'Carrie': Meet Latino Screenwriter Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Screenwriter Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa talks about
Just in time for pre-Halloween scares, a remake of the 1970s cult classic horror flick “Carrie” comes out in theaters Friday.
Screenwriter Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who worked on the movie, said he didn’t want to deviate too far from the original script – make enough changes to give the movie a modern feel.
"We wanted to go back to the original source material, the original novel, which I read when I was a kid and loved,” Aguirre-Sacasa told Fox News Latino during an interview in Los Angeles. “I'm a huge Stephen King fan."
"Carrie," which is rated R, stars actress Chole Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore. It is a re-imagining of Stephen King's classic horror novel originally published in 1974. The main character is a shy girl who is an outcast and lives with her overprotective mother. When she discovers she has telekinetic powers, a blood bath ensues at her high school prom.
"This movie does feel a little bit classic in that it is a slow, suspenseful burn – it’s not a lot of fast cutting," Aguirre-Sacasa said. "It's not short scenes, you really dig deep and get to know these characters along the journey in that way it feels modern and very classical."
Director Brian De Palma's 1976 movie adaptation of "Carrie," starring Sissy Spacek, became a cult classic, making Aguirre-Sacasa's job of adapting the novel into a screenplay even more challenging.
"The movie is so iconic, there are so many images that people remember," said the screenwriter, "we've done enough new things that people that know this story will want to go on this journey again, and people that don't know the story will be in for an amazing ride."
Aguirre-Sacasa, who was born in the United States but lived in Nicaragua as a child, said his Latino roots definitely influences his work.
"There's a sensibility that infuses it that I think is very passionate."
The 40-year-old screenwriter said that during one of his first meetings with MGM about “Carrie,” he threw out a Spanish word to executives.
"I said: Carrie has to have 'duende' she has to have a power that no one knows." (In Spanish, having 'duende' loosely means having soul and possessing a heightened state of emotion.)
Aguirre-Sacasa said his parents, who are both from Nicaragua and currently live there, were particularly interested in horror films.
"We loved going to see scary movies, we were a very spiritual household so we always loved spooky stories," he said.
His love of writing came from his roots – he said Latinos have a knack for story telling – but it’s also in his blood. His grandfather, Horacio Aguirre, was publisher of Diario de las Americas, a Spanish-language newspaper based in Miami, and his father was a reporter while in college.
Aguirre-Sacasa has carried on the tradition with a successful writing career in Hollywood. In 2006, he wrote for HBO's ''Big Love” and he is currently a writer/co-producer on the successful TV series, Glee.
"This is my third season I've been working on Glee, I love that job," said Aguirre- Scasa. "I love the shows message – it’s one of tolerance, it’s one of anti-bullying, which is of course a message of (the movie) Carrie as well."
Aguirre-Sacasa said that Hollywood is warming up to the idea of having more Latinos in front of and behind the camera.
"I've noticed an acknowledgement that there is this audience that is hungry for (our) stories" he said. "I’m finding that I’m working with more and more Latino artists and that’s exciting. I think there is recognition of this (Latino) culture and trying to employ people from this culture and address their stories."
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