Back in 2024, Felipe Vargas released a short film called Hive, which starred Marvel and Dancing With the Stars alumna Xochitl Gomez. It’s now two years later, and Vargas has taken that short and expanded it into a full feature-length film with Xochitl returning to star alongside Aaron Dominguez.
It’s not the first time that we’ve seen Xochitl Gomez deal with some sort of horror or become a babysitter. If anything, her acting career so far has prepared her for this horror flick that will make you stay clear of any playgrounds within your vicinity.
I got to talk with the stars of Hive, Xochitl Gomez and Aaron Dominguez, about working with the children on set and that fear that settles in when being chased by them, what had changed from the short film, their hardest day on set and much more.
Christopher Mills: It’s a pleasure to be speaking with both of you, Xochitl and Aaron. How are you doing today?
Aaron Dominguez: Good, man. How are you?
(Xochitl Gomez responds at the same time.)
Aaron Dominguez: Moving forward, I’m just gonna let her say that first and then I’ll go.
That’s all good. I’m doing good myself. Thank you very much.
Aaron Dominguez: It’s a part of the process, isn’t it?
Part of the little process, part of the Hive. I’ve got a few questions for you today about Hive, your new movie that’s coming out this Friday on Tubi, and this question’s for the both of you. What was it like primarily working with children? Because while I was watching this movie, I couldn’t get it out of my head that these children are actually phenomenal. They’re getting everything in sync, they look extremely creepy. I thought that first act was so well done, so I just wanted to know what your thoughts were and just how that was working with them.
Xochitl Gomez: Oh yeah, well—you can go ahead.
Aaron Dominguez: It was good. Look, I’m with you. I thought those kids were incredibly resilient, especially under the weather conditions. I feel like we had a lot of them, I can’t spoil, but there was a scene that we had where there was at least 30 or 40 of them.
If you want, at this interview…
Aaron Dominguez: You want me to spoil everything?
Go ahead, go ahead!
Aaron Dominguez: I was trying to find my language around what I could say or what I couldn’t say, but yeah, I think a lot of those kids on that day that we had 30 or 40 of them—I want to say they came from a dance academy, or was it like a cheerleading/gymnastics kind of background? So I feel like that was really good them kind of being in sync, and some of the kids were also doing a lot of the action sequences. Once again, I can’t specifically say what it is because I can’t spoil. I’m done answering. It’s you.
Xochitl Gomez: Well, I have a lot of experience with kids after doing Babysitters Club, so I kind of already knew how to navigate that. But it’s just making them comfortable, honestly. And they were all just so excited to be there, especially because they’re all sourced from Cape Town—the casting office in Cape Town, South Africa did a great job finding all those kids. Especially our young girl Victoria—she is just so good in this film. She’s so scary, she’s so creepy, and the craziest fact is that you would think, “Oh, that’s probably because the kid is naturally like that.” This girl is the smartest little—she’s like a 30-year-old in a 12-year-old little body. She’s just so advanced for her age, and she was asking us questions. Yeah, she’s so like, “How did you get here?”
Aaron Dominguez: And really intellectual questions, too.
Xochitl Gomez: She’s like, “How long have you been doing this?” I’m like, “Girl, what?” We don’t need to be talking about that. What kind of Oreo is your favorite? Trying to make it more kid and playful, but she was really, really into it—and that was her first project ever. So I can’t wait to see more that she does. I’m like, “Yeah, when you’re getting the Oscar, don’t forget about us.”
Aaron Dominguez: Don’t forget about us!
There’s gotta be some sort of real fear that sets in when you’re dealing with these kids. Like you said, Xochitl, there’s just a natural kind of fear around children in horror movies. What was that like?
Xochitl Gomez: I mean, that was the other aspect about Victoria—that she’s so good that when she would play that kind of scary, creepy aspect of her character, whenever the hive mind would switch on, I was like, “Oh girl, you’re scaring me.” Like, you’re actually scaring me.
And there was one take—it was like done. Felipe had asked her to go all the way there, and she went there. And afterward I asked her, “Are you OK? That was a lot—that was kind of intense.” And she was like, “Yeah, I’m good.” I was like, “Your ability to do that is kind of freaking me out right now.” But I mean, yeah, it was fun. It was creepy, though—especially some of the sequences where all the kids were doing their stuff in unison when the hive mind is taking control of them.
I wasn’t aware. I told them I don’t have to be there for the rehearsals of that process because whatever they do naturally, I would love to just react to that. So yeah, we went into the first take. I kind of knew what they were gonna do, but I wasn’t there for the full run-through of it all. I just knew my steps and where I was going to go in the scene. But when they rolled action—girl, I freaked out. I freaked out. I was screaming. Everyone’s like, “Are you OK?” And I was like—they’re like, “That was really good.” And I was like, “No, guys, that was a real reaction. I was so terrified.”
Yeah, and then I’m gonna give a little fun question before we dive back into more Hive. I was wondering if there’s any horror performances that might have inspired the two of you for this movie, or just performances that have sat with you since you’ve watched the film.
Xochitl Gomez: I mean, I don’t think it’s really gone into Sasha’s character, but one that’s really—I wouldn’t say it’s horror, but more like a psychological thriller— Substance. Those characters… I’ve never been so shook by a movie like that before. So for me, those characters and that whole arc, that journey, have stayed with me.
Aaron Dominguez: I think for me, Insidious comes to mind, because Insidious has a kid that goes into this spiritual realm where he taps into something else. That movie—it’s not like I tapped into any of that, but that character I do from time to time—but that’s off the record. Those movies are crazy, is what I’m getting at.
I still need to see them myself. Horror is not my biggest thing, but I’m trying to step into it.
Aaron Dominguez: So listen, watch them during the day.
Xochitl Gomez: I’ve done some projects that are horror now, and I get so scared. I can’t watch them on my own. I have to watch them at home so I can pause it. I don’t know if it’s because I’m really in tune with it all, but it really freaks me out and I end up having dreams about it. And I’m like, “Oh my God, that was really scary. Mommy, what the heck was that?” I don’t know if it’s that I’m in tune or something, because I end up having dreams about the movie—but it’s my life. And I’m like…
Aaron Dominguez: Are you a witch?
Xochitl Gomez: Girl, don’t say that! They’re gonna pick that up now.
And then one final question for the two of you. You mentioned filming in Cape Town, which I would have never guessed from watching this movie—but what was the hardest day on set, and how long did it take to shoot this entire film?
Xochitl Gomez: Well, I think exactly that question is the hardest thing—that it was a 19-day shoot, and we only had one day off per week. Because we also had rehearsals—we would meet up even on the days we had off. But yeah, that was pretty hard. Also, we were shooting out of sequence. The second day, for example, we were shooting one of the scenes from the end of the film. Then on day 17, we were filming the other half of the scene that we shot on day 2. So we had to really keep continuity on check.
It was great that I had a really great relationship with the script supervisor. Prior to filming, I had my own little version of the script, and I was said, “OK, here I am. Here’s where my head’s at. This is like one sentence that gets me straight there and all the little notes and all the little changes or whatever. And I handed that off to her and I was like, “It’s you and me, girl. It’s you and me,” because we are gonna be in a battle of continuity and emotions and making sure that it all makes sense because it is the worst when I’m watching a movie and I’m like, “Weren’t you sad two seconds ago and now you’re like, fine? What happened to all those tears? What happened there, girl?” And so I want to make sure that that doesn’t happen. People don’t watch me and be like, “What happened there? Where did the emotion go?”
Thank God, I had a really great relationship with her. Before we’d do a scene, she’d be like, “Here’s your 1 little sentence for you.”
Aaron Dominguez: That’s right! I think you remember because Xochitl showed up, I think it was on day two with 732 notes on the script, and she goes, “I don’t know what you guys are following here, but this is what we’re gonna follow. And she gave it. She was like, “This is the Bible. I don’t know what that other thing you guys thought it was, but this is it.”
Xochitl Gomez: I have a great relationship with Felipe, where, he was like, “If there’s anything that you want to change to make the character more in your voice or if there’s something that you feel like you wouldn’t naturally say or something that you want to adjust, go ahead.” And so prior to filming, I was like, “OK, I want to get all of those notes done before we film so that when I’m on set, if there’s any changes, I’ve already done them. I don’t have to worry about that. I know my vibe. I know my journey and my arc.” And so I went through with him before and I just made tweaks to my lines and I handed them off and I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is a lot. I don’t know what he’s gonna think. He might just think I’m crazy. And I handed it off and he took them all. That is very, very rare.
Aaron Dominguez: Yeah. I think that point that Xochitl just made, that’s what makes Felipe a great collaborator.
Xochitl Gomez: I think that people say they are collaborators but not follow through with it. Felipe really, really does.
Aaron Dominguez: Great collaborator. I call him the actor’s director or the director’s actor because he cares. Even the hardest of days that I had, which were more physically enduring because I’ve got one shoe on for maybe for like a 3 quarters of the movie. I’ve only got one shoe on, and unbeknownst to the audience that’s watching the movie, it rained a lot when we shot this movie.
It probably rained like 90% of the time. Xochitl had laughed every day at me. No one knows if I’m getting frostbite because it was also 30, maybe 35-45 degrees outside…
Xochitl Gomez: And then it was raining like 80 degrees.
Aaron Dominguez: Yeah, my toes were freezing, constantly always having to change my socks…. You never really see my feet in the movie, so it’s all for nothing.
Xochitl Gomez: You’re suffering for nothing.
Honestly, this was a great interview. I can’t wait for people to watch Hive when it comes out on TV this Friday. You were both amazing—thank you so much for your time.
Hive is now streaming on Tubi.
