Xochitl Gomez on championing Latino filmmakers in Hollywood as new horror lead in 'Hive'

For Xochitl Gomez, 'Hive' wasn’t just another horror-thriller, it was a chance to step into a story that reflected both her identity and a larger industry imbalance that she says needs to continue to be addressed.

The 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' actor was drawn to the project in part because of its focus on a Latina protagonist at the center of a genre story, and because of its roots in supporting Latino filmmakers. 

© Maarten De Boer

That commitment, she said, outweighed any hesitation. “30% of the ticket, the U.S. ticket buyer is Latino, and that there's only 5%, maybe if that, Latino roles, that are leads or supporting, and so for me that alone was just like, "oh wow, we have to fix that.”"

She added that the gap has persisted for years. “For me, having an opportunity to play a lead character in a horror genre that is so popular right now, that is also a family drama. It's very, you know, nuanced. It has a lot of layers; it touches a lot of topics if you're willing to go there. And for me, I just read it, and I said that like, yes, this is something that I need to be a part of.

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For Gomez, the appeal wasn’t only the genre, it was the character herself. “She's a hero, you know, driving this whole story.” She first became involved with the project years earlier, when she joined the short film version.

“About 3 years ago, when I got asked to do the short film, I was like, immediately I said, yes, yes, this is someone's career that I automatically saw it was going to take off.”

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She continued, “And so I did that about 3 years ago, and Wow, I, I have to say this is probably the quickest turnaround for a short into a feature.” She noted how unusual the timeline was. “It usually takes about 5, sometimes 8 years, if that even ends up happening. So this is about like a 2-year turnaround.”

“And when I got asked to do it again, I said, yes, please, please, because this is, this is a Latina character that is at the forefront," she added.

Co-star Aaron Dominguez was drawn in just as quickly. “I got the script, or I got offered to play, and I think within, within 8 days, maybe it was probably less.” The production moved quickly from development to set, with a compressed filming schedule. “We only had 19 days of actual filming.”

Director Felipe Vargas also encouraged collaboration and rehearsal. 

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“He was like on board to do rehearsals and so that really helped us dial it in and he was very collaborative with letting us tweak anything if we needed to like make things in our own voice or if there's something that you, he was like, if you, if you wouldn't necessarily say it, please go ahead and send it over and we can work through it.”

Dominguez said preparation was essential given the pace. “Since she had, she had time to kind of sink her teeth in this, having already done the, the short film for 3 years… for me, not only was the turnaround really quick to getting to Cape Town and shooting.” 

© Marcos Cruz/Courtesy of Tubi

Despite the intensity of the schedule, there was some room for creative flexibility, but only after preparation. “When you prepare, it allows you on the day to be like, you know what, maybe I wanna play around."

“But also we had such a tight turnaround on things that there wasn't necessarily time to get to explore things," they added. “So if we did get it quickly, then we could play around with stuff.”