraged her to give it a try. Excel decided to go for it and emailed the caster. She had no expectations, so she was surprised to receive a reply, with the caster setting an appointment for them to meet. However, she wasn’t available for the date specified because she was about to leave for Italy for a vacation. She thought that was it and that maybe it wasn’t meant to be. “But then, surprisingly, she wrote me back, saying that she really wanted to see me,” Excel shared, and within that week, she would find herself in Copenhagen. She went through three rounds of casting until she got the lead role. 

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During the third casting, she met the show’s director, Per Fly, whom Excel described as “one of the best directors” in Denmark. She said that the production team was very warm and considerate during the casting, and although she had no acting experience, she didn’t feel uncomfortable around them.

Excel was a fan of the Hollywood movie Titanic and the Filipino series Pangako Sa’Yo. She was into showbiz and even auditioned for the reality series Pinoy Big Brother once, but she didn’t get in. She never thought landing an acting stint would be in the cards for her. 


Photo from Tine Harden/Netflix


Years later, after starting a family in Denmark, she would find herself on the set of a series, surrounded by Dane creatives and actors. Without any expectations, at first, Excel didn’t feel any pressure until the grandness of the project dawned on her. 

“When I started to know more about my character, who I would be working with, and looking at their work, how good they are—Danica [Curcic], who plays Katarina, and Marie [Bach Hansen], who plays Cecilie—I started to feel a bit pressured,” Excel admitted. “But somehow, the pressure is actually good because it kind of gave me a challenge to do my best to portray Angel.”

Excel and the other Filipino cast members know that some may not appreciate how Filipinos were portrayed in the series, but she emphasized that this is just fiction. The majority of au pairs in Denmark are from the Philippines, so Excel said perhaps that might have had an impact on why the producers of Secrets We Keep thought of focusing on Filipino au pairs.

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“Filipinos are very hardworking people, and that's what we wanted to portray in the scenes,” Excel began. “We sacrifice for the sake of our family. I remember when I was an au pair, I experienced homesickness. I was just lucky enough to have my sister here, so I could somehow take it. But some other Filipinas who came to Denmark as au pairs don't know anybody.” 

Ultimately, Excel is grateful for the chance to represent the Philippines in an international series. She is proud of her fellow Filipinos and how they can create warm communities across the globe. “We are happy no matter what life might throw at us. We always stand up for our family… It's in our nature somehow to be strong, to be happy wherever in the world we are.”




Donna Levkovski as Ruby

The search for Ruby is on! And we were delighted to have found and chatted with the Filipino actor who portrayed that important character in Secrets We Keep. Donna's character, Ruby, is an au pair for the family of Katarina (Danica Curci), Rasmus (Lars Ranthe), and their teen son Oscar (Frode Bilde Rønsholt).

Like the other Filipino cast members, Donna was also an au pair in Denmark. The Pinay, who hails from Mindanao, signed up for this cultural exchange arrangement, wanting to change her eight-hour desk work routine in the Philippines. 

“I didn't think so much about what my work would be. Of course, in the back of my head, it was going to be a change for me. But I think what pushed me the most was the experience of living in Europe in general,” said Donna, who went to Denmark when she was 21. 

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She merely wanted to earn some money from being an au pair and was planning to return to the Philippines to study law. But then life had other plans for her, and she met a guy there who is her husband now.

The life stories of au pairs in Denmark are so varied and dynamic, so Donna thought there was a documentary in the works when she saw the Facebook ad calling for au pair auditionees. She said, “I was like, ‘Should I give it a try?’ And then they called me and that was it… I think during the second round of casting, they already decided that I was going to be Ruby.” 


Donna Levkovski as Ruby in "Secrets We Keep" | Photo from Tine Harden/Netflix


Donna described her preparation for the role as “tricky” because a mystery surrounds her character. “Like, who's this girl? I didn’t say much, but the viewers should see that something's going on with her, you know? So there were some scenes where I had to stand and just act so sad. And I felt like most of the time, it would be easier to bring out the emotions when you have lines,” Donna said.

It was a big production, but Donna appreciated that the team consulted her and the other Filipinos about some small details that would make the storytelling more effective. “I enjoyed the whole planning before we got into the whole thing,” she mentioned. 

She didn’t imagine she would ever pursue acting, but because of the opportunity Secrets We Keep presented, she got a confidence boost. She shared that she auditioned for another project in Denmark, and if things don’t go her way this time, she knows there’s a reason behind it. Donna mused, “When you audition for a character, and if you didn’t get the main part, that doesn’t mean you’re not good. It just means the character doesn’t fit you.”

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Donna understands that the fictional series touches on a controversial topic, eliciting the inevitable negative comments alongside the positive feedback. But, if anything, it’s a thought-provoking show that challenges social norms, woven with themes that present parenting woes. 

For a Filipino viewer, it’s fun to spot elements here and there that are very Pinoy. For instance, Donna shared, her character Ruby had a rice cooker in her room—“Danes don’t eat rice, they always eat tomatoes.” She also feels proud that she and her fellow Filipino cast members got to speak Tagalog in the show.

“I had a good experience,” Donna told Metro.Style, adding that it was such an honor to act alongside professional actors she would only see on TV. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime moment.” 




Gel Andersen as Kim

Gel’s character in Secrets We Keep is Kim, one of the friends and fellow au pairs of Angel (Excel Busano) and Ruby (Donna Levkovski).  

