Interview With Adrian Favela, Star Of ‘Wrong Turn’ (2021)

If you read my interview with Mike P. Nelson (read our interview with him HERE), the director of the new reimagining of Wrong Turn, then you know how the original ruined camping for me. For life. That hasn’t changed since yesterday, but my admiration for retelling this story has grown. Every time I talk to someone from this film, I appreciate it more and more.

I recently chatted with Adrian Favela, who plays Luis in the new film, and we talked about how he got into acting, the AMAZING practical effects in the film, and of course, horror movies.

Oh, yeah. One more thing. There are SPOILERS in this interview, so read with caution if you haven’t seen the film yet.

PopHorror: Hi Adrian! I loved Wrong Turn. I thought the new take on it was so unexpected.

Adrian Favela: Yes! Good! Oh my gosh, I’m so happy to hear.

PopHorror: So what was it that intrigued you about the film and made you want to be a part of it?

Adrian Favela: I had read the script. Of course, we knew the name Wrong Turn and it had a structure for the past six films. I had read the script, and it flipped everything on its head. Literally gutted the whole idea of it, kept the skeleton, and then created something new. So I really was drawn to that. I also loved that we had a female lead that was so cool and just like… What is the word? Am I allowed to say badass? Because she was badass. 

PopHorror: Yes!

Adrian Favela: Okay, yes. Just so badass. Like, oh my gosh! This girl is just surviving and doing the thing and the guys just drop out like flies. I also found so much representation in it. I was like, “Wow, this is so valid today.” I definitely, of course, jumped on it like, “Yes, please! Get me in this.”

PopHorror: I loved that female empowerment! I agree that there was a lot of representation, so that was really something that’s becoming more and more in movies now, and I am here for it.

Adrian Favela: I like it, too.

PopHorror: Looking through your resume, it looks like you’re pretty new to the horror genre.

Adrian Favela: Yes!

PopHorror: What was it like to be involved in a film that utilized so many great effects and gore?

Adrian Favela: It was definitely really cool. It was daunting at first, I’ll be honest. I was jumping into the film, and there was a ton of horror alumni, and the effects team… They had done some really incredible things before, and I had jumped into the film kind of expecting it to be not what it was. When I got there, the effects were so realistic and so… I don’t know if I was completely prepared. The scene with Dylan McTee’s character, Adam, when they smash his head. That was a practical effect.

PopHorror: Yeah, that was awesome!

Adrian Favela: They made a cast of his head, and made it out of silicone so it looked like a real person. They glued eyelashes on it, and hair. Everything. Filled it up with blood and smashed it in front of us. And for some reason, it just almost made me gag in real life. I was like, “Oh my gosh! So this is what real horror is made out of.”

PopHorror: Wow! That’s really awesome. And your character had some gnarly things happen to him as well. How was that?

Adrian Favela: Oh, man! It was definitely intense. Luis gets his eyes gouged out by hot pokers, which was insane. The lead up to it was crazy. We see Luis just struggling trying to leave, and then you see this poor guy get dragged back and just his eyes be taken out. It was crazy sad. But they put these prosthetics on my eyes so I was completely blind and it was really intense. Acting while blind is really hard because you’re like, “Where’s the camera? What am I doing?” Definitely a cool experience.

PopHorror: That’s one of my biggest fears. Something like that happens, and you’re still alive, and you have to live through it. That really played into the fear of the movie, I thought. I loved that.

Adrian Favela: In the original script, what happened to Luis was they burned his eyes out, burned his ears out, and then pulled his tongue out.

PopHorror: Holy shit!

Adrian Favela: That’s what they meant by darkness. You’re literally in darkness. It was insane. Oh my gosh.

PopHorror: I see that you’re also new to acting in the last few years. What made you want to be an actor?

Adrian Favela: I got the acting bug when I was younger. One of those scam agencies like, “Oh, let me make you a star!” You know, in the mall. And of course I got totally scammed out. But that was the first time I really decided I might want to be an actor. Before that, I wanted to a marine biologist.

PopHorror: Oh wow!

Adrian Favela: Oh yeah. It was a complete 180. I moved to LA, and I ended up doing fashion photography and food photography, which is really cool, and just auditioning on the side. And I ended up landing a lead in a film called Requiescat. It was a really huge film for me. It was my first lead, and we ended up campaigning for the Oscars in the short film division.

PopHorror: Oh wow!

Adrian Favela: That was the first time that I realized that this could be a career. That you can actually do this if you want to. After that film, I went on to do Under the Stadium Lights and a couple small gigs here and there, and then I landed Wrong Turn after that.

PopHorror: What’s up next for you, Adrian?

Adrian Favela: I have Under the Stadium Lights, which will be releasing in June. That is also through Saban, so that’s pretty exciting and cool. And then besides that, I’m really just taking it day by day. It’s been tough with Covid. A lot of shit starting and then shutting down, and movies starting and shutting down, and people are getting sick. It’s a tough time for the industry, but I’m hoping and praying—something, whatever—that I land something soon.

PopHorror: Oh absolutely! You’re just starting out. You’ve got this reboot that people are dying to see because it’s such a beloved franchise that I have no doubt that you’ll have something coming up soon.

Adrian Favela: Thank you so much1 I appreciate that.

PopHorror: Of course! I read that you filmed in Cincinnati. I used to live there, and I have a lot of friends that still live there. I love that it was so unrecognizable. 

Adrian Favela: We shot in Hocking Hills, and then the rest of it we shot underground, like literally under the city of Cincinnati in an abandoned brewery.

PopHorror: That’s so awesome! One last question for you today, Adrian. What is your favorite scary movie?

Adrian Favela: Oh, okay. This one is really intense, but I’m in between two. I really love Midsommar. I found a lot of inspiration in Midsommar. I love Florence Pugh. She’s incredible. But I also liked Martyrs only because it’s so messed up. You’re like, “How is this happening?” But you also forget that those are just actors creating a story. It’s just so out there.

We couldn’t agree more. Thank you so much, Adrian, for speaking with us. Be sure to catch Wrong Turn when it releases to VOD, Digital, and Blu-ray on February 23, 2021.