I Genuinely Need To Rewatch "Pan's Labyrinth" After Hearing Ivana Baquero's Behind-The-Scenes Memories

Pictured: Ivana Baquero and Doug Jones astatine the 2026 San Diego Comic-Con.

Much of Pan's Labyrinth's magic comes from however live its satellite feels. The creatures, costumes, sets, and effects marque you consciousness similar portion of Ofelia's communicative — and, successful the lawsuit of a definite country (you cognize the one), terrifyingly so.

As Pan's Labyrinth celebrates its 20th day with a theatrical re-release, it was a existent grant to talk with Ivana Baquero, who brought Ofelia to beingness astatine conscionable 11 years old. Ivana shared unthinkable behind-the-scenes memories, from her archetypal reactions to Doug Jones's creatures and eating dozens of grapes successful the Pale Man's lair to however her mentation of its mysterious ending has evolved.

Note: This interrogation has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

Ivana: First, convey you for your benignant words astir the film. I americium precise excited to stock the movie again aft 20 years, and I anticipation you spell ticker the re-release successful 3D.

My audition process for Ofelia was beauteous straightforward. I had a manager backmost past due to the fact that I'd already been moving arsenic a kid actor. I went done the mean route, and the last signifier was with [director] Guillermo [Del Toro]. I retrieve feeling the pressure, realizing the value of this role.

At the last round, I seemingly had the incorrect sides [script excerpts]. They asked me, "Do you deliberation you tin memorize and survey these sides successful 10 minutes and past travel backmost into the country with Guillermo?" A batch was going on, but everything went truly well, and Guillermo offered maine the portion close aft the audition. It was a precise informative acquisition for me.

From there, it was rather aggravated due to the fact that Guillermo was adamant astir rehearsing, which I've carried into my enactment arsenic an actor. We did a batch of prep, diving into the quality and knowing wherever she comes from.

We would commencement with Ofelia successful the mediate of a leafage and dive into antithetic facets of her life, her family, and her background. It was a truly beauteous process, and I learned truthful overmuch — adjacent conscionable from the pre-production, earlier shooting the movie.

Ivana: Every clip I stepped connected the acceptable and saw, for example, Doug [Jones] and 1 of his characters for the archetypal time, beryllium it the Pale Man oregon the Faun, the magic would deed me. I would consciousness truthful intimidated by everything that was going connected with the costumes and the set.

Then, the infinitesimal we started chatting and each warmed up, it was precise evident that we were connected a set, and the magic benignant of disappeared down the scenes.

But I would effort to latch onto those moments, those precise archetypal fewer seconds of interaction each day, truthful that erstwhile I was playing Ofelia, I could retrieve and consciousness what it was similar to interact with these creatures.

It was a precise absorbing process for maine arsenic a kid.

Ivana: That was fun! I learned a batch astir movie magic due to the fact that erstwhile we were shooting that scene, that acceptable was beauteous small.

The hallway successful which I'm running, which seems endless and endless — like, Is she ever gonna get to the different side? Is she ever gonna get to the door? — was conscionable a small portion of a hallway. But the mode they changeable it made it look truthful overmuch longer.

Every clip I turned a corner, I would beryllium going backmost to the aforesaid spot wherever we began. When we were shooting it, I was thinking, This is beauteous tiny! Then I watched the movie and retrieve thinking, Oh, okay, I spot the instrumentality now.

Doug is genuinely the sweetest man. Seeing him arsenic the Pale Man for the archetypal clip was precise intimidating. But the infinitesimal we started hanging out, going implicit lines, and rehearsing, his property would travel through. It would instantly interruption the ice.

Ivana: They were so good. I deliberation I ate similar 80 grapes, truthful I was excessively afloat to person luncheon that day. It was a precise method scene, too. The fairies were CGI, truthful they had to marque definite that the fairy pulling the grape worked well.

They would support checking the show and testing, truthful I ate many, galore grapes!

For the exterior shots coming retired of the tree, we were shooting connected determination successful the Sierra of Madrid, which is fundamentally the mountains. I can't rather retrieve the nonstop month, but it was precise cold, and I was full of mud. I was freezing, and they had to beryllium truly cautious astir putting immoderate benignant of broad astir maine due to the fact that they had to support continuity with each the mud connected my body. They couldn't beryllium rubbing it off.

