Shiloh Fernandez about “Red Riding Hood”

Source: About
Date: March 09, 2011

Shiloh Fernandez stars as a poor woodcutter who Amanda Seyfried’s character falls in love with in Warner Bros Pictures’ ‘Red Riding Hood.’ At the LA premiere, Fernandez talked about the fairy tale, director Catherine Hardwicke, and kissing Amanda.

So tell me about working on the set and working with Catherine [Hardwicke] because she knows teen audiences. How does she capture that?
Shiloh Fernandez: “I don’t get it. It’s really unexplainable. I think that maybe one of the main things is that she has a very unique approach to directing.”

How so?
Shiloh Fernandez: “I’ll tell you. I’ll let you in on the secret. She plays music. She’ll have us yell at each other. She’ll have Max [Irons] and I wrestle. A lot of improv, a lot of improv games. Really just trying to get you out of your head and the preconceived notions you have of the character, put those away and try something new and experiment. She has so much energy that you have no choice but to kind of follow her and to jump in and be 100%.”

How would you say this compares to the original?
Shiloh Fernandez: “Well, you know, I think as a kid you don’t realize how dark the story is really. And what Catherine’s done is taken those kind of dark themes and run with them. I feel like the love story is obviously there, which wasn’t there in some of the versions of the story. But, yeah, it’s a thriller and it’s a mystery, and they’ve kind of made it socially relevant, I think.”

Why are we still so fascinated with this tale?
Shiloh Fernandez: “I think there’s really just a few themes in all of those fairy tales that will always be kind of relevant. And, you know, there’s kind of a surge in these stories being made right now, and I think it will go on for a long time. You know, I think that they’re just so universal and there’s so many ideas they can draw from them. I mean, Red Riding Hood for example, yes there’s the big bad wolf that you can interpret in any way you want. There’s the red cape that can symbolize sexually or otherwise. I just think that, you know, if you want to analyze those stories, there’s a million things to think about and that’s what makes it so unique.”

Is that what attracted you to the project?
Shiloh Fernandez: “I think Catherine, probably. I love her as a person and I love her films. But yeah, I love that it was a different take and that they explored themes that I didn’t realize were in the story as a boy. You know what I mean? And, yeah, the character was something that I hadn’t done before. I’ve never really played the love interest before. I didn’t really understand that. And Amanda [Seyfried] wasn’t a bad partner to have for that.”

There were a lot of people who auditioned for the role. I heard you beat them out by a kissing audition.
Shiloh Fernandez: “Yeah. I was lucky enough to A) kiss her and B) to have her be on my side.”

You have great on screen chemistry. How did you get along off screen?
Shiloh Fernandez: “I don’t think it’s hard to have chemistry with Amanda. She’s an awesome girl. She’s really fun. She’s gorgeous. I think if you have a pulse, you’re attracted to her. She’s just an amazing girl. It was easy.”