SOMETIMES WE GET SO LOST IN THE BRUTALITY AND FUN OF HORROR MOVIES THAT WE FORGET THEY ARE ABOUT PEOPLE WITH HOPES AND UNFULFILLED DREAMS SLASHED BY MASKED KILLERS OR INFERNAL CREATURES. BUT FROM TIME TO TIME, SOMEONE APPEARS CAPABLE OF RETURNING THE HUMAN TOUCH TO THESE WILD STORIES. ENTER IVÁN PELLICER. FOR THE SPANISH ACTOR, HORROR HAS BEEN ONE OF HIS SPECIALITIES EVER SINCE HE STARTED IN THE INDUSTRY AS A TEENAGER - THE ACCLAIMED FILM ÁNIMAS, THE INTRIGUING SERIES PARADISE AND NOW KILLER BOOK CLUB HAVE SHOWN THAT IVÁN IS A TRUE SCREAM KING. BUT THIS IS NOT THE ONLY WORLD THAT HE’S CAPABLE OF MASTERING: DRAMA, COMEDY AND EVEN MUSICALS ARE GENRES FROM WHICH HE MANAGES TO EMERGE VICTORIOUS, JUST LIKE ALL THOSE SURVIVORS OF MICHAEL, FREDDY OR JASON WHO RISE TRIUMPHANT ONCE THE CREDITS START ROLLING. IVAN'S ADVENTURE HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN.
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Iván, it's a pleasure talking to you. How are you feeling today?
I’m really happy. I’m immersed in very cool professional projects and, at the same time, I’m fulfilling many personal goals related to my people and my family. In addition, a new movie will soon be released on Netflix and it’s called Killer Book Club.
Yes, the first Spanish slasher produced by Netflix.
Exactly! We have transferred the classic story that takes place among young American teenagers who risk visiting a summer camp next to a lake to a Spanish university. That has been very special to me because we have been able to explore the classic characteristics of the slasher genre from our own perspective. The cast was also a great motivation for me since among them I have several good friends.
Were you a fan of the slasher genre before joining the project?
I confess that no, I was not a fan of this genre, and the fact that they offered me this film aroused my curiosity.
How would you describe the experience?
At first, I felt a conflict inside me since I have just participated in very different projects with a lot of emotional weight. The slasher has certain absurd touches that I found very shocking and about which I felt somewhat insecure, and I didn’t quite connect with them. But I was introduced to the codes of this type of cinema and suddenly I was soaked in fake blood and hiding from a masked murderer. That’s when I began to feel much more comfortable, and I got used to all that madness that the film is about.
You mentioned the cast before. The main characters of the film represent the classic slasher prototypes: the innocent girl, the bad boy, the geek, the suspicious boyfriend... you embody the latter. Why do you think they chose you for that role?
Somehow, I think I resemble my character. At first, I didn't want Nando to be so humble and so nice, but I had to give in since the bad boy archetype had already been assigned to another actor, so I had to differentiate myself with certain tender and sweet traits. As you say, slasher forces you to stick to some classic characters that are very defined.
And you? How did you approach this character?
I've been playing very sensitive roles and I was looking to do something very different. Nando seems to me like this guy with a very cool vibe and his dyed blonde hair that gives him a certain badass touch. But, deep down, everything is a facade, a way to protect himself from the other guys from the club and the rest of the world. Under all that, there is a nice boy very much in love with his girlfriend.
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Did you see any movies to prepare for the role?
Before joining this project, I had no idea about this type of cinema and when they hired me, they gave me a long list of films. One with a guy wearing a white mask was one of my favourites. Scream I think it was called.
I love that franchise.
I had a lot of fun watching that one. But with all my respect, the rest of the movies on the list were very difficult for me to see, to enter their universe. I consume other types of cinema. The funny thing is that I had a great time shooting the film, it was a super cool experience.
Jamie Lee Curtis said that horror movies allow us to face the horrors of everyday life and she is right.
Yes, that's true. It is deeper than it seems.
It is not the first time that you participate in a horror film. Years ago you starred in Ánimas, directed by Laura Alvea. What differences have you felt when approaching these two kinds of horror?
I approached those two films in a very different way. I think that for me Ánimas was a much more accessible project as it is a much more psychological story while Killer Book Club relies more on a physical factor due to the fights and hide-and-seek moments in which the characters are involved. The codes of this Netflix film were more difficult for me. Ánimas did not even border on comedy and if it did, it was in a very discrete way. Instead, Killer Book Club required me to play by some rules completely unknown to me.
Most of the characters you play are teenagers but you are already in your mid-twenties. How does it make you feel to re-live those years?
