Julia Barretto vowed never to do a horror project in her acting career, but on Tuesday, February 8, she explained that having Brillante Mendoza direct Bahay na Pula changed her perspective.
“I’m really scared of horror if I’m being honest. And the only thing that really made me say yes to this film was Direk Brillante, one, and second is just how beautiful the story is and the history behind the story—and injected into the story,” said the actress during the movie’s virtual media conference.
By doing the horror flick, Barretto was out of her element. But because she trusts Direk Brillante and her cast members, she was able to do her scenes without any problem.
“But you know what, at the end of the day, it’s about trusting your director and trusting yourself. And I think the reason why I trusted myself in the process of creating this film was that everybody on the set trusted me. So I think isa ‘yon na malaking factor kung bakit nagawa namin yung mga kailangan naming gawin.”
On the other hand, the filmmaker did not have any problems with the actress seeing how eager she was to be part of Bahay na Pula.
She explained, “The day before pitching—just the day before pitching, they told me that Direk Brillante wanted to pitch a project to me. I knew right there and then that it was a yes. I didn’t know the story, I had no idea it was horror, I had zero clue, but I knew it was a yes.”
Barretto also realized that the director making the pitch is God’s way of “kicking” her out of her comfort zone.
“I told Direk sabi ko, ‘My whole career I vowed to myself, na hindi ako gagawa ng horror,’ ganoon ako katatakutin. But you know, God really has ways of making you do things that you don’t expect to do, and I think He put me in the situation where I couldn’t say no to Direk Brillante and this horror film.”
She added, “I’m happy, I’m very happy that I did this. I think it was a major turning point in my life.”
Bahay na Pula is about a couple who is about to experience the fright of their lives after moving to a new home. At the same time, the woman (Barretto) will have an affair.
The movie also stars Xian Lim and Marco Gumabao.
Catch it on February 25, only on Vivamax.
