Netflix has a brand new family movie debuting this week, Chupa, which stars Demián Bichir, Christian Slater, and young actor Evan Whitten. The magical family movie follows Whitten’s character, Alex, as visits his family in Mexico and sets off on an adventure with his cousins and grandfather [Bichir] attempting to save a “cute little fluffy” chupacabra from a misguided scientist, played by Slater. PopCulture.com had a chance to sit down with the cast, discussing everything from the film creatures to luchadors and Game Boys.
The legend of the chupacabra goes back several decades, and its something that Whitten’s family has shared with him as he’s grown up. “My grandparents, Nana and Abuelito, they actually told me about the chupacabras and stuff but, of course, they put in a scary light because that’s how it was. This is more of like a groundbreaker, because no one’s ever seen Chupacabras as like a cute little fluffy creature.” Slater then added, “You don’t think of them that way, right? I never thought of a baby chupacabra.” Whitten then quipped, “You think of him as the dog vampire.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
Chupa takes place around the late ’80s and early ’90s, and in an opening scene, Whitten is shown playing a Game Boy, which seemed to be as exciting for him now as it was for all the millennials who remember playing them as kids. “I knew what a Game Boy was and I’m trying to think back,” Whitten said of the handheld gaming system. “I don’t think, aren’t they really expensive nowadays?” Slater quipped, “Oh yeah.”
Whitten then went on to share, “I’ll never forget that Game Boy, that was really cool. It had real games on it and it was just fun. Sometimes I wouldn’t even focus because I was playing the game… It was fun.” He later added, “You don’t need any of the fancy schmancy stuff. You got a Game Boy.”
In addition to its retro era and adorable, lore-inverting take on chupacabras, the new film also features a side story about Bichir’s character once being a celebrated Luchador in his younger years. When asked if there was a chance he’d ever want to be one for real, the actor quipped, “Yeah. There’s a tour already set up. I’m going all over the place to wrestle and then sing a song or two, do monologue, things like that.”
He continued, “I always wanted to be a Luchador. Ever since I was a kid. So just to be able to play a Luchador now… it was brutal. It was so beautiful. And Mariana Guerrero our wardrobe designer, she did a beautiful job because she went into the real lucha libre world back in Mexico with real luchadores and all that to get the real material, the real stuff, and make it look the way it looks.”
Bichir also commented on what it was like working with Chupa director Jonás Cuarón, who he revealed he’s known for most of the filmmaker’s life. “Just think about this. I met Jonas when he was five,” Birchir shared, “back in Mexico, in the theater. Just to watch him grow and to watch him become this phenomenal director, after I saw Desierto, I knew that this guy had it, and when he invited me to be a part of this film, I couldn’t be happier because he made the whole thing look real and fantastic, which is pretty much what we needed. He made sure to bring all the key creative people into it so we could represent Mexico the best way possible. It’s just magical. It’s a beautiful film.”
Finally, we asked Slater about playing the movie’s villain, scientist Richard Quinn, who is not necessarily evil, but doesn’t have the most compassionate plan for the mythical Chupa. Notably, Quinn has an appearance reminiscent of Indiana Jones or Dr. Alan Grant — from Jurassic Park — which may or may not have been intentional. “I think Jonas had a particular vision for Quinn, how he wanted him to be. Look, I’m a huge Indiana Jones fan. I knew we couldn’t do the whole look, but we found I think a nice version of those two characters that you mentioned. So, the idea of playing an explorer and adventurer, a guy who’s on the hunt for something very mythical and mystical and fantastical was all very exciting for me. I really enjoyed it.” Chupa will be available to stream Friday, April 7, only on Netflix.
