THE DEADBOLT: How did you develop the mother-child chemistry with Simon?

BELEN: He was all the time with a coach. At first, for them, it's very fun, but when you work for many hours, they don't want to work or they are tired. Many times they don't want to do the things they feel they can't do. But the coach and the director worked with him before shooting. Then I'm like a mommy. You have to understand that you have try and turn work into play. This child, Roger Princep, is amazing. You can see the truth in his eyes. You can see in his eyes that he's very clear and smart. When we were working before shooting, by the end, I was like his mommy. I think it's very important to have a good interaction. The other kids were very funny too. One of them was actually very afraid. We would start to shoot and he would start to sing because his psychologist told him that when you are afraid you have to sing. (Laughs.) Children can teach you many things about what's happening in the mind.

THE DEADBOLT: What was the most physically challenging scene to shoot? Either a specific scene or something in general?

BELEN: The most difficult thing about this character is that everything that she feels is inside of her. You have to use many things that are your own experience. Sometime you use something that happened to you but, after, you have to let it go and come back to the personality of the character. Many times, you remember something that happens to you and it's very hard to let it go. Sometimes you can understand many things in your own life through your characters. But you finish shooting and you go back home and I was working in another city, so I was alone, and you come back to the hotel and you feel not so good. [As an actress], you have to remember, sometimes, many things that are painful because everything that is happening has to feel true.

THE DEADBOLT: Are you surprised at the massive success of the film or did you know it would be a hit?

BELEN: No, no, no. I'm really surprised. At first, this film started as a little thing. The director and writer had this project seven years ago and nobody wanted to do it. When we started to work on this film, we projected it to be a little thing and we didn't know if anyone would see it. Everything that is happening is like "Oh my God."

THE DEADBOLT: So, why do you think those things are happening? Why is it hitting a nerve?

BELEN: I think that the audience can feel all the things that the characters in the movie are feeling because they are universal fears. It's not just the situation of the missing son but the fears that all of us have about death and loss. All the people that see the film could connect with their own fear. I think that's the reason so many people like it. We don't tell them what they have to think. We tell something and each person can think what they want.

THE DEADBOLT: Have any of the audience responses surprised you?

BELEN: We do Q&As after the film now and it's very interesting. Sometimes, they ask us a question and I say "Oh my God." For example, yesterday, a man asked, and this is the second time, if The Orphanage is telling people to take good care of their children. I never thought about it because I think Laura is a very good mother. In your life, many things happen that you can not control. (There was an even stranger question that has been cut for spoiler reasons. Trust me, You don't want it ruined.)

THE DEADBOLT: What's next?

BELEN: I'm going to work on a new film produced by Alejandro Almenabar (The Sea Inside, The Others). The name is It's another first-time director. It happens in a hospital. My daughter asked me, "Are you going to do another film about pain? All your films are very, very sad mommy." It has a little fantastic but it's very real. I'm going to start shooting in April.

THE DEADBOLT: Have you considered doing an English language film? Your English is very good.

BELEN: Do you think so? I was in a small part in a movie with Julianne Moore called Savage Grace. It was small but it was in English and it was really, really bad. It's very hard to work in another language. You're thinking about your pronunciation and you're not thinking about the emotions and you feel like you are lost.

For more on Belen Rueda and The Orphanage, check out the following pieces:
The Orphanage Review Interview With Juan Antonio Bayona and Sergio Sanchez The Best Films of 2007 The Best Performances of 2007