I began following the films of Adrian Garcia Bogliano when I saw Cold Sweat at SXSW, then Bogliano returned to Austin with Penumbra and Here Comes the Devil at Fantastic Fest. Devil opens Friday in theaters and on VOD so it’s time to present the interview I did with him and his cast at Fantastic Fest 2013. Laura Caro and Francisco Barreiro play parents whose children go missing, but when they return it’s even worse. We discussed a few of the horrific scenes in this interview so here is a spoiler warning, but even vague descriptions won’t prepare you for what you’re about to see. Later that night Caro would karaoke Whitney Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You,” but I can’t transcribe that. That was just for me and the attendees of Fantastic Fest.
CraveOnline: I love how a large part of the film deals with finding a medical/psychological analysis looking for a practical explanation for why these children are behaving this way. Did you think about The Exorcist, how they try to find medical solutions first?
Adrian Garcia Bogliano: The part with the doctors is amazing. I love that part of The Exorcist. I wasn’t thinking about it but of course The Exorcist is one of my 10 favorite films ever. It’s one of the films I’ve seen the most times, so those kinds of films you don’t think about. You’ve got it in you, something like that. So yeah, I think that it’s a reference and also one thing I wanted to do through the film is not always find the easiest explanation or the cinematic explanation let’s say.
For instance, when the character of Felix (Barreiro) thinks that there’s something wrong in the house, he buys a gun. The first thing that he thinks about is that there is someone around the house, because I think the first thing you will think in a case like that is not “Oh, there are ghosts here or there are demons.” You’re going to think that something real is happening. That’s the kind of thing we tried to do through the whole film.
You start with missing children, which is every parent’s worse fear. How do you then come up with something even scarier than that?
Adrian Garcia Bogliano: It was very difficult I think for them, the actors, because I feel like every time, especially for Laura’s character, every time something bad happens, later something even worse is going to happen. That’s something I had to work with them to work with that energy so they don’t put everything on the first traumatic situation that they have. Otherwise, I feel like the film is very dramatic and I feel like if we had put everything in the first act of the film, then you can get tired of just watching these people crying or screaming or that kind of thing.
This is your first film, Laura?
Laura Caro: Yes, it is.
How did you find her?
Adrian Garcia Bogliano: It was a casting that we did in Tijuana, a very long casting. She was recommended by the people that were working on the production in Tijuana. We met and instantly I knew she was the right one for the role. How was it on your side?
Laura Caro: On my side, I have a friend who was working with Adrian down there for the casting. He called me and said, “You know there’s this film that’s coming to the city. I really think that you should do it. I think you could have a lot of skill somehow.” At first I was like, “Sure.” I always wanted to do films. 10 years ago I did a little thing on a soap opera in Mexico and I saw myself and I was like, “Oh my God, I’m never ever going to do this.” I was bad. Like really, really bad. I was like, “Oh, yes. I suffer.” It was horrible, horrible.
Then I lived in L.A. for three years and did workshops at L.A. Improv and stuff like that, very small things. I started taking courses and stuff, so I had this friend and he called me. I sent him a picture and the next thing you know I was sitting with Adrian at coffee in Tijuana and we were getting ready for everything. We started rehearsing, we started the film and that’s pretty much it.
What were you doing for the 10 years in between the soap opera and Here Comes the Devil?
Laura Caro: I am a singer. I’m a singer in Mexico. I was part of this reality show similar to “American Idol” back in Mexico. I’ve been doing shows here and there. I recorded two independent albums and that was pretty much what I was doing. Actually, by the time that they called me, I was working at an office. I wasn’t doing anything relating to the entertainment business, so it was a very, very awesome opportunity for me because it took me 10 years to do it. I’m really excited that I have to do it with them because they took care of me and he guided me through. Here we are now.
Can we hear your music in the States?
Laura Caro: Actually, I have an album on iTunes. You could download it at iTunes.
Are either of you actually parents?
Laura Caro: No.
Francisco Barreiro: No, no, no. I’m married, but no.
Laura Caro: I don’t even have dogs.
How did you think about the relationship as husband and wife and as parents?
Francisco Barreiro: I think that was the biggest challenge for me in the film because you have to approach that thing and have a distance from your real life. In my case, I talked with my father a lot and tried to find some things to help me, and I was trying to watch a lot of people. I went to the park several times and just watched parents.
Adrian Garcia Bogliano: They thought he was a pervert.
Francisco Barreiro: For three days. I don’t know, I think you have to trust a lot in your director and you have to trust in the story that you’re telling and to trust in each other, try to be sensitive, try to be with the other all the time, try to be with the kids. Try to think what could be, but it’s a very difficult exercise. It was more like going altogether to try to make a prejudgment of what it could be. I think that’s very difficult.
Laura, you come off as such a compassionate mother, is that a surprising difference for you being a single woman and a performer?
Laura Caro: Yeah, I saw the film and I was like, “Oh my God, I could be a good mom.” As he was saying, for me it was all about trust in all aspects of my work. I had Francisco by my side who is a very experienced actor and Adrian who is an excellent director, so for me it was all about trust. I have three sisters, I took care of them when I was younger, so I try to picture that.
It was a big challenge because no matter what happens in your life or how much you love a partner or a lover or a sister, I could never understand the feeling that a mother has when she loses her children. I tried to focus on that specifically. I just had these pictures in my head. I guess I had a lot of imagination I guess. I’ve always wanted to be a mother also, so that’s probably something that helped me too. And the kids, they give themselves to you and they’re very tender. They’re very nice kids. Even though people ask if it was very difficult, there was a lot of chemistry between us four so I think that was very important for the film.
The sex scenes between the parents were very passionate and intimate. How did you create those?
Adrian Garcia Bogliano: To me, this is something that we discussed from the first moment. The thing is to me sex is the most important element of the film. Things related to sex are the most important element in this film. That’s why the film starts with a sex scene. Basically, what I think makes a sex scene work is that the actors trust in each other that they can feel comfortable and they did an excellent job on that because they were really professionals. The first day they met, there was a very nice chemistry between them. They laughed a lot when we were rehearsing this.
Laura Caro: We laughed a lot during the whole film.
Adrian Garcia Bogliano: It was like dissolving the tension and everything. I actually thought about that specifically. I wanted to make them have these kind of very intimate scenes on the first day of shooting so they wouldn’t be thinking about that through the whole shooting, just go do it and let’s go to something else.
Francisco Barreiro: I’m trying to go to the easiest way of doing it. Not to make it a really complex scene that you have a lot of elements.
Laura Caro: Don’t think too much.
Francisco Barreiro: It was just a moment and tried to make it as simple so that can feel more real.
Adrian Garcia Bogliano: It’s difficult to explain but I think there is a chemistry between the whole family and between them as a couple that simply appear there. You’ve got that element.
Laura Caro: You cannot build it.
Adrian Garcia Bogliano: You can’t predict it and I feel like they did what I needed. You feel that they’re a couple that have known each other for a long time. You feel like a real relationship and I think they did it.
