The first Bird Box movie had a sensational cast. Sandra Bullock, Sarah Paulson, John Malkovich, and Machine Gun Kelly, just to name a few, all helped make Netflix’s Bird Box the huge success that it was, back in 2018. Now, the latest addition to the Bird Box franchise, Bird Box: Barcelona, introduces audiences to a brand new and equally fantastic cast.

Mario Casas (Three Steps Above Heaven, The Invisible Guest) leads Barcelona, along with Georgina Campell, star of the 2022 cult horror movie Barbarian, as well as Diego Calva, who recently starred alongside Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie in 2022s Babylon.

With Bird Box: Barcelona releasing July 14th, MovieWeb recently sat down with both Georgina Campbell and Diego Calva to discuss their roles in Netflix’s upcoming original movie, and what drew them to the franchise in the first place. “I love the first movie as everybody did,” stated Campbell. “I love Sandra Bullock. She’s amazing. And I got sent the script and I just thought that the script was really great. And yeah, I wanted to be part of it.”

Calva immediately expressed what it was that drew him to the franchise:

I like to think of this as like an event you know. When the first movie was released, we all watched it, like all over the world. That’s pretty cool. I hope that happens with this one. Going Into Bird Box Blind

Diego Calva has starred in some great projects. From last year’s Babylon to the hit Netflix, Narcos spin-off, Narcos: Mexico. However, unlike Georgina Campbell, Calva hasn’t actually starred in a horror project before. When asked how his experience starring in a horror project differs from his time in other genres, Diego said: “It is different, of course. And it was also the first time I acted on a green screen. So I think you have to use your imagination more for this kind of film”.

Responding to Diego’s green screen comment, Georgina then went on to talk about her experience acting alongside a green screen. “Yeah, it’s hard,” said Campbell. “You have to use your imagination a lot more. We were wearing blindfolds. So that was also hard. It was a lot of not seeing what’s going on”.

Related: Babylon Star Diego Calva Reveals That Acting Wasn’t in His Original Plan

The Bird Box universe is perhaps most synonymous for the characters wearing blindfolds. The creatures that inhabit the franchise force individuals to kill themselves in horrifically brutal fashion. So, in order to survive those roaming the hell-bent world of the post-apocalypse must cover their eyes in order to not see said creatures.

Both Campbell and Calva spend the majority of Bird Box: Barcelona with blindfolds covering their eyes, much like Sandra Bullock did in the first movie. “We could see just a little,” smiled Calva. “It wasn’t like, completely blind. But something pretty cool is like the noise. You know, when you’re not seeing the noise? You move your body differently, so you actually act differently.” Campbell continued, adding that there’s an odd freedom to having your eyes covered:

Yeah, I think it’s hard. It’s different. But there’s also a kind of freedom about having your eyes covered up. Like, you can’t really see anyone properly, and you’re kind of in your own little world. So there’s something about that, it’s a little bit freeing. You don’t have people’s eyes on you. Bird Box: Barcelona is a Spanish language movie, however Georgina Campbell’s character predominantly spoke English the entire time, expanding on the characters and world building of the Bird Box apocalypse. Diego Calva learned English for his role in Babylon; when asked if she learned any Spanish for her role in the Bird Box: Barcelona, Campbell replied: “No, I mean, I was playing an English character. So there wasn’t much movement on me needing to learn Spanish. I’m terrible with languages, which isn’t a surprise if you’re English. So no. I tried my best”.

The World of Bird Box
Netflix

Hiding the image, and appearance of Bird Box’s creatures adds a great level of fear and curiosity to the franchise, and upon many other aspects, keep drawing us back for more. Bird Box: Barcelona delves a little deeper into the creature’s origins and appearance, but on a subjective level. The movie toys with the idea that individuals see different images, based on their respective trauma and beliefs. Some may see God, some an angel, some an alien, and some even a demon.

“Didn’t they release the sketches from the first one, and they were kind of like these big like babies?” mused Campbell on what she thinks the creatures of the Bird Box world objectively look like. “It was really weird. I remember Sandra Bullock being like, they pitched it and everyone said, that’s not scary. So definitely not like that. But I really don’t know, I didn’t really think about it.”

Related: Best Movie Director Duos of All Time, Ranked

Diego Calva then went on to say he believes the creatures are “only light. Maybe they don’t have like a body. They’re like more fluctuating all the time.”

Working with a Directing Duo
Netflix

Bird Box: Barcelona was helmed by two directors, brothers Àlex and David Pastor. We have seen great directing pairs in the past, from the Maysles brothers to the Coen brothers. But neither Campbell nor Calva have worked on a set or a movie with two directors. “I really liked it,” exclaimed Campbell on her experience working with the Pastors.

“The way that they work together, you know, they’re brothers, they know each other so well. They both seem to be on the same level all the time, so it made things easier on set. One of them would be off speaking to the camera department, sorting out the technical stuff, and then one of them would be able to come over and speak to us. It never felt like they were two different voices. “They have different skills,” said Calva on working with the Pastors. “They know how to apply it. So yeah, there are a great team actually”.

Future Projects of Diego Calva and Georgina Campbell
Netflix

Before capping off the interview, the two actors quickly discussed their upcoming future projects. “I just wrapped up on a film, Cold Storage,” stated Campbell, “which was really fun. And I’m about to go on to another film called The Watchers which is Ishana [Night] Shyamalan’s first feature film, so I’m really excited to get going on that.”

Calva then capped off the interview saying, “I just finished On Swift Horses with Jacob Elordi and Daisy Edgar-Jones, and I’m pretty excited about it. I think they’re like the cool kids of Hollywood, and they invited me to play with them.”

Netflix invites you to watch Bird Box: Barcelona beginning July 14th