Juan Carlos Fresnadillo poses exclusively for ICON in the Plaza de Santa Ana, Madrid.Edy Pérez
“I consider myself a traveler.
Now I live in Lisbon.
My partner is doing a six-month dance master's degree there and I have decided to accompany her,” says Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (Tenerife, 57 years old).
The filmmaker is in Madrid promoting
Damsel
, the Netflix blockbuster with which he breaks a 13-year silence.
He hasn't released a film since September 2011, when
Intruders
, his third feature, opened the San Sebastián Film Festival.
“I have lived in many places,” he continues: “At the age of 17 I left the Canary Islands and was in Madrid until I went to London to direct
28 weeks later
(2007).
Then, Buenos Aires and later, Los Angeles, when I went to do television.
It was five years, until 2018, which is when I read the script for
Damsel
, I started to put my mind to it and I returned to Madrid.
I was here for a couple of years, but after
Damsel
was pregnant I returned to London for two and a half more years.”
Starring one of Hollywood's most powerful young actresses, Millie Bobby Brown, as well as Angela Bassett and Robin Wright,
Damsel
, which just premiered on Netflix, is a revision of the classic tale of a magical kingdom with a dragon and a charming prince who asks for the hand of a beautiful princess... only, in this case, there is a dark secret.
Damsel
is also a production with tons of special effects and an estimated budget of 60 million euros.
The same cost as
The Snow Society
or six times a length by Almodóvar.
And that doesn't come free.
“I don't know if I would take all the steps I took to get them to give me
Damsel
,” he says.
“Because it demands very intense energy and dedication.
I already did it, that's it, fantastic... But I wouldn't repeat it if I had to do the same.
I hope that
Damsel
will help me have easier access to these types of projects.
This is a tough industry, very competitive, and you are tested the entire process.
But it's a pressure it puts on me.
I try to turn it into something in favor of the work.
You are working with people who demand of you, of course, but it is like soccer players: if you are in the first division, the kicks are stronger than in the second.
Well this is the same.
When you are there, you have to know that it is going to be hard, but that you have the possibility of working with the actors you have dreamed of, on stories that are great challenges at the production level, and with the people who inspire you and who inspire you. motivates.”
He has never been afraid of the meat grinder that is Hollywood.
In fact, he always seemed to avoid the label of “Spanish director.”
He got it from the beginning.
In 1996, his short film
Handcuffed
to Him was nominated for an Oscar, which allowed him to travel to Los Angeles to make his way.
“That was a sniper shot.
A magical and wonderful experience, but then I come back and do
Intacto
(2001), which is a totally Spanish production.”
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo poses exclusively for ICON in the Plaza de Santa Ana, Madrid.Edy Pérez
“A surprising debut feature in which the clarity of style, the firmness of Fresnadillo's pulse stands out,” wrote Mirito Torreiro in EL PAÍS de
Intacto
.
The film had a brilliant career: Goya for the novel direction and the revelation actor for Leonardo Sbaraglia who had just landed in Spanish cinema.
After passing through Cannes or Sundance, there was talk of an American
remake
that never came to fruition.
“Shyamalan was going to do it.
But it didn't come."
If you think about it, his stories and Shyamalan's have elements in common.
In fact, one of the American's works,
Unbreakable
(2000), has a similar starting point to
Intact
.
His stories are similar even on a more abstract level: both tend to start from the domestic.
Everyday life gives rise to a
thriller
that generally leads to the fantastic.
And both tend to put a family at the center of the script.
“The structure of family drama is in everything I do.
Family is always present in my stories.
And in
Damsel
something more wonderful happens: it is a family drama where something very
heavy
also happens .
Family is the axis for Fresnadillo, even directing a zombie film:
28 Weeks Later
(2007), the sequel to
28 Days Later
(2003), the feature film with which Danny Boyle and Alex Garland gave a twist to the subgenre and which seemed that would definitely put him in the big leagues.
