"After 15 hours of work I could not remember where I was and where was my room"
Interview by Staci Layne Wilson for Horror.com.
Interviews conducted on the set of VAN HELSING in Los Angeles, CA.
Elena, were you the bride in pink that I saw in the promotional reel?
Yes. I'm Aleera. Aleera is the youngest bride, and is the most jealous bride. She fights in the whole movie, trying to kill Anna and trying to have Dracula for herself alone. She wants no other women around.
Who is Anna?
She is my worst enemy!
Can Aleera fly like Dracula does?
Yeah, I fly. I think in the promo that you saw, I was flying in Prague over St. Charles Bridge in 15 degree weather. You can imagine, with this dress, Prague, my first day working on the movie, I'm like, 'Oooh, flying... OK.' .
What's your background?
I'm from Palencia, Spain. This is my second movie made in The States. The first one was last year, and in Spain I've been working for 10 years. This movie, Van Helsing, is huge, enormous. The other one was the smallest production ever. I mean, it's American too. We did it as 12 friends in the house, three actors, the director also moved the camera, the actors put the lights up. In Spain, the other movies that I did, I worked with big and small directors and there were tiny movies, small crews, but not twelve. Maybe 60, 70 with professional people. In L.A., in the other movie, I think it will be a cool movie, because the script was amazing. We made the movie as friends. The experience was really good. Always, your work is the same: You have to tell a story, you have to make a character. It doesn't matter if there are thousands of dollars, millions behind it, or if there is nothing.
What were some of the challenges of working in the cold weather?
Tomorrow is the day! Go now to rehearse..
You're not nervous, Elena?
I love to fly. I always wanted to fly. It's been one of my dreams since I was 3 years old. I remember saying to my mom, 3 years old, every day, 'I can fly!' Living on the ninth floor, it was dangerous. So now, the day I arrive to Prague, the first day, I fly over the St. Charles Bridge. I find this super extra professional stunt crew, and I say, 'I don't mind. If I have to go St. Charles Bridge, one side to the other, I don't. I just do, go.' It's so good, because they are so professional. That's a big difference from Spanish stunts – in Spain, I will do nothing because they misjudge the wire length to the distance. But here, with them, I will do whatever they want. It's true that the harness is not comfortable and you finish the day with bruises, but it's kind of cool, you know.
2004
