CraveOnline: In what order did you shoot After the Dark, Green Inferno and Teen Lust?
Daryl Sabara: That’s the other interesting thing too. I shot After the Dark around the summer of 2011, so like June to August 2011. Then Green Inferno we shot from October to Christmas of 2012 and then I just finished Teen Lust last August. Now I’m about to go out to New York to do this play at the Public called The Library that Steven Soderbergh is going to direct.
Oh, is that his first play since “retiring” from film?
Yeah, it is.
Have those been interesting discussions to see him turn to a new field?
Yeah, absolutely. I keep pinching myself that I’m actually going to get to work with him. He’s one of my favorites, but I’m just really excited to go to New York and I know I’m going to learn a lot. I haven’t done a play in about seven years.
In Green Inferno, was your role to mainly be the comic relief in that intense situation?
I would say so. There are other characters who have comedic moments as well but the character I play, he’s the stoner. He’s kind of like the panicked stoner. If people think that he’s the comedic relief, that would be awesome.
But is that extra pressure when the situation is that intense and that violent? How can you be funny?
Honestly, that was just being in the moment and being present, because where we shot The Green Inferno was another amazing location, and very different from where we shot After the Dark. There, all I was doing was looking at my surroundings. We shot in this village that was like a five hour travel day every day. We were working with these people in the village, they were our extras and they had never seen a movie before. They were the most giving actors, I would have to say, that I’ve ever worked with because they went there.
That was awesome, and it was also awesome to see a community who had never seen film to be on a film set and take care of each other. Those who weren’t working were running off and getting water for the other villagers who were, and snacks, a ton of craft service. It was a really beautiful thing to see and everyone was so generous and nice.
Did you audition for Eli Roth? Or, he must have known your work, did he ask you?
Yeah, we had a little breakfast meeting at Hugo’s because we both love that restaurant in L.A. We talked about movies and I’ve known Eli for a little while. We used to run in the same circles because of Robert Rodriguez. I’d always loved his films and grew up watching Cabin Fever and Hostel. So we met for breakfast and we talked, and he was telling me stories of how our iPhones are made. Really interesting eco/economical stuff, and then he told me about the premise of the movie and asked me if I wanted to do it.
I really wanted to work with him so I said yeah and that was that. I also have a really great friend working on Green Inferno named Aaron Burns who plays Jonah in the movie. I knew he was working on the film, and it was his first time acting. He’s a writer and director so it was a lot of fun to get to work with Aaron in his first acting role.
When was the last time you saw Spy Kids and what did you think when you see it?
It’s weird, it’s on TV all the time. I’ll be scrolling through the channels and I’ll see it. Sometimes I’ll click on it to see what part is on. I think Spy Kids 3 is on right now and every time I click on it, it’s the scene where I’m standing in line to get the Game Over video game. I cut in line and there’s a kid right behind me that goes, “Hey, no cutting in line, freak.” and that’s my twin brother Evan. So every time I click on it it’s my brother in line, so I’ll watch that scene and just remember how much fun it was shooting with my brother.
I don’t know, when I see it now, it’s just so weird to see that’s me because I feel like I’ve lived a whole other life since those movies. I’m just kind of beginning and having a steady career, but I’m really grateful for everything and so grateful for those films. I learned so much from Robert and also getting to work with the actors that I got to work with were just incredible.
Yeah, Ricardo Montalban!
Ricardo Montalban, Steve Buscemi, Alan Cumming. Alan Cumming was such a fun guy to watch. I remember he has a song in the first Spy Kids movie and when Danny Elfman came to set, they were working on the song. I could only work a certain number of hours when I was a kid and I would stay, especially that day, when they were doing the song, I stayed and watched Alan perform his song. He’s such a performer and he’s so captivating to watch. So yeah, I’ve always loved film and television and just getting to have those experiences made me love it even more and appreciate the art of it.
You were on “Murphy Brown,” you must have been an infant, right?
I was, I was. I was on and my twin brother Evan, we were seven weeks old. My mom was walking down the street and she had my brother and I in the stroller, we were brand new. Some lady came up to her and told her they were casting babies and we would be perfect. My mom was like, “They’re fraternal. They don’t even look alike.” At that time, we were so young that we just looked like two babies. The lady apparently was like, “They don’t care. Just go.” My mom was a fan of the show. She went for shits and giggles. I mean, my mom’s a pretty cool chick so I think that’s how that happened that they went, “Oh, someone that’s not going to be a hassle on set.”
I did all the camera work with Candice Bergen and my brother did all the print ads. Then we were superseded by Haley Joel Osment. We had a good laugh about that during Spy Kids 2. We were filming in Costa Rica for about a month and since Emily was in the movie, Haley came and hung out with us so we had a couple laughs about that.
You were so young you must have missed all the controversy.
No, no, Dan Quayle and I are tight. We are best friends. No, I’m just kidding. I wasn’t aware of the controversy at the time but I am now. Potato, potahto.
What can we expect from Teen Lust?
Teen Lust is about these best friends that live in a community of Satan worshipers. One of them is getting sacrificed because he’s a virgin. As soon as he figures out that his church is sacrificing him because he’s a virgin, we go out and try to get him laid so he can live.
Sort of a cult movie and a teen sex comedy all in one?
There you go, yeah. That was directed by Blaine Turner, the keyboard artist for The New Pornographers and that’s a band I’ve dug for a long time, so I was really excited to work with him. He wrote it and then it was also written by Jason Stone who came up with the short Jay and Seth Versus the Apocalypse which became This is the End. A really fun guy and such a fun shoot.
Fred Topel is a staff writer at CraveOnline and the man behind Best Episode Ever and The Shelf Space Awards. Follow him on Twitter at @FredTopel.
