Interview: Gabriel’s Inferno Part 3 cast on coming full circle

Culturess talked all things Gabriel’s Inferno Part 3 with members of the cast

2020 has been a real kick in the stomach for so many people, but fans of Sylvain Reynard’s Gabriel’s Inferno have been blessed with three full-length films that bring the story of love, hope, faith and redemption to life courtesy of Tosca Musk and her incredible Passionflix team. We three members of the Gabriel’s Inferno Part 3 cast – Melanie Zanetti (Julia), Giulio Berruti (Gabriel) and Rhett Wellington (Simon) – about their experience bringing all three films to life.

While Hollywood studios have faltered, Passionflix has thrived in 2020 and 2021 is shaping up to be even bigger for the streaming service. The third movie premiered November 19 and the first sequel, Gabriel’s Rapture, is due in 2021. Thankfully a great deal of Gabriel’s Rapture had been filmed prior to the pandemic, but there is still work to be done.

If not for the pandemic, Zanetti noted, filming for all three books would have been wrapped by now, so everything is shifting for the actors and this time has given them the opportunity to reflect on their roles and to plan ahead on how they want to approach filming the rest of Gabriel’s Rapture and Gabriel’s Redemption.

WATCH: Interview with Gabriel’s Inferno Part 3 Cast

For Wellington, being introduced to Sylvain Reynard’s worldwide fanbase was delightfully unexpected. “I had no idea how big the fanbase was,” he said, noting that as soon as he was announced for the role his social media began to flood with messages about playing the villain. Wellington has the unenviable task of playing the villainous Simon, and he knew that it was important to get it right for the fans even though Simon is not a likeable guy.

Throughout the interview, the respect and admiration that Zanetti, Berruti and Wellington have for each other shines through. Berruti praised Wellington’s performance; he loved the phone conversation between Wellington’s Simon and Gabriel. Berruti noted that the little pause right before Simon calls Gabriel an “a**hole” was delivered so perfectly that he almost took it personally.

Berruti also admitted that Wellington looks better in glasses than he does, while Wellington joked that he told his girlfriend not to look at Berruti’s picture when it popped up on his social media. Zanetti’s smile during their banter suggests that their antics are very familiar and that fans are getting a taste of what life is like on set.

The familiarity, comfort and respect between the cast allowed them to dive deep during Part 3’s  emotionally charged scenes. The love scene, Zanetti said, was only possible because of that trust she has with Berruti, and that trust allows her to harness the vulnerability the scene requires. The emotion of the moment was so powerful that the Director of Photography, Denis Maloney, came up to them after filming the scene to tell them it was one of the most intense and realistic love scenes he’d ever filmed. Zanetti also gave Wellington her blessing to be intense during their fight scene.

Berruti said that filming the scene where he reveals Maia’s story was one that he’d been worried about because he knew how emotional it would be. He credits Musk for giving him the ability to be raw and vulnerable (he said he’d been crying like a baby the whole time) and he couldn’t have done it without having Zanetti there holding his hand.

Gabriel’s Inferno has many charms, but it’s the impeccable casting that gives all three movies their soul. It’s not often that cast members genuinely enjoy each other’s company as much as Zanetti and Berruti, and now Wellington, who will feature in the upcoming sequels, but their friendship is real.

All three installments of Gabriel’s Inferno are available to stream now on Passionflix.