The new film WE THE ANIMALS, directed and co-written by Jeremiah Zagar (In a Dream) is an adaptation of the novel of the same title from Justin Torres. The story centers on three brothers, being raised in a working class home by young and unstable parents. Desde Hollywood had the pleasure to speak with the Latino actor that portrays their father, “Paps,” Raúl Castillo (Unsane, Staring at the Sun).

Raúl Castillo, Josiah Gabriel, Evan Rosado, Josiah Gabriel – Courtesy of The Orchard

We started talking about what interested him the most about the project. Despite some initial hesitations, Castillo slowly fell in love with what he saw on the page: “When I got the script, I read about all of these things that Paps is doing. He was so volatile, that at the beginning I wondered if it was stereotypical. But then, as I continued to read it, it was evident that the script was way more complex that I realized. It is a multilayered depiction of a human being. I thought that it was a great adaptation of the book, and a beautiful way to transfer it into a film.”

Raúl Castillo and Sheila Vand – Courtesy of The Orchard

The Latino world is a vast and diverse mosaic. In his own words, Castillo is “a Mexican-American kid from Texas playing a Puerto Rican from New York,” so he made the effort to sprinkle the right kind of cultural flavor on his character. “There was a great deal of collaboration and improvisation” he says, while thanking the director. “Jeremiah let me jump in there and add a few things. Specially when it came to some ‘modismos,” referring to expressions that a Boricua would have used.

Josiah Gabriel, Evan Rosado, Josiah Gabriel – Courtesy of The Orchard

The main protagonists, though, are the young characters portrayed by Evan Rosado (Jonah), Josiah Gabriel(Joel), and Isaiah Kristian (Manny). “They didn’t want trained actors, so they saw hundreds and hundreds of kids.” says Castillo. “We spent a lot of time together, we became like a family. We even played soccer sometimes. “The great thing about kids is that they have a lot of imagination and energy, so they always keep you on your toes.” Their raw and powerful performances affected the 40-year-old performer, transporting him back to his own childhood:
“I can relate to the experience of growing up in a family where expressing your feelings and emotions isn’t celebrated.”

Evan Rosado, Sheila Vand, Raúl Castillo – Courtesy of The Orchard

I said to Castillo that we Latinos can easily relate to characters living under complete uncertainty, given the current socio-political landscape in the U.S. I asked him how this environment affects his career choices. “As a Latino, I do feel a responsibility when it comes the stories that I tell.
I want to tell the kind of stories that inspired me when I was growing up, centered on positive, complicated characters. We all have our dreams, tragedies and dysfunctions, but we are rarely given the opportunity to explore our own community,” was his response.

Let’s seize the opportunity of seeing ourselves reflected on the big screen this Friday August 17, when The Orchard releases WE THE ANIMALS in theaters.

 

Young brothers Manny, Joel and Jonah tear their way through childhood and push against the volatile love of their parents. As Manny and Joel grow into versions of their father, Jonah, the youngest, shares his mother’s dreams of escape and embraces an imagined world all his own.