[WARNING: If you have not seen [Rec] and want to, this interview contains spoilers that will spoil things for you. It may spoil a few things in [Rec] 2 as well. Spoil.]
ShockTillYouDrop sat down to speak with [Rec] and [Rec] 2 actor Javier Botet about his part in both films, that of the creepy, hammer-weilding Niña Medeiros that arrives at the end of [Rec] and returns for [Rec] 2. Botet described how he came to play the role of Medeiros.
I was preparing to play the role of the priest, and they called me to tell me the story and say that I am the priest who is making the experiment with a girl who is not going to appear, Niña Medeiros. He was going to end the life of Niña Medeiros and keep the experiment inside him. He was going to be a very decrepit priest and scary with tumors. The day before shooting, I fly, go to the set and [directors] Jaume [Balagueró] and Paco [Plaza] call me and say, "We have a little change." They showed me pieces of the makeup that David Ambit was preparing. They told me I was going to be Niña Medeiros, not the priest, and tomorrow we're going to shoot. Me, the girl? OK. I was happy to improvise.
Having been in both films, how does Botet think they differ?
If you see the first one, it's a movie without explanations. Everybody came out of the cinema with a lot of questions. Everybody would write me emails and ask me who was the boy upstairs. I loved this. In the second one, it's different. It's more horror, more action, more commercial.
Botet was only in the final scene of the first [Rec] and the end of [Rec] 2. But Botet is cool with that.
In the first [[Rec]] it was perfect. All the action was great. I was like the [whistles] on the cake. I think it's great to see me later and nobody knows me and nobody understands the situation. It added to the confusion and was a scary moment. People were asking me if I was going to appear in the second one in the same role. The moment the poster is made, everybody can see my name and everybody knows I'm in the second part. Using me in the end, the result is good. If you're going to have a little part, I want to be in the end.
After the success of [Rec], an American remake was almost ineveitable, resulting in Quarantine, for which Botet was asked to reprise his role. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough time to get a Visa, so Doug Jones got the part. Botet was not a huge fan of Quarantine. (Neither were we)
It's impossible to like because it's a copy. It's exactly the same except for the finale. It's impossible to enjoy Quarantine after [Rec]. I don't understand why they avoided the religious themes in the movie. They lost a very important part of the end of the movie. They don't talk about religion.
With [Rec] 2 already a huge hit in Spain, is there any way Botet might be back for [Rec] 3?
When we ended [Rec], I personally never thought there would be part two. I thought it was a very good film. I don't know anything about the third part, but it's going to be impossible to avoid. And nothing is impossible for Niña Medeiros.
To read the entire interview, head here.
