Up-and-coming talent Gabriela Lopez discusses upcoming feature film ‘The 5th Wave’ and much more.
In a FilmFad.com exclusive interview, Pooya converses with the multi-talentedactor/writer/producer/future antique store owner (you’ll get the reference by the end) Gabriela Lopez about starring alongside Chloe Grace Moritz in the upcoming Sci-Fi adventure film ‘The 5th Wave.’ Gabriela also takes us through a diverse and intriguingly quirky dialogue ranging from how to become Johnny Depp, to her perfectly creepy pitch for the next season of ‘American Horror Story’ to the perks of being a former pageant Queen.
I wanna be the girl version of Johnny Depp. – Gabriela Lopez
So, without further ado… here is an exclusive peak into the exciting mind of Gabriela Lopez.
FilmFad:
Hey Gabriela.
Gabriela Lopez:
Hi, How are you?
FilmFad:
I’m doing great.
Gabriela Lopez:
Good, but it’s a little hard to hear. Let me turn up the volume.
FilmFad:
Can you hear me alright now?
Gabriela Lopez:
It’s a little far away, but it’s fine. I can hear you.
FilmFad:
I’ll do that, I guess it was a Verizon commercial, “Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now?” [<=== shamefully bad joke.]
Gabriela Lopez:
Ahh, that’s funny. Love it. [She is too kind.]
FilmFad:
So, I’ll go ahead and jump into some questions.
Gabriela Lopez:
Alright, sounds good.
FilmFad:
In your own words, describe your upcoming sci-fi adventure film ‘The 5th Wave?’
Gabriela Lopez:
It’s based on the young adult best selling novel “The 5th Wave,” which is part of a trilogy. I’d just say it’s a fun alien movie. I think it’s awesome because it’s about a sister going to save her younger brother and save the planet, pretty much.
FilmFad:
What drew you to this project? Is it something that someone passed along to you or something you saw and thought “wow, I’m really excited about that?”
Gabriela Lopez:
It was just the normal auditioning process. I’ve always been a big fan of Chloe [Grace Moretz] so I was like “Oh this is great I would love working with her.” Actually, after the callbacks when I found I out I was like “Oh my gosh, This is a best selling novel. This is amazing.” I found out there was a lot of talk about it, a lot of big fans about it. Then I read the book and immediately couldn’t put it down. I mean Rick Yancey is amazing, so it was awesome. I was like “I have to be a part of this.”
FilmFad:
I saw the trailer and it looks like a twist on the typical alien invasion film.
Gabriela Lopez:
Yes, definitely. Reading the script/reading the book – it’s just unpredictable. My mouth would drop open and I would laugh at some points and cry at other points. Oh my gosh, there’s just so much happening in the book and in the screenplay as-well. It’s a similar genre to ‘Twilight’ and ‘Hunger Games’, but this is about a younger brother and her older sister and the relationship of Family. The emphasis on that, I think, is a little different that other films in this genre.
FilmFad:
Talking source material and screenplays, let’s talk a little bit about ‘Unrelated.
Gabriela Lopez:
Okay.
FilmFad:
You wrote, produced, and starred in this short and it has been receiving a lot of attention. Can you tell us about that project in a nutshell?
Gabriela Lopez:
Well, it’s about this desperate young lady who is expecting a marriage proposal and is sabotaged by her psychotic sister. At the time I didn’t want to wait around to create art. It was about a year and a half ago and I’d been toying around with the idea writing for a while. I was like “I don’t really know how confident I am with my writing skills, but I wanna do something.” I’ve wanted to write for a while so my friend Taylor Kalupa and I got together and we wrote it and produced it together, we’ve been doing the festival circuit with it and it’s been doing really well. People really respond to my weird, quirky, cooky ideas, which I love. I’m a weirdo and I like that, and I brought that to the screenplay. It’s a dark comedy. The things I write end up being dark comedies, so It was really fun to make with a friend.
FilmFad:
Writers often pull from their personal experiences, personal lives or even their own personality when putting together a project. So as Gabriela the writer, what would be your dream script and would it be different than Gabriela the actor’s dream script?
Gabriela Lopez:
Oh yeah, definitely. A writing idea that I’ve had for about five years now… I don’t know where it came from or why – It takes place in the late 1800s about an insane asylum and this relationship between a man a his younger daughter who has down syndrome. I never finished the script because it’s different, they speak differently in the late 1800’s. That is my dream script to finish. I wanna finish the script and make it. I don’t know if I actually want to be in it. I want to direct it more so.
As far as an actor, I wanna be the girl version of Johnny Depp. There’s Helena Bonham Carter, who is phenomenal, but I wanna do films like that. That would be a dream script that I would love to be a part of. Those don’t really happen for women as much, in those leading roles. If I have to write it eventually one day I will. I love those fun characters he gets to play and just go there.
FilmFad:
You said it. Character is right. You just became my new favorite person. A little secret about me – Johnny Depp is one of my top favorite actors of all time.