“In some way, he placed me more obviously on the international scene.
Because
Intact
is a very recognized film in Hollywood, but it is a cult film.
28
... opened the possibility of him being a director for the general public.
But with a personal perspective, I think it's a bit my place.
Actually, the integration with the industry in a complete way has occurred with
Damsel
, which is the film that, in a way, closes an important stage in my life, that of my American experience.”
The decision to start his “American experience” was made after
Intruders
(2011), filmed in English with Clive Owen and Daniel Brühl.
He moved in 2013, attracted by the series' gold rush.
And, at least for the public, that child prodigy disappeared.
“I have been very busy even though for many people I have been missing,” he corrects.
“I thought I wanted to venture into that territory.
The dynamics on television are different from those of cinema.
The director is a creative collaborator.
The one who cuts the cod is the
showrunner
, the creator of the series.
“I served as executive producer and director of the pilot, which is where you establish the visual bible of the project.”
He participated in two series, both of the fantasy genre.
The interesting
Falling Waters
(2016), which was canceled after two seasons, and
Salvation
(2017), one of those stories that start well but whose plot plummets until it no longer makes sense.
"It's true.
It is the risk you assume by participating in a series.
You don't have complete creative control.
In
Salvation
I only participated in the first season.”
And then there are the failed projects.
Those who spend months, sometimes years, and don't come out.
In his case, the best known is a
remake
with actors of
Merlin, the Charming
, the Disney animated classic from 1963. “I was going to make the film for Disney+ and Ridley Scott a series about young Merlin, but it didn't come out.
In the US everything is activated with astonishing ease, but more than half of the projects are not done.
You get involved, you give everything, and nothing.
Fortunately, developments pay very well.
“I lived in the United States for five years thanks to television but also thanks to all the developments I made.”
Damsel
is the visible result of that adventure.
A film to the greater glory of Millie Bobby Brown.
“If I had to define her in one word I would say that she is charismatic.
Judy Garland style.
He has something of a classic Hollywood star.
Wherever you put the camera, it shines.”
What is the coexistence like between a director and a star who is also an executive producer?
“In the end, a pleasure.
Especially seeing his bravery and throwing him away.
She had no problem making a film as physical as this, when it is very screwed up and especially for someone like her, who is claustrophobic.”
Important detail, considering that much of the film takes place in a cave.
“There is a very hard moment in the film, which is when she gets stuck inside.
That suffering is real.
And she did it very well, she turned her fear into something artistic.
She asked me to be careful, and I think we established a good code of communication between the two of us so that in those moments I would take care of her.”
Fresnadillo acknowledges that he can become obsessive with details.
“Not at the level of David Fincher, but yes, I always want more.”
Which can cause complicated situations with the actors.
“I am a tough director who has decided, and has agreed, with Millie Bobby Brown that the camera is going to be very close to her in certain situations, which means she cannot cheat with specialists who do her scenes.
"She has to do it... it was hard."
Did you have to repeat many takes?
“Yes, and there were moments of certain tension, because the director always wants more and more.
But hey, it was within a framework of security and understanding.
She told me: 'Well, it's your child, I understand why you're so obsessive.'
Now, the unrepentant traveler considers the unthinkable: returning home, to Tenerife.
“It has to do with the fact that a few years ago my mother died.
When your mother dies there is something that is relocated inside you, your place of origin is placed in a brighter place.
Because for me, for a long time, the Canary Islands represented the place where I grew up, but where I assumed that, if you wanted to do something, you had to fly.
That is, I assumed that the canary had to be an emigrant.
But this passion for telling stories has a lot to do with my origin, with my family.
My father recorded everything in Super 8 and the sessions he put on the screen in my house were like something magical.
And my mother, who was in love with classic cinema… between the two of them, they infected me with the virus of making movies.”
—And that never happens, right?
-Never.
You have to learn to live with it.
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