INTERVIEW BY IRVIN RIVERA, INTRODUCTION BY DENISE MALLABO

Teen Wolf alumnus Froy Gutierrez is no stranger to the camera. This Texas native had all the "training" he needed to play well on the big screen, having been in shows such as Cruel Summer, Light as a Feather, One Day at a Time, and others.

He’s in the cast of Hocus Pocus 2, the sequel to the celebrated fantasy comedy film Hocus Pocus, in which Bette Midler, Kathy Najimi, and Sarah Jessica Parker reprised their roles as the Sanderson witches who escaped Salem and its villagers. Froy plays Mike in the movie, the somewhat clueless jock boyfriend of actress Lilia Buckingham’s character Cassie. Growing-up watching Hocus Pocus excited the 24-year-old to be part of the sequel. “I remember watching it at a friend's sleepover and kind of being spooked out by it for like a week. But then watching it every Halloween, I can't think of a more classic Halloween movie than Hocus Pocus. So, getting to be a part of it was one thing and then actually being there and working on it and getting to watch Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler, and Kathy Najimy and Doug Jones do their thing was like a once in a lifetime experience for sure,” shares Froy.

We caught up with Froy for an exclusive photoshoot and interview and talked about acting, Hocus Pocus 2, his upcoming movie The Strangers (a reboot of the 2008 thriller) and what inspires him nowadays. 

How are you, Froy?

I'm doing good.

What's the best part about playing your character, Mike in Hocus Pocus 2?

Mike is so fun because he's so dumb. This man is walking around with an empty head. He's got cobwebs in his noggin. There's the story arc of what happens in the movie. But as far as what I got to do every day is just kind of be almost childlike and just very wholesome and unassuming. It was really fun. And I love that I got to play with the character and kind of improvise the scenes with our director, Anne Fletcher. She had us do new scenes on the day or change up lines on the day. So, me and Belissa (Escobedo) and Whitney (Peak) and Lilia (Buckingham), all kind of got to play together and find the characters as we were going on, so that was really wonderful.

Did you find that freeing and almost liberating in a way because this character is kind of different from the other roles that you played?

Yes, yes. I think I loved getting to play something that's a bit larger than life. You know, like there's a feeling of he's not really like the other kids. He's kind of in the whimsical world of Hocus Pocus so he gets to be out there and I got to make some bold choices and find these comedic beats, and getting to be on that side and getting to be around these incredible comedic performances. I kind of got to learn along the way like how to structure the joke and how to find the timing of it. And I don't know, it was such a challenge and I was really afraid I wasn't going to be able to do it and then getting to watch the premiere and seeing the audience's reaction to Mike, just really made my heart warm. It was awesome.

And speaking of challenges, what are the other challenges and the highs that you experienced during this whole process?

I think a lot of it was imposter syndrome. I definitely had a lot of like - I felt like I was so in over my head and I had days where, maybe I got a note and I wasn't able to pick it up right away or, I wasn't able to keep my body towards the camera in the right way. And it was kind of a challenge to get myself out of the way and get over myself and not be so insecure and self-focused. And I learned to drop it and be in the moment and do what I needed to do and just go on to the next thing. So, that was definitely a challenge. But I think the results speak for themselves.

During the premiere was such a high and getting to watch the movie and see how it turned out and be like “oh actually I didn't ruin this movie.” From what I saw, I was happy with it so that's just been really wonderful. I felt like a college student. I got to come in and watch them do their thing and watched Kathy Najimy improvising her scenes and watched Sarah Jessica Parker do her scenes and watch Doug Jones do his physicality as a zombie and just see how they worked. It was like a masterclass. It was awesome.

Who and what inspires you?

Lately I think I've really been inspired by sincerity, if that makes sense. It’s when people genuinely engage with something that they love, no matter what that thing is and I see it happening, I'm blown away by it. I've been really inspired by my little sister. She's been getting into music and I've been helping her out, or, not helping her out but playing with stuff on GarageBand with her. To see the joy on her face, I'm just reminded of all the joy that I got from the arts when I started or even now. I want to engage in things that hold; I want to invest myself that much in everything.

I've also been really inspired by the fans at the Hocus Pocus premiere who came in full cosplay and just seeing how much love they poured into it. I was talking to this one person who made their outfit during the pandemic and how it became one of their passion projects. I just thought it was so wonderful and I just love humans being humans and finding things that make them happy. I think that's what's been really inspiring for me.