The Curse of La Llorona star Patricia Velasquez talks keeping the legend alive and the horror genre

The Curse of La Llorona is in theaters April 19. Ahead of the release, we spoke with star Patricia Velasquez about keeping the legend of La Llorona alive and her newfound love for the horror genre.

The story of La Llorona is one of the most popular haunting tales of all-time. She’s a legend worldwide and her story still sends chills down your spine, no matter how old we get or how much our lives change. With times changing so quickly, though, it’s important to keep this story alive, and no one understood this better than Patricia Velasquez, who stars in The Curse of La Llorona. 

The movie also stars Linda Cardellini, Raymond Cruz, Marisol Ramirez, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Tony Amendola, among others. The Curse of La Llorona is set in the 1970s in the Los Angeles area. When a social worker ignores the warning of a troubled mother, she and her children are drawn into the realm of La Llorona.

Watch the trailer for the film, below, before diving into our interview with Patricia Velasquez. 

Hidden Remote: Tell us a little about yourself! Where are you from and what drew you to the entertainment business?

Patricia Velasquez: I’m from Venezuela. I’ve been in the industry for maybe 20 years. Many years ago I worked on a French project and I fell in love with the experience… I came back to New York and decided to study it more. I’m so grateful and feel very, very bless that I can do what I love.

HR: I’ve been following news about this movie since summer of last year, how does it feel to finally see it premiering in theaters in a few weeks?

Velasquez: It has been SO exciting! This movie is very special to me because I grew up with this story, La Llorona. She’s is an entity, we’ve grown up with her, we believe in her. She doesn’t stay in Mexico or Venezuela, she travels with you. It’s not a story that goes away, we believe in her even as we’re older. And this feels…I feel like I’m a part of history.

The new generation is not talking about it [la Llorona] so much. What a great way to keep it alive. Even though the movie is not rated for children, I’ve seen it and there’s no gore, no bad words, it’s a simple movie. And by simple, I mean that it’s truthful. As they say, the truth is simple. That’s what’s so wonderful about it, the importance of who La Llorona was. And who she is.

I think it was such a brilliant idea to do it [the movie] through an American family. Because us Hispanics, we’re believers, so I think it’s great that the American characters get to ask questions and find out about it [La Llorona] through the movie.

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HR: Yes, I love the diversity and I agree with you, I think this is a great way to introduce the story to, not only a new generation, but also outside of Mexico and the country the story of La Llorona originates from. How do your kids feel about you being in this movie?

Velasquez: She [Patricia Velasquez’s daughter] knows the story, because I told her the story, but I don’t particularly scare her with it. I told her because it’s usually her friends at school that watch my work, so she comes and asks me about it. So I told her so she’s not taken aback by this. Especially the boys at that age, they’re not supposed to watch these movies, but they’re watching them anyway. In a way, this movie can really scare children, but they’ll laugh, the movie has a lot of elements of comedy.

It’s so interesting because, after watching the film with an audience, I really understood why horror films seems to be getting bigger, bigger, and bigger while other genres seem to be struggling. After watching the film in the theater, I understood – “of course, it is the only genre where you can still have a community experience.” Everyone goes to these movies like “oh no don’t do it,” and “oh she’s going to do it!” They comment, laugh, it’s such a great experience that doesn’t happen with other genres. Now I want to be a bigger part of it.

HR: How do you usually unwind after getting scared or a stressful night of shooting? I imagine filming was stressful. 

Velasquez: Yes, you have to go to really profound places. She’s [La Llorona] a woman who’s gone through tremendous amounts of pain, and you do have to go to those places. So, usually, by the end of it, when you’re shooting, you are drained. But, it’s almost, I feel extremely blessed to have been a part of this movie. All female characters in this movie– it’s such a wonderful, empowering story for women. Because we’re all fighting for what we love, we’re all fighting for our children.

There are three very important female characters in the film that are fighting for the same thing. They’re very strong characters. I just feel extremely blessed and even though you have to go to really dark places, well that’s your job as an actress. And then when I would finish, you are drained, but let me just put it this way – two things I felt responsible for:

Number one, I needed to make sure I was doing good by La Llorona. Because she’s no joke, she’s an entity, she’s among us. And we [cast and crew] are all responsible to ensure we’re doing good by her… The other thing is, if I was doing good by mothers. You know, being a mom – how far are you willing to go to take care of your children? Because I knew that for any parent, no gender, as long as you’re a parent – there’s a responsibility. I felt it was up to me to do it as best as I could.

So yeah, you’re drained by the end of the day. You do things like cleansing, we had somebody come on set to do a cleansing. But I would also always do it before I went home, I’d light a candle or light up some sage. And I did it every time. The presence, the entities there, you just want to make sure she doesn’t hurt you or bother you – it’s almost like I had to make her [La Llorona] and ally. And I do feel like she’s an ally, I do. Because I think we did good by her.

HR: Yeah, you all just wanted to share La Llorona’s story.

Valasquez: Exactly, yeah, but respectfully. Because she’s a legend, a folktale, but she’s an entity, she’s real. She’s the most important folktale we have in our community, so no joke we have to make sure we respect that.

HR: What’s next for you, Patrica? What are you working on right now?

Velasquez: I’m working on something, but I can’t share just yet! All I can tell you is that this has been a wonderful experience of believing again. When you believe in something, you work hard for it, and you just have to try to be the best you can. Continue to train and work and really do the work because eventually everybody can get a chance. Everybody. Everyone can get a chance. So many good changes are coming my way because of this movie, I’m just incredibly grateful to La Llorona.

The Curse of La Llorona is in theaters Friday, April 19.