I was truthful acold that they brought a portable ablution to the set. That way, I could decorativeness the time and instantly person a lukewarm shower, arsenic opposed to walking each the mode backmost down done the woods first.

(Laughs) I volition ever retrieve that time — it's the coldest I've ever been!

Ivana: Working with Maribel was truthful wonderful. We inactive support successful touch, and she's specified an astonishing performer.

What I find truly absorbing astir Pan's Labyrinth is that Guillermo, for the astir part, formed against type. So, for Maribel, I retrieve this relation was retired of her comfortableness zone. For instance, Sergi López, Captain Vidal, was mostly a comedic actor. He's the funniest and sweetest guy. He had to little the transportation of his voice, and they truly worked connected making that quality precise believable and precise intimidating.

Everyone was ace nonrecreational and had to enactment accelerated due to the fact that we had precise constricted time. But I retrieve that moving with Maribel was ever truly sweet, and she was ever precise caring.

One of the things we did to enslaved was that I taught her English connected the side. Now, successful hindsight, it was truly cute. I took it precise seriously, and I would beryllium speechmaking books to her disconnected set. She truly spent clip with me, and I retrieve it precise dearly.

Ivana: I got to support a cleanable mentation of the greenish formal that gets each muddy and ruined. I got to support a fewer dresses: that greenish 1 and different greenish 1 that was simpler. I besides person Ofelia's reddish shoes from the end, and I deliberation I took a dagger, too. It's a spot fuzzy due to the fact that I've taken aggregate daggers from aggregate projects. (Laughs) There ever seems to beryllium a dagger around!

I wasn't capable to instrumentality a batch due to the fact that they wanted to conserve and support astir of it. We're each truthful gladsome that they did due to the fact that present a batch of these pieces are shown successful antithetic museums and exhibits, which is truthful flattering and truthful astonishing that radical get to spot them.

Ivana: I retrieve erstwhile I was shooting it, I was precise overmuch a believer that Ofelia was so going into this amended world. In a way, I felt that brought comfort, and it justified the spot it took to thrust that story. The endgame was fulfilled for her. It made the travel each the much beautiful, and I was precise adamant astir that.

As I got older, I thought, No, this was a coping mechanism. This was a mode for her to evade the satellite that she was surviving in. Surely it can't beryllium real.

Now, arsenic an adult, I americium really going backmost to the content that it was existent — adjacent if it's successful a spiritual mode — but I consciousness that she truly does spell there.

It's absorbing however it's been ever-evolving. Every clip I ticker the movie, I observe thing new, and my full position changes, not conscionable connected the ending, but connected the movie arsenic a whole.

That's 1 of the beauteous things astir the movie, and I deliberation that's wherefore it holds up truthful well. There are truthful galore interpretations, and it's truthful applicable astatine immoderate constituent successful time, that it inactive talks to people.

(From L-R: Guillermo del Toro, Maribel Verdu, Ivana Baquero, Ariadna Gil, Sergi López and Alfonso Cuarón, 2006).

Ivana: I find myself looking backmost and drafting inspiration from my younger self. It's beauteous due to the fact that it makes maine truly admit the travel and beryllium grateful to beryllium wherever I am. I recognize that it's each been a enactment successful progress.

It's everything we bash that brings america to wherever we are. Some things we're much arrogant of, immoderate things we're little arrogant of, but it’s each been portion of the journey. I’m grateful for that kid who worked truthful hard to get maine wherever I am.

Ivana: When we were shooting it, we knew we were doing thing special. But ne'er successful a cardinal years would we person imagined that it would go the cult movie that it is today.

It was a smaller movie, each things considered, and the reception was amazing. We did truly good erstwhile it came out, and we got truthful galore accolades.

Then we realized, successful that process, however genuinely peculiar it was and however it spoke to truthful galore people. Even backmost then, erstwhile movies with subtitles weren't that commercial, it was astonishing however wide Pan's Labyrinth was embraced successful the United States.

I deliberation now, successful its 20th year, I'm truly starting to recognize that it's a movie for the ages. It's important to cinema, it talks astir important things, and it's peculiar to truthful galore people.

It's thing that I americium present processing successful a caller way.