Zoe Chao & Callie Hernandez Crack Up Over “Folk Horror” Genre Slip | SXSW Interview 2025

TEM (The Extra Mile):  Tell us a little bit about the film for those who might not be familiar with it?

Zoe:  Okay, The Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick is about a woman named Yvonne, played by me,  who is in crisis and flees the city to visit a friend upstate who has a house in an effort to  get away from the turmoil that she is experiencing in her life. And her friend Camille neglects  to tell her that there is a gay couple staying with her in the house for the weekend and  Yvonne gets bitten by a tick and things start to get really weird.

TEM (The Extra Mile) : When we’re talking about a movie like this, how would you describe the tone? Because it seems like we’re doing something delightfully obscure here.

Callie: Delightfully obscure. Actually, I think that’s kind of the tone.  I really kind of think it is like delightfully obscure is kind of Pete Oh’s thing. Pete likes things to have a little fantasy to them, you know, no matter what. And so even when we knew we were making a film about ticks, I knew there was going to have to be  some kind of fantastical element that would tonally shift things a little bit more. I mean,  it’s always going to be an element of comedy and stuff, but delightfully obscure is perfect.

TEM:  So with all of those facets of the creative exploration of this film and this story,  how do you tackle that when you’re preparing for your performance and making it grounded?

Zoe: Well, what’s so cool about Pete Oh’s process and working with this company of people is that with this project, you couldn’t really prepare. You had to check your perfectionist because we devised the piece in real-time. There was an idea. We all assembled. Callie had rented a house  upstate for a year to make several films, two features and a short. And all we knew is that these are the four actors we’re working with. Someone gets bitten by a tick. And then we would  write the first three scenes in the morning, shoot them in the afternoon, the evening,  next day, try to learn from what we shot and wrote. Write the next three scenes, shoot those. So you can’t really prepare, which is really good for a Virgo like me,  because I can overprepare. And what is that quote? Like, perfectionism is the  enemy of art or something. So this process forces you to be really present and say yes and be open to what unfurls.

TEM: That is so interesting. That must have been  extremely liberating when you’re on set and being able to perform kind of feeling boundless in a  way.

Zoe: Yeah, it’s like a free fall. So it’s really exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.

TEM: Well, I feel like that’s a good combo. What about you? How did you feel?

Callie: Oh, I mean, the same as Zoe, you know, just yeah, it’s it’s terrifying and also really fun and freeing. How do you ground yourself when you’re doing it? I mean,  it’s nice to be grounded within the group. It’s such a good group of people that and there’s so  much trust there. And when with this kind of collaborative process that that is really.

TEM: Now going into the third act of the movie now knowing how you went about the process of filming this, what was your mind? Where was your mind at when we were going into the third  act when things kind of start to ramp up?

Zoe: Well, because we shoot everything chronologically,  kind of felt like by the time we got to the third act, I also was like,  you know, we are at this place where in the experiment where you’re not sure if it’s working.  And but we, you know, remove the pressure of being like, we have to make a movie. It’s like,  well, let’s aim for it. But the real priority is spending time together trying to make something. But I think the you’d want to land the plane. And the third act is always arguably the hardest act. Even if you spend many, many months, years writing something,  the third act is hard. So to hatch the third act in a morning, in a couple, you know,  over the course of like two days. Yeah, that that is stressful.  But I think we we just kept going back to what the goal of this project was, which was making something in community and playing. So we were allowed to be wrong. And I think that’s really important. And it’s so seldom that we’re so seldom given the permission  to be wrong in this medium.

TEM: Now, tell me a little bit about because this film definitely has some undertones of folk horror, which is probably my favorite subgenres.  So tell me a little bit about how exciting that was that you were able to incorporate an  element like that into your performance.

Callie: Well, I didn’t know it existed until you just told me.  But folk horror, I’m game. I have been told this in recent years that I’m a little witchy  and I’ve never considered that. Yeah, sure. It’s funny because when we made Jethica, Pete was like, well, you know,  you’re already kind of witchy. And I was like, really? That’s is that a thing that people think?  I mean, it’s it’s such a it’s the thing. The whole process is  alive. Well, like it’s a very it’s a live wire. So you’re constantly sculpting it as you go and  whatever. And that’s goes for the performances as well. But I don’t know. I know Pete pretty well. He really he really does encourage trying things.

TEM: How do you go The Extra Mile whether that’s in your work life or in your personal life?

Zoe: I think it goes back to trying to be present. I think a big theme of this movie is fear. And fear can really rob you of the present moment. And yeah, I guess  the pursuit of being present is what I try to practice in both personal and professional life.

Calle:  So this proverbial extra mile, you know, okay.  I want to go for a jog today. I guess by nature, I’m sort of a person that feels the fear and does  it anyway kind of by nature. And I have to sometimes pull it, reel it back a little bit because I’m just down, you know, kind of. I think that’s how I go the extra mile.I’m kind of just  game.

TEM: If there’s a particular scene or moment (1 that either you would like to revisit or, you know, that you’re extremely proud of?

Zoe: Well, what Pete asked us, you know, are there certain characteristics or quirks or elements that you want to bring into this piece? And I was like, can there be a synchronized dance at some point? And when I asked it, I wanted to be a part of the synchronized  dance. But what actually happened was way better. And I got to witness Jeremy, Callie,  James. And I thought it was delicious then. And I find it delicious now.