Gabriela Lopez:
He is also mine as-well. I was just went to screening with him a few weeks ago – a Q&A for ‘Black Mass.’ Oh my god, being in the same room as him I was like “Ugh, Johnny Depp. I’ve gotta work with you man.”
FilmFad:
And now I’m terribly jealous of you.
Gabriela Lopez:
[Laughing] I would be jealous of me too, but I was there. No, I’m just kidding.
FilmFad:
[Laughing] Ay, you earned it. I’m still working on it.
Gabriela Lopez:
We’ll all be there one day, It’s gonna happen.
FilmFad:
One day. So if my web-research is accurate, and it rarely is, but if it is accurate you are a former pageant queen. Is that correct?
Gabriela Lopez:
I knew you were about to say that. I knew it was coming. It’s all lies! Everything you see is lies! No, It’s true, It’s true. I’m from Alabama so…
FilmFad:
In what ways did the pageants help you prepare for the Hollywood hustle?
Gabriela Lopez:
It’s insane because people that know me know… I’m not really tomboy-ish, but I’m not extremely girl. It’ funny because people are like “I can never see you doing anything like that.” And that was my life for a while. I enjoyed it. I loved to do it because I got to be on a stage. In a way it’s kinda performing but, what my thing was, so many people who do pageants are fake. I’m just gonna say it. I wanted to be genuine, I wanted to authentic, and I wanted to be myself. What I mainly took from it was that – being true to myself. A lot of the pageant people wanted to change, make me more girly. Say certain things when I was supposed to say them during interviews and on stage, and I would kinda push that. No, I want to be me and represent who I am. It really taught me that. I forever value that, definitely.
FilmFad:
When you’re at home and your not doing the Hollywood thing, or maybe you’re on the festival circuit and you’re back at your hotel – What is your favorite TV show to sit down and watch to unwind?
Gabriela Lopez:
That’s hilarious. I actually have a friend on the show, it’s ‘Quantico.’ I love it. It’s a new show that came out. My friend Graham Rogers is on the show. Everybody’s like “you like it because your friends on the show.” No! It’s an amazing show. It’s so good. I watched it at 1AM last night because I missed it and I had to watch it. Don’t know if you’ve seen it, but if you haven’t, you have to watch it. That and ‘American Horror Story.’ ‘American Horror Story,’ it goes there. If I could be on a show I would love either one of those, but ‘American Horror Story’… oh my gosh.
FilmFad:
Okay so, ‘American Horror Story’ has a different kind of theme every season. If you were gonna be the lead in ‘American Horror Story’ next season, what would you want the theme to be and what would you want your character to be?
Gabriela Lopez:
Oh, that’s good. A theme. Hmm, cuz Carnival and Asylum – I would have love to done those. That’s a good question. What is something that’s creepy? They’re doing Hotel right now. They’ve done house. Oh, maybe… this is cool idea. Maybe I run an antique store and I’m a young lady, but I’m not really a young lady. Like it’s a twist maybe? I’ll just go ahead and give the whole plot away. Based on an antique store, how cool would that be? Different people come in and have to trade in their stuff. I run the antique store and get to like… oh, that would be so cool! Then I mess with people and put evil spirits in things and sell them to people, and they come back and they die.
FilmFad:
That’s actually a great idea. [both laughing]
Gabriela Lopez:
I was just thinking what’s creepy you know? Now my brain’s gone mad. Okay… anyways.
FilmFad:
Now Gabriela the writer is ready to go.
Gabriela Lopez:
Yeah, I’m like “oooh, now I’m gonna sit down and write. This is great.”
FilmFad:
From ‘Hot Girl’ to ‘Lizbeth,’ what do you foresee (or hope to see) for Gabriela Lopez’s next billing?
Gabriela Lopez:
I would love to play this edgy, raw character. Maybe she’s a drug addict. Maybe she’s homeless. Maybe she’s just seen a lot, been through a lot. I want to be able to bring out that darker side, that clearly I’ve been talking about. You know, ‘Hot Girl’ and then ‘Lizbeth’ who’s a best friend, and that lovable fun-loving character. I would love to play someone a little more dark, more mysterious, you know… more Johnny Depp-esqe. That would be awesome.
FilmFad:
I love it. I’m all for it. [laughing]
Gabriela Lopez:
Of course YOU are [laughing].
FilmFad:
I’m 100% on your side and I’m a new fan.
Gabriela Lopez:
Thanks Pooya. Thank you, thank you.
FilmFad:
Thank YOU so much Gabriela. I appreciate your time. I’m excited to see your film the ‘The 5th Wave’ and hopefully I get to see ‘Unrelated’ in some way, shape or form.
Gabriela Lopez:
Hopefully so. Yeah. Keep in touch on Twitter and Instagram @GabrielaJLopez. I’ll post on there if we get some more festivals going and some more screeners for unrelated, and obviously ‘The 5th Wave’. January 15th. It’s Happening.
FilmFad:
I’ll be there. I’ll be at ‘The 5th Wave’ on the first wave. Bad Joke.
Gabriela Lopez:
[Laughing] Perfect.
Watch the official trailer for ‘The 5th Wave’ below.