We have talked about Ánimas and that film did make me re-evaluate what I was living then as a teenager. I always try to understand my character from the vital moment that I am going through. Yes, I’m growing up, but I still look young and that makes me continue to play teenage roles that are increasingly difficult for me to understand but also represent a kind of therapy for me. Adolescence is such an important moment in life and it means a lot.
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It’s a tremendously important time of everyone’s life but when it’s remembered, almost no one can understand it.
Preach! Those years are ruled by impulsiveness, by many irrational emotions. At least, that's how I feel. Love is an example, if I hadn't lived it with that absurd intensity and drama, maybe I wouldn't be the way I am now.
All teenagers are hopelessly dramatic.
That is a beautiful way of putting it.
Do you think you have been the teenager you wanted to be?
What a question! Damn, I would say yes, but I regret that sometimes, I have stopped doing things out of fear, out of insecurity, because of what people will say, and that bothers me a lot. An example is masculinity, I felt a lot of pressure to represent the kind of masculinity that men are supposed to represent. Over the years I just realized that it was all bullshit! I wasted time arguing over things that weren't worth it, that didn't make sense and that made me kind of distant from people around me.
How has being an actor affected all those insecurities you just mentioned?
A few years ago, I would have answered that being an actor has helped to cure my insecurities, but now I’ll tell you the opposite. This job forces you to expose yourself and that can arise many insecurities that you didn't even know you had before. External opinions used to affect me a lot, really. But with time, I have come to understand that as an actor I can’t constantly please everyone.
Has it been difficult for you to create a healthy way to interact with the audience?
Now I know that my work is going to generate opinions, so everyone can say what they want. I’m also part of the audience because I also can go to the movies and afterwards talk about it with my friends over dinner, you know? I have to separate each part of my life very well. This summer, I just shot a film about the musical group Locomía, called Disco, Ibiza, Locomía, and it has been so intense and emotionally demanding that some days, I even forgot who I was. You have to get out of the studio and go home and be you, just you. If someone gives an opinion about your job, great, let them. But what’s not right is to talk about the person, the human being who is just doing a movie.
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We have talked about horror movies, but I would like to know more about your own fears…
It's a little strange what I'm going to tell you. In my life, I have a recurring fear that appears when I swim in the sea. There is a moment when I submerge myself in the water and dive, suddenly, I feel an immense terror at the thought that there may be a huge and silent whale around. I don't know why, but my brain sends me that image and it scares me a lot. It has nothing to do with being eaten by a whale. It’s the sensation of being in a very cold sea where a whale is hovering near me.
Where do you think that fear comes from?
Maybe from my childhood. Once I went to the Oceanografic in Valencia and saw a beautiful whale. I read on a poster that they lived in very, very cold waters and maybe I kept that memory inside my head, and every time I get into the sea, it resurfaces to terrify me. I feel very, very small next to that whale.
You have mentioned filming Disco, Ibiza, Locomía about the Spanish music group, Locomía. What can you tell me about that experience?
Getting out of that shoot mentally has been difficult, the experience has been very special, but it has taken a lot of work. It has demanded a lot from me on a physical level since I have had to dance and I have had to shoot for many hours. My character appears throughout the film and that has required a great commitment. I've had a great time and I think this movie is something I hadn't done before.
Have you met some of the members of the group?
I've met everyone except the character I'm playing! The opportunity to meet him didn’t come up. At first, I really wanted to know more about him, but then I felt the need to put my essence into this character. I decided to build him on my own, taking into consideration that he's based on a real person but bringing my own vision to the table. That's how I managed to take the pressure off the experience.
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The success of Locomía was during the late 80s and early 90s. Now that you've shot a film set in that era, what has the experience of living for a few months in those years been like?
It was not the first time that I participated in a project set in that period, the series Paradise also took place in the ‘80s and ’90s, so going back to those years was not something very surprising for me. What really interested me was becoming aware of the impact that this musical group had. They did something huge. They were kind of unique. Until I started filming, I was not aware of the magnitude of the Locomía phenomenon.
Do you understand their success?
Yes, I do. Spain had just gone through some very screwed-up years and they dared to do very ground-breaking things. I really liked getting to know their history and everything they lived through.
Have you listened to a lot of music from that period?
Yes, several songs. I also have to tell you that I ended up a bit saturated. I rehearsed for two months before I started filming and, of course, when I finished and went home, I didn't want to listen to any songs from that time. I preferred to listen to music by Sen Senra, Bad Gyal, or Rusowsky.
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Discover the full story in our FW23 FANTASY Issue.
Interview & production by Juan Martí
Photography by Isaac Calpe
Fashion by Javier Vaquero
Production by Juan Martí
Hair & Make-Up by Mar Muñoz
Art Direction by Alex Boutin
Photographer’s assistant Miguel Germán
Stylist’s assistant Raul Iglesias
Production assistant Lucas Lei