Gel was from Oriental Mindoro in the Philippines. She studied and worked in Manila until she found an opportunity to work in Doha, Qatar. While she was working as a receptionist in a restaurant there, she met a man who would bring her to Denmark and eventually marry her. Before she and her husband got married, Gel was an au pair; currently, she works as a cleaner in a school. 

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Like the other Filipino cast members, she saw the casting announcement for Secrets We Keep via a Facebook post. With her bubbly, go-getter attitude, Gel thought she was a perfect fit for the project, so she immediately called the caster and sent her pictures. She was asked to go to Copenhagen, but she initially hesitated because it was about two and a half hours away from where she was based. “But the next thing I knew, I was already on the train to Copenhagen,” she shared. 

During her third casting, the script given to her was in the heavy drama genre, and at the time, her stepfather had just passed away, so the emotions she brought out in the delivery of her lines were real. “Sabi nila, ‘Okay, cut! Umiiyak pa rin ako,” Gel recalled. 


Filipino cast members in "Secrets We Keep," including (front row from left) Nilda Aclon Stehr, Excel Busano, and Gel Andersen | Photo from Nikolaj Thaning Rentzmann/Netflix

She was thrilled that the production team liked her, but she told them that the setup requiring her to be in Copenhagen wasn’t ideal for her because her daughter was only three years old. Almost a month later, Gel was told that they had already picked an actress for the main role, but offered her another character with fewer scenes so she wouldn’t have to worry that much about filming in Copenhagen. 

When asked what the environment was like during filming, Gel had nothing but good words for the cast and crew. “The people here are super friendly. These directors, these famous actors, they were always bonding with us. We ate lunch at the same table. We joked around,” she recounted. “Itong mga taong ito, sobrang successful pero ang humble.” Being surrounded by that kind of positive influence, Gel said, taught her humility even more.  

One of her memorable experiences on the set of this series was their first shooting. “After nu’ng first take, sabi ng direktor, ‘You’re officially an actress.’ Kasi parang ’yun ’yung first cut and everyone was clapping and shouting,” she recalled. It amazes her to have been given this platform and a chance to represent the Philippines in an exciting work of fiction; she hopes this will also reach her half-siblings in Manila, whom she lost touch with. 

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Like what was portrayed in the series, as the au pairs gathered together to solve Ruby’s mysterious disappearance, Gel highlights the camaraderie of Filipinos in Denmark, saying, “We’re Filipinos and our community will help each other hanggang sa huli.”


Photos courtesy of Gel Andersen



Nilda Aclon Stehr as Ona

Like Gel, Nilda was cast as one of the au pairs in Secrets We Keep. The Filipina, who was born and raised in Bohol, was an au pair in Denmark for two years. She also experienced being an au pair in Norway and the Netherlands. Eventually, she returned to Denmark, where she’s studying to be a social assistant. 

Nilda, now married to a Dane, was a nurse in the Philippines. She has always wanted to work in the healthcare industry. So, Hello, Love, Goodbye, the movie of her favorite Filipino actress, Kathryn Bernardo, hit her differently. In the movie, Kathryn is a nursing degree holder who works as a domestic helper in Hong Kong. Nilda opened up, “Alam mo ’yung breadwinner ka sa Pilipinas tapos hindi mo ipinapaalam kung gaano ka na kapagod sa ibang bansa. Nangyari rin sa’kin na hinahabol ko ’yung oras na nasa school ako tapos pupunta sa work after. Dati nagba-bike lang ako ng 45 minutes to work. Minsan kailangan ko maghabol ng train, wala pang kain. So habang nasa train, kain lang ng tinapay o kaya carrots.”


Nilda Aclon Stehr (left) as Ona in "Secrets We Keep," photographed with Excel Busano | Photo from Tine Harden/Netflix

She is thankful for the opportunity to now be part of a series herself, where she can somehow enlighten others about what it is like to be an au pair within the show’s context and beyond. At first, when she auditioned for the project, she thought it would just be shown locally. It was a pleasant surprise that it was a Netflix show that would even be available in the Philippines. 

Nilda explained that since the au pair scheme is a cultural exchange, she would only do light household chores for her host family, and they sent her to school to study the Danish language; in exchange, she would also teach them about the Filipino culture, the language, and would cook Filipino dishes for them. Nilda would teach her host kid “Ate” and “Kuya” (older sister and brother), and even how to count “isa hanggang sampu” (one to ten). What she liked the most about this setup was the work-life balance she had always craved. 

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Photos courtesy of Nilda Aclon Stehr


In the series, beneath the suspense and mystery, one thing that stands out is how solid the Filipino community is. In one scene, the Filipinos gathered in a bar, singing, reminiscent of the traditional karaoke sessions in the Philippines. Nilda said they would gather like that from time to time. “’Yung totoo is ’yung karaoke bar sa shoot, ’yun talaga ’yung lugar na halos lahat ng Filipino nagka-karaoke,” Nilda shared. 

How did her family react to her stint? “Una, nagulat sila. Akala nila prank. Nag-subscribe sila sa Netflix,” she laughed, because for some time, her involvement in the series was a secret she kept from them since the project was confidential.

Despite having no experience in acting, Nilda feels surreal to have received great feedback about her and, most especially, Excel’s portrayal. “Hindi raw sila nahirapan dalin kami. Tuwing after shoot, nagpapalakpakan sila kasi humahanga sila. Kasi wala naman kaming training, diretso sabak.”

Now that she has this acting experience, Nilda is open to auditioning for more acting stints. Like the mindset she has always embraced, she said, “Kung meron mang opportunity, why not?” 


Lead photos from Netflix, @donnalevkovski, @gelandersen

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