For those who are not very fond of nature, hiking in the middle of the forest can seem like a nightmare in itself. But this is just the beginning for the group of protagonists of “Valley of the Forgotten”, which premieres on HBO Max this Sunday (25).
After getting lost, they are enveloped in a mysterious mist and end up in a village that looks like a ghost town — and, for the public, even when the residents show up, nothing indicates that they aren’t. The inhabitants of Vale Sereno dress and behave as if time has not passed.
Daniel Rocha, 31, and Caroline Abras, 35, who lead the cast, guarantee that watching the plot with tones of suspense and mystery is scarier than recording it. “Who gives the scare is not worried, right?”, jokes the actress.
“My only fear on set was when they released that fake smoke and said ‘action’. We’d run through the woods and, when they cut, I’d say: ‘Guys, where am I? Where’s the team? ‘”, remember. “As we recorded on a farm, I was afraid of real things, nothing supernatural. If there was a snake, an animal. That was the real fear I had. Now I’m really scared (laughs).”
Rocha also says that the lightness of the set contrasts with the tense atmosphere of the scenes. “Our set was pretty lively, actually,” he says. “It was very comical, so to speak. The relationships between people were very light and very different from what we recorded like that. When someone came with those special effects, we were joking.”
The actor says that, in real life, he is not much of a trailblazer. “I’m more into urban sports, so to speak,” he says. Abras says that he likes the contact provided with nature, but that nothing prepared her for what she would face in the series. “I needed some physical preparation to take it, man”, he is surprised. “Those almost a hundred days running, jumping, fighting, screaming. It was a marathon!”
Bento, the character played by Rocha, ends up entering the adventure completely at random. After staying with Ana, Abras’ role, he follows her and ends up joining the group she is guiding in the woods.
“He falls there unawares, he has no idea what he’s doing there”, he comments. “He thinks she tried to lose him and wants to go on this trail to spend more time with her, in a different place, not just indoors or in bars. He wants to do something in nature with the cat and ends up falling for it. That’s ok. Do what? If it wasn’t like that, I’d only make a participation (laughs).”
In the first episode, it is possible to see that, in fact, Ana has some degree of involvement with the inhabitants of Vale Sereno. By all accounts she didn’t want him to go on the trail to spare him what she would find there.
“She’s a multifaceted person, so as the episodes unfold, we’ll understand what her real intentions are to not take him to this place and, now that he’s there, how she’s going to deal with it.” anticipates. “That’s the mystery.”
The actors say that there were very complex scenes to shoot, such as a sequence from the end of the first season, which took ten days to shoot. “It reminded me a bit when ‘Game of Thrones’ had that scene that took a week to do, I said I felt the same”, he compares. “It was a big scene, but very important. And it turned out beautiful. As an actor, when you find yourself in the middle of a long shot that’s getting good, you’re like, ‘Wow! This is awesome!’.”
If producing paranormal phenomena on screen is so much work, in real life they are even desired by the duo. “I believe in extraterrestrials”, says Rocha. “I want to have an ET experience someday, exchange an idea, be abducted, I don’t know… I’m super curious about this place, but in terms of spirit, seeing dead people, I’m more skeptical.”
“Honestly, I think it’s very selfish for human beings to think that only our existence is possible, that just because an existence is not visible or understandable, it doesn’t exist”, Abras agrees. “So whatever presents itself to me, I believe. I’ve never had experiences or anything, but I believe in the mystery, the unsaid, the occult. I believe in those energies and I respect them deeply.”
On the concrete plane, from what jumps out at the eye, the actors answer who they would like to send for a one-way trip to the Sereno Valley. “This one is very easy, brother! We won’t talk, but you already understand who it is, right?”, says Rocha. “I think everyone here agrees,” laughs Abras.
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