From Caras Magazine (Colombia)
[N.B this is a translation so some sentences may have been altered slightly during the process]
CARAS had access to the best kept secret of the cinema in Colombia. Peter Facinelli,of the Twilight Saga, and the actresses Sophia Myles and Nathalia Ramos topped the list of stars that moved to the country for a month to shoot the thriller Gallows Hill. They spoke and posed exclusively for the magazine.
Peter Facinelli does not speak Spanish, but learned to say a word during his stay in Colombia: ‘Ajiaco’, a meal called for all the nights in his hotel. The actor who plays the doctor Cullen in the popular Twilight Saga confessed that he had always wanted to act in a horror film, however, had not found an intelligent script until he read the story of Gallows Hill; and immediately wanted to participate in the project. But there was another ingredient that was called even more attention and was shooting in Colombia. “I had heard wonderful things about the country and wanted to see it with my own eyes”.
The film was directed by the Spanish Victor Garcia, who has been involved in films such as Talk to Her and the blockbuster movie Hellboy. He has several horror films under his belt, and returns to this genre with Gallows Hill. The thriller tells the story of David Reynolds (Peter Facinelli), an American widower to a colombian wife, who flies to Bogota accompanied by Lauren (Sophia Myles), his new partner, with the aim of recovering his rebellious daughter Jill (Nathalia Ramos). After surviving a car accident, the three are stranded in an isolated inn where they discover a girl in the basement; the decision of releasing them entails unintended consequences.
“I love the films of suspense, not only to see them but to act on them”, confessed Sophia Myles. The 32 year-old British actress, is a veteran in the thriller genre; in 1999 she played the wife of Johnny Depp in the film From Hell and has participated in two of the Underworld films next to Kate Beckinsale, where she was transformed into a ruthless vampire.
For her part, the actress Nathalia Ramos, born in Spain and raised in the United States, she saw on the film the opportunity to make a character who speaks two languages, English and Spanish. The young woman of twenty years laughs when he remembers the horrible things and frightening by the step that your character, which she seemed to be rather fun: “When I arrived on set they said to me: ‘ Today you’re going to pull cockroaches’ and i responded: ‘I do not have already done so before, it doesn’t bother me that, on the other hand, the cold seems to me to be a worse torture,” said the protagonist of the supernatural series House of Anubis of Nickelodeon, in which she learned to make terrifying scenes,which included act with millions of insects
The genre of the film required a high degree of precision to achieve credibility and realism not only with the makeup of bloody wounds but with action sequences . “I have scenes of battle with one of the characters – says Ramos – . There is a double but i am excited about doing those things. By danger i can’t make some, but tried to do what I can, the action sequences are like a great choreography where everything has to be planned perfectly”.
The Spanish actress revealed that in several of its scenes she was at the hand, literally, with Myles, who plays the girlfriend of his dad. “I got so wrapped up in the character that the paste very strong to Sophia and gave me so much penalty after the jack until I asked forgiveness”.
The production team of the film which had in its majority with Colombian talent, filmed in the municipality of Sesquilé, Cundinamarca ,where he endured long hours a cold inclement weather but the affection of Colombian fans remained excited to actors, despite the low temperature. “My daughter’s birthday was yesterday,” said Peter, who has two more with Jenny Garth, from the series Beverly Hills 90210, “and some fans brought a cake and gifts to the set and sang happy birthday to her; I asked to video them and send it to her.
But that was not all. Facinelli confesses that he had never seen followers more incredible that the Colombians. “One day,during the shoot, I wrote on Twitter that I wanted to eat pizza, and suddenly several fans came to the set with pizza from Papa John’s and others that made me one”. In spite of the hard days of work, the actors found time to do some sightseeing in the capital, including visiting the restaurant Andrés Carne De Res and taste the Colombian gastronomy. “The food here is impressive and the variety of fruits that they have is enviable”, said Nathalia, who became addicted guanabana juice. “I am already at the point where i don’t know how live without it. I looked on the internet where I can buy it cold in Los Angeles where I live”.
Sophia, for her part, declared herself in love with the country and decided to extend her stay after completing the shooting. “I make use of the free days to know more; I went to the Catedral de Sal de Zipaquirá, which I thought was amazing, and I don’t want to go without a visit to the city of Cartagena”.
The film, which will be released in 2013, generates a high expectation from now, not only by the fans who want to see more, but for being one of the first Hollywood films being rolled in its entirety in Colombia, with national talent of international invoice. “The team has been great, we have become a family, I will miss them,” says Peter, but not before concluding: “We worked very hard on this film, I hope that you enjoy much as we did making it”.