CS Exclusive: Javier Botet’s Five Favorite Roles

ComingSoon.net had the opportunity to speak with Spanish actor Javier Botet, best known for his monster roles in horror movies such as IT, IT Chapter Two, REC, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, The Conjuring 2, Slender Man, Insidious: The Last Key, Crimson Peak, and much more. Out of his numerous projects, Botet shared his five favorite roles with CS, which you can check out below!

Stories to Tell in the Dark is now available on Digital HD, and on 4K, Blu-ray, DVD, and On Demand November 5 from Lionsgate! Click here to purchase a copy!

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1. REC

I think “REC” was an amazing, effective, scary—it was so original and the way they made the movie, of course, totally original. But it’s special. It was a very original movie for me. It was so important. And I felt so excited the first time I saw it and I enjoyed it so much with all the people in the theater screaming. It was a very nice experience. And I think even myself, I was a little bit scared in the movie, even knowing that I was a creature in the last scenes. I was a little scared, a little. It’s not easy for me, since I was so young, I got scared of nothing in horror movies. So it was peculiar to feel that in a theater with a movie I worked in.

2. Mama

I love “Mama” for a lot of reasons. That was my first movie out of Spain. That was the biggest project I worked in until the moment. So I knew Guillermo del Toro, that was very, very nice… And Andy Muschietti, when they called me to make the movie, after that, a lot of people out of Spain start knowing me, so they start calling me, my career made a big step thanks to this movie. And it was like three months and a little bit grand total. I felt so good, so comfortable with the makeup team. And it was an amazing experience. It was incredible. So that one part—that’s the first and the second in the list. “REC” and “Mama” both for me are so important. The fact is, the most important part in this movie was the video that Guillermo was asking me to share on the internet via YouTube and it was the most the momentous, that was the moment I felt there was a chance because everybody totally felt that all I have without any CGI help. So at this moment is when I felt really a lot of producers and directors started calling me and offering me a lot of projects.

3. The Conjuring 2

It was a very little part, but for me, it was so nice because in the—have I told you since I’m older and I think the last 15 years or 20 I lost my fear in movies. So when I see a horror movie, I can’t feel fear. I want this. And nothing scares me. But in the last 20, 25 years, I felt fear in “The Blair Witch Project” and “REC”, a little in “REC” and then a little in the first one in “Conjuring”. So when they called me to work in the second one, it was so nice for me to sign up with the best franchise. So I was very excited to meet James Wan, who was amazing, Vera Farmiga and, yes, Patrick Wilson. And I think the role, Crooked Man, was incredibly beautiful and I love it… But The Crooked Man is not happening at the moment, but I hope it happens because I know the script is written and they have the feature. But I don’t know when it’s going to happen, but I’m crossing my fingers. I hope, because I would love to be able to make up in the dress of the Crooked Man again.

4. Witching and Bitching

It’s not exactly a horror movie. It’s a film by Àlex de la Iglesia, a movie called “Witching and Bitching” I think it is in English, but it’s in Spanish, “Las brujas de Zugarramurdi”. And it was a comedy with some scary points, but I played a character called Luismi. It’s a main character with… a lot of problems in the body. But it’s a comedy role. It’s a little scary, as you’d expect, but it’s a comedy. But I love this movie and it was a very nice experience to do it with this big team, a lot of big actors, Spanish-speaking actors. So that was a very nice experience, too. And I love to work with Àlex de la Iglesia. And I think it’s one of my favorite projects I worked in.

5. Alien: Covenant

It’s not a scary movie, but it’s in my fifth place, but the fifth is “Alien: Covenant”. What I love the most are the “Alien” movies. For me, to be part of any extraterrestrial movie is amazing. So when they contacted me to work in it it was, how do you say, different because I was not in the set. I was not working with an actor… Nobody applied for me makeup. It was the only work of motion capture. But to be part of the “Alien” franchise is a dream come true. It’s a crazy honor. So I think that’s very, very important for me.