Home / ‘Society of the Snow’ Interview: Simón Hempe Talks the Most Difficult Scenes to Film & More
Photo via Simón Hempe on Instagram We were joined on the Popternative show by Simón Hempe who can be seeing portraying José Luis “Coche” Inciarte in the survival thriller Society of the Snow. The film premiered on Netflix January 4th and is based on the book of the same title by Pablo Vierci. Netflix announced that it received 22.9M views, making Society of the Snow their #1 film on the platform this week.
Society of the Snow tells the true story of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 chartered to fly a rugby team to Chile in 1972 that crashes on a glacier in the heart of the Andes Mountains. Only 29 of its 45 passengers survived the accident, leaving them trapped in one of the most hostile and inaccessible environments on the planet, resulting in having to resort to extreme measures to stay alive. Directed by J.A. Bayona (The Impossible, The Orphanage), Society of the Snow is Spain’s official selection for best international feature at the 2024 Oscars and received a 2024 Golden Globes nomination for best non-English language film.
Simón explains the long process of both auditioning and filming: “We started the auditions in 2021 […] the first 3 auditions were virtual. And then we went to Uruguay for 3 weeks where we [praticed] scenes everyday and met [J.A. Bayona] there. The audition experience was insane. And then the shooting is another thing.”
Society of the Snow. Photo by: Netflix
While the entire film is filled with difficult moments, we asked Simón which scene(s) he felt were the hardest to film: “They were all pretty hard, but I think the [most] difficult ones were the avalanche scenes […] We shot it for 2 weeks and the plane was so small, we were too many [and] it was filled with real snow. We got very cold, and we were in the middle of the [movie] shoot, we were [on] diets, we were losing weight.”
He also discusses some of his past projects including Disney’s Intertwined (Spanish title: Entrelazados) and Go! Live Your Way (Go! Vive a Tu Manera) on Netflix, and how Society of the Snow presented entirely new acting experiences for him.
Watch the full conversation with Simón Hempe